Modern British politics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Modern British politics - Essay Example The focus group is then asked questions to which it is to discuss and then to provide answers to the questions. More often than not these opinions are used simply to reassure the government, but more recently they have been used to form the new policies in areas that would have been otherwise neglected by the government. Those influencing the focus groups are usually influenced by their age, gender, and social class. Often times, these factors are represented in the focus groups that are found in the general areas of Britain. Individuals of different age groups are commonly looking for different things; the biggest division in the current economic situation is the fear of those ready to retire, and the fear of those that are just entering the job market. Therefore, focus groups have been influenced by these issues. Gender politics also comes into play, as many women are becoming more and more involved in politics and investing their voices in their political needs. Women are becoming more active in politics and the roles of political change. Some of this can be seen in the new laws revolving around divorce that have awarded women more monetary compensation, as in White vs. White. Women, because of their active status, are now winning around 50% of the assets in a marriage. Social class has always been an issue to consider as well, because social class has influenced the general needs of the various classes in Britain. The wealth of an individual can affect how he or she decides to vote, or what he or she decides to stand for. People who are in poverty will be more concerned about finding the various supports that they need, such as unemployment for those that have been recently laid off in the hard economic times. As far as age is concerned, older people tend to vote in the Labour part (around 60%) and younger individuals tend to vote for the Tories (around 65%). This can be seen from recent pollings. Since these age classes have distinct

The Dell's Theory of Conflict Prevention Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Dell's Theory of Conflict Prevention - Essay Example There is likewise the need to integrating the use of communication in global supply chains to determine its impact in the prevention of war through citing Kwame Anthony Appiah’s â€Å"Making Conversation†. In addition, one aims to determine how world supply chain gets people of the world engaged with each other into an activity with the projected positive outcome on a global realm, again with reference to Appiah’s â€Å"Making Conversation† and his concept of â€Å"cosmopolitanism†. Finally, one would delve into an evaluation of religions aspects through identifying how two countries, like India and the USA for instance, with different religions, but involved into the same business, can contribute to the world’s stability. In this regard, one would ultimately aim to prove that Friedman’s Dell Theory is a valid theoretical contention that confirms that countries which are participants of a global supply chain would be hesitant to go int o war for economic gains. One strongly agrees with Friedman’s Dell Theory that â€Å"no two countries that are part of a major global supply chain, like Dell’s, will ever fight a war against each other as long as they are both part of the same global supply chain† (Friedman 125). The discussion of the global supply chain illumined one’s understanding that global organizations, such as McDonald’s or Dell, form stronger alliances through a structured communication process that effectively delivers the customers’ demands. This communication process was already identified by Appiah when he cited Voltaire and averred that there is this expressed understanding â€Å"of the obligation to understand those with whom we share the planet, linking that need explicitly with our global economic interdependence" (Appiah 59). Through the global supply chain that contains clear and explicit communication process and patterns from the sources of materials an d supplies up to the point where products are delivered to the doorsteps of consumers, more countries benefit economically and therefore, these countries would do everything within their powers to disrupt the continuous global supply chain flow. As evidenced by the concept of cosmopolitanism, explicitly that which was disclosed as â€Å""Cosmopolitans . . . regard all the peoples of the earth as so many branches of a single family, and the universe as a state, of which they, with innumerable other rational beings, are citizens, promoting together under the general laws of nature the perfection of the whole, while each in his own fashion is busy about his own well-being† (Appiah 59) prove that the global supply chain validly and credibly acknowledges the universality of a global organization’s mission and goals. The more people are aware that being part of the global supply chain is beneficial for the local economy and as part of a global process, the more that economic gains are highlighted to outweigh geopolitical pursuits. One supports the statement that the global supply chain is an instrumental technique for global diplomacy â€Å"to the extent that countries tied their economies and futures to global integration and trade, (and thereby) it would act as a restraint on going to war with neighbors† (Friedman 125).

Digital Learning Environment Essay Example for Free

Digital Learning Environment Essay In the statement â€Å"Recently, there were two recent cover stories in Time Magazine: Their conclusion was that children today are different. In fact, based on what we now know from the neurosciences and psychological sciences, what we’re now beginning to understand is that children today are FUNDAMENTALLY different than we are in the way they think, in the way they access, absorb, interpret, process and use information, and in the way they view, interact, and communicate in the modern world because of their experiences with digital technologies. If this is the case, it holds profound implications for all of us personally and professionally.† I truly believe it’s true. I feel that we are surrounded by digital devices that were not there when I was young. There is new technology that comes out every day and eventually I believe that will be on only way of life in everything we do. I do feel that today’s learners have a different way of learning than we did in the past. I feel there are so many different factors that have changed how today children learns, thinking, etc. I believe the main factor is all the new technology that comes out daily. I feel that technology has been taken for granted for many different ways especially in the learning environment. For example, when I was in high school I had to go to the library to check out books to complete a research paper but in today’s world students just type what they are looking for on the computer and the web provides the answer. I feel it has taken away the experience of how to research something. People can learn so much more when they actually have to do the leg work on researching than just sitting on the couch and typing up the question and the computer does the work. I believe that it can show some laziness on the student’s part because it is others that have done the work and not them. The whole digital world has taken away a person’s creativity, personality (their own work), etc. I feel that having hands on and thinking skills expands their thought process and creative process where they utilizing their own thoughts and not anyone else’s. I feel at times that I would utilize the physical act of learning something instead of them researching on computers websites, etc. I also would have them use their own thoughts and try to learn to have an open mind to take in suggestions from other people. I will ensure that I give them the opportunity to learn from their own experiences with the help and guidance from myself and other adults. I feel this will get to use their own knowledge in cases where they don’t have the digital resources due to batteries going dead or don’t have the access.

Qualitative Research Methods in Organisations

Qualitative Research Methods in Organisations Provide a justification for qualitative research in organisations Qualitative research is a field of inquiry in its own right. It crosscuts disciplines, fields and subject matters. A complex, interconnected family of terms, concepts, and assumptions surround the term qualitative research. These include the traditions associated with foundationalism, positivism, postfoundationalism, postpositivism, poststructuralism, and the many qualitative research perspectives, and/or methods connected to cultural and interpretive studies. (Denzin and Lincoln, 2000:2) qualitative researchers can access fascinating data by observing mundane settings or by finding everyday features in extraordinary settings. (Silverman, 2007:37) This essay provides a justification for the use of qualitative research methods in organisations. In the past, qualitative research methods have always been sidelined and quantitative research methods have been preferred for undertaking organisational research. One of the reasons for this is that qualitative research is always influenced by the researchers personal disposition. According to Creswell, Qualitative Research is a form of interpretive inquiry in which researchers make an interpretation of what they see, hear, and understand. Their interpretations cannot be separated from their own backgrounds, history, contexts, and prior understandings. (Creswell, 2009:176) Another reason for this is given by Silverman when he says that Policy makers and managers have been pushed away from ethnographic research because it takes a relatively long time to complete and appears to use unrepresentative samples. Even though some ethnographers are able to produce powerful arguments about what c an be read from a single, well researched, case, others muddy the waters by political posturing and by suggesting that they want no truck with conventional scientific standards. (Silverman, 2007:86) The pull of quantitative research for organisations is that it tends to define its research problems in a way that makes immediate sense to practitioners and administrators. (Silverman, 2007:86) More recently many organisations have started recognising the merits of using qualitative research methods to undertake research in the organisation. Qualitative research methods enable a thorough scrutiny of the researched topic which is not possible in quantitative research. Even within qualitative research, the researcher is provided with a vast range of options and opportunities for exploring diverse issues within the area of organisational research. What are the different methods used to adopt qualitative research? The most commonly known and most used method of qualitative research is ethnography which had its origins in social anthropology, with particular reference to the study of the culture of social groups and societies. The culture of a social group is made up of these complex networks of meaning and the key task of ethnography is to develop an interpretation and understanding of culture. (Thorpe and Holt, 2008) Ethnography can be described as a longitudinal research method that is often associated with participant observation, but can also draw on other research approaches such as contextual and historic analysis of secondary data published by or on the group being studied. The ethnographic approach to developing an in-depth understanding of peoples behaviour makes it well suited to studying organisations. (Marshan-Piekkari and Welch, 2004) But It bends reality considerably to imply that ethnography is today the main method of qualitative research and that observational material is the main data source. This is hardly surprising given the plethora of materials that invite our attention. These extend beyond what we can observe with our own eyes to what we can hear and see on recordings, what we can read in paper documents and electronically download on the internet, to what we can derive by asking questions in interviews or by providing various stimuli to focus groups. (Silverman, 2007:37) Grounded theory research, discourse analysis, deconstruction, content analysis, narrative method, action research (Humphreys, 2006), participatory enquiry, participant observation (Denzin and Lincoln, 2000), autoethnography, interviewing are just a few of the current approaches to qualitative data collection and analysis. All these methods are appropriately used in different forms of organisational research. I will be looking at autoethnography, grounded theory research, critical discourse analysis and the narrative approach towards qualitative research and will study the use of these methods in conducting organisational research. Autoethnography Ethnographers have started undertaking the observation of participation where they reflect on and critically engage with their own participation within the ethnographic frame thus giving birth to autoethnography. (Denzin and Lincoln, 2005:467) Karra and Philips have defined autoethnography as, the generation of theoretically relevant descriptions of a group to which one belongs based on a structured analysis of ones experiences and the experiences of others from ones groupIt is an attempt to produce sense from ones experience of a group that can be set down in a text and shared with interested others. It does not mean that the researcher studies only himself or herself, but that the researcher is an insider who can draw upon personal experience, cultural competence, and linguistic resources to frame and shape research in a way that an outsider cannot. (Karra and Phillips, 2008:547) Autoethnography has been very efficiently used by Karra and Phillips, in their article about internatio nal management researchers conducting studies in their own cultural context. They say that, autoethnography provides a methodological frame for understanding and managing their research. Even more importantly, it acts to sensitize the researcher to the importance of carefully managing the complex dynamics of this form of cross-cultural research including questions of authorial voice, role conflict, and power. (Karra and Phillips, 2008:543) Autoethnographic approaches have four important strengths- ease of access, reduced resource requirements, ease of establishing trust and rapport, and reduced problems with translation- but at the same time pose three important challenges- lack of critical distance, role conflict, and the limits of serendipity. (Karra and Phillips, 2008:541) The strengths of this mode of research are considerable and despite all the criticisms this method of qualitative research has acquired it can be used very successfully in organisational research where the need is to draw upon personal experiences. One of the uses of autoethnography is to allow another persons world of experience to inspire critical reflection on your own. (Ellis and Bochner, 1996:22) Experience is given a lot of importance in organisations and autoethnography enables the researcher and the organisation to use this experience in a positive manner and in a way which can be very beneficial to the organisation and its employees. Grounded Theory Grounded theory, developed by Glaser and Strauss, is a kind of theory generated from the data collected. The methodology refers to a style of conducting qualitative data analysis whose aim is to discover what kinds of concepts and hypotheses are relevant to the area one wishes to understand. Grounded theory, therefore, provides new insights into the understanding of social processes emerging from the context in which they occur, without forcing and adjusting the data to previous theoretical frameworks. (Cassell and Symon, 2004:242) Grounded theory is a method that is more appropriate for some questions than others. It is most suited to efforts to understand the process by which actors construct meaning out of intersubjective experience. Grounded theory should be used in a way that is logically consistent with key assumptions about social reality and how the reality is known. It is less appropriate to use grounded theory when you seek to make knowledge claims about an objective realit y, and more appropriate to do so when you want to make knowledge claims about how individuals interpret reality. (Suddaby, 2006:634) While the grounded theory approach appeared at a time when methods discourse was decidedly modernist, forty years of development reflect he paradigmatic plurality of current qualitative research. (Thorpe and Holt, 2008) The application of grounded theory in organisational research has been gaining popularity in recent times. This is because organisational psychology has been marked by a trend of moving from an individualistic point of view towards a more collective view. Grounded theory has been applied in studies focusing on organisational culture, organisational growth, change and innovation, team work and company survival to name a few. Grounded theory produces descriptions of organisational reality which elicit positive discussions around important themes in the organisation among the employees and, thus, form a basis for positive organisational development trends. (Cassell and Symon, 2004) Critical Discourse Analysis According to Cunliffe, Discourse analysis is a term covering a number of approaches to research that analyze language use. These approaches range from a focus on language itself, to a broader examination of the relationship between language use, social action and social theory. (Thorpe and Holt, 2008:81) Discourse analysis provides a theoretical and methodological framework for exploring the social production of organizational and interorganizational phenomena. (Phillips, Sewell and Jaynes, 2008:1) As a methodology, critical discourse analysis allows for the use of different kinds of methods in specific research projects. However, this kind of research in particular demands the ability to make sense of the linkages between specific textual characteristics and particular discourses on the one hand, and between the discourses and the relevant socio-cultural practices and historical developments on the other. This means that research of this type generally tends to favour in-depth scrut iny of and reflection on specific texts. (Marschan-Piekkari and Welch, 2004) Discourse analysis has become an increasingly popular method for examining the linguistic elements in the construction of social phenomena. It has been increasingly adopted by organization and management scholars interested in the social construction of specific organizational ideas or practices. (Varra, Kleymann and Seristo, 2004:3) There are three important problems facing researchers wishing to adopt a critical discourse perspective in their work. First, like ethnography, discourse analysis results in quite lengthy analyses that are often a poor fit with the requirements of journal editors. Second, discourse analysis often involves major data-management issues because of the volume of data that is often available. Finally, as this is a fairly new are of activity, there are few standard models available to follow. Developing innovative data analysis techniques for each study thus remains a final challenge facing researchers. (Phillips, Sewell and Jaynes, 2008) Narrative Approach According to Oswick, Narratives are an inevitable and unavoidable aspect of social life and, as such, are integral to the processes of managing and organizing. (Thorpe and Holt, 2008:141) Although the narrative approach is one with many merits which are being acknowledged by researchers, it is still a field in the making and is not very commonly used. Researchers new to this field will find a rich but diffuse tradition, multiple methodologies in various stages of development, and plenty of opportunities for exploring new ideas, methods and questions. (Denzin and Lincoln, 2005:651) A recognition that discourse is the principle means by which organization members create a coherent social reality that frames their sense of who they are has led to an increased interest in narrative approaches in organization studies. A narrative approach explicitly recognizes that, in organizations, language is the primary medium of social control and power, and that the analysis of linguistic practices is key to an understanding of how existing social and power relations are reproduced or transformed. (Humphreys and Brown, 2007) In the article, An Analysis of Corporate Social Responsibility at Credit Line: A Narrative Approach by Humphreys and Brown (2008), the authors adopted a narrative approach to the analysis of organizational processes in a bank, Credit Line, in order to explore how individuals in a financial institution dealt with relatively novel issues of corporate social responsibility. The authors used narratives to successfully draw attention to the plurivocity of orga nisational life. Use of qualitative research methods to undertake organisational research in a public sector organisation Public sector organisations are those organisations which are managed by the government. The main aim of these organisations is not to make a profit but to provide a service to the people under the government. Some example of public sector organisations are airports, public hospitals, railway stations, government run schools and colleges. Governments nowadays are looking to privatize most of the public sector organisations in order to increase their efficiency and effectiveness. Thus most of the above given examples have now been partially or completely privatised in most countries. Public sector organisations are common grounds for research amongst qualitative researchers. This could be due to the fact that public sector organisations are more easily accessible than the private sector organisations. Many public sector organisations have also started coming up with their own research and development department which undertakes the organisational research. In my opinion participant observation and interviewing together make an ideal combination to undertake organisational research within a public sector organisation or for that matter any organisation. The shortcomings of participant observations are covered by interviewing and vice versa. Thus, the two methods complement each other perfectly. Participant Observation The methodology of participant observation is appropriate for studies of almost every aspect of human existence. Through participant observation, it is possible to describe what goes on, who or what is involved, when and where things happen, how they occur, and why at least from the standpoint of participants things happen as they do in particular situations. (Jorgensen, 1989) Participant observation is one of the most popular ways of conducting fieldwork in an organisation. This is because through observation of the participants going through their daily routine researchers pick up information which they might not have access to in a more formal setting, an example of which is interviews. Participant observation can be of two types. In the first, the identity of the researcher is known to all and the researcher has a choice of forming relationships with the participants or to stand back and eavesdrop. This form of participant observation is ethically correct but the researchers pe rsonal disposition and identity may influence the participants behaviour and this may have an effect on the research material gathered. The second type of participant observation is covert participant observation where the identity of the researcher is hidden. This form of participant observation raises many ethical questions and is just another form of deception. Thus, covert participant observation should be avoided. The researchers ability to build relationships and develop rapport with subjects is crucial in participant observation. The danger here is that the researcher may feel so embedded and sympathetic to the group being studied that interpreting events objectively becomes difficult. Another demerit of participant observation is the time-consuming and open-ended nature of this kind of research which means it often doesnt get done. In a cost-conscious research climate in which specific and often short-term, definitive objectives are required to secure funding, sustained part icipation is a risky strategy. (Thorpe and Holt, 2008) Interviews The qualitative interview can be seen as a conversation with a purpose, where the interviewers aim is to obtain knowledge about the respondents world. (Thorpe and Holt, 2008:118) The goal of any qualitative research interview is to see the research topic from the perspective of the interviewee and to understand how and why they came to have this particular perspective. (Cassell and Symon, 2004) Interviewing is the most popular method of conducting organisational research. The method has three important advantages. Firstly, interviewers allow the researcher to discover new relationships or situations not previously conceived. Secondly, interview based research may be optimal when there is a small population of possible respondents as interviewers offer an opportunity to acquire a richness of information from each respondent. Finally, interviews may allow researchers to develop a deeper rapport with informants which is necessary to gain honest and accurate responses and to add insights that lay the groundwork for larger or follow-up studies. (Marschan-Piekkari and Welch, 2004) But the interviewing method also suffers from three disadvantages. Firstly, developing an interview guide, carrying out interviews and analysing their transcripts, are all highly time-consuming activities for the researchers. Secondly, qualitative interviews are also tiring to carry out as they involve considerable concentration from the interviewer. Thus, no more than three interviews, each of the duration of one hour, should be carried out in a day. Finally, interviews are also time-consuming for the interviewees and this may cause problems in recruiting participants in some organizations and occupations. The latest trends in interviewing have come some distance from structured questions; we have reached the point of the interview as negotiated text. Researchers are not invisible neutral entities; they are a part of the interaction we seek to study. Interviewers are increasingly seen as active participants in an interaction with respondents, and interviewers are seen as negotiated accomplishments of both interviewers and respondents that are shaped by the contexts and situations in which they take place. (Denzin and Lincoln, 2005) Depending on the type of organisational research which the public sector organisation needs to carry out and its goals and aims, either participant observation or interviewing or a combination of both the methods can be used appropriately in acquiring the required research material. Conclusion Thus, I conclude by saying that qualitative research methods have formed a niche for themselves in organisational research. The importance of organisational research is growing day by day and qualitative research methods are now an important part of organisational research. Although many forms of qualitative research make the use of figures and numbers to support a point of discussion, thus incorporating a characteristic of quantitative research methods, they also provide an in depth analysis on the topic of research and use one or more of the methodologies of qualitative research which include participant observation, interviewing, autoethnography, use of secondary data, grounded theory, ethnography, discourse analysis, narratives and rhetorical analysis. In this essay I introduced qualitative research and outlined its increasing importance in organisational research. I followed this up by describing approaches to qualitative research specifically concentrating on autoethnography, grounded theory, critical discourse analysis and the narrative approach, and critically analysing their use in organisational research. Finally, I concentrated on public sector organisations and why I think that participant observation and interviews are the best methods of qualitative research to undertake organisational research in public sector organisations. In doing this I feel that I have justified the use of qualitative research in organisations. References Cassell, C. Symon, G. (2004) Essential Guide to Qualitative Methods in Organizational Research. London: Sage Creswell, J.W. (2009) Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative and Mixed Methods Approaches (Third Edition) Thousand Oaks: Sage Denzin, N.K. Lincoln, Y.S. (2000) Handbook of Qualitative Research (Second Edition). Thousand Oaks: Sage Denzin, N.K. Lincoln, Y.S. (2005) The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research (Third Edition). Thousand Oaks: Sage Ellis, C. and Bochner, A.P. (1996) Composing Ethnography: Alternative Forms of Qualitative Writing. Walnut Creek: Altamira Humphreys, M. (2006) Teaching qualitative research methods: Im beginning to see the light. Qualitative Research in Organisations and Management: An International Journal Vol. 1(3) 173-188 Humphreys, M. and Brown A.D. (2008) An Analysis of Corporate Social Responsibility at Credit Line: A Narrative Approach. Journal of Business Ethics Vol. 80 403-418 Jorgensen, D.L. (1989) Participant Observation: A Methodology for Human Studies London: Sage Karra, N. Phillips, N. (2008) Researching Back Home: International Management Research as Autoethnography. Organizational Research Methods Vol. 11(3) 541-561 Marschan-Piekkari, R. and Welch, C. (2004) Handbook of Qualitative Research Methods for International Business. Cheltenham:Edward Elgar Phillips, N., Sewell, G., and Jaynes S., (2008) Applying Critical Discourse Analysis in Strategic Management Research. Organizational Research Methods 1-30 Silverman, D (2007) A Very Short, Fairly Interesting and Reasonably Cheap Book about Qualitative Research. London: Sage Suddaby, R (2006) From the Editors: What Grounded Theory is Not. Academy of Management Journal Vol. 49(4) 633-642 Thorpe, R. Holt, R. (2008) The Sage Dictionary of Qualitative Management Research. London: Sage Varaa, E., Kleymann, B., Seristo, H. (2004) Strategies as discursive constructions: The case of the airline alliances. Journal of Management Studies Vol. 41(1) 1-35

Confucius Essay -- essays research papers

Confucius became famous as a sage, or wise man, of China during the Age of Philosophers. His Five Classics have influenced the civilizations of most of eastern Asia. Confucius was born in the state of Lu when local rulers refused to pay homage to the emperor of a failing Chou dynasty. Confucius hated the disorder that ensued and looked back on a time when things like that were not even thought of. He studied the teachings of the sage’s whose teachings and influences had made China one whole nation at one time. He decided that he was the one who should restore the faith and practices of the old emperors and wise men. Since Confucius was not able to gain an official position in China, he spent most of his life teaching a core group of disciples. The main idea of Confucius’ philosophy was to provide rules and traditions for every conceivable situation in every day life. He was concerned with all the misery in the world, and he hoped that making men noble would bring about a noble world. Confucius’ ideas of being benevolent to one’s fellow man, closely following set rituals, and acting in a manner proper and befitting one’s social class became the state followed ideology during the Han dynasty.1   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When studying the religion and philosophy of Confucius, one must have a clear understanding of the books he wrote. The Five Classics were from the period preceding the Warring States Period. They were brought together and edited by the members of Confucius’ original school. Once Confucianism was made China’s official philosophy, a person had to study these five books in order to gain a prized governmental position. Saying that there are only five classics is a bit of a misstatement. There are five classics and an extra book written by Confucius that is usually lumped in with the traditional Five Classics. That book is Lunyu, or The Analects. The Analects is a collection of little bits of wisdom that Confucius gave his disciples. However, the book is not a comprehensive “bible'; of Confucianism. It is a collection of quotations, anecdotes, and wisdoms. Due to this fact, Confucianism, at least according to Confucius, is open to interpretation. The Analects is still an interesting book, in that it provides a direct view of the thoughts and feelings of Confucius. T... ...e and control the world about him.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Confucius taught that when patterns on earth match those of Heaven, the spiritual beings of Heaven can be brought to earth and made to help man. All the spirits and specters of Heaven could be drawn out by earthly virtue to enact the beneficiary duties their realm imposed on them. These spirits were believed to do such things as keep rivers flowing, winds blowing and bringing rain that was needed by farmers. In turn, the farmers, following the established Confucian code of conduct, gave tithes to their overlords. This allowed the overlords to provide arts, education, and entertainment.6   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Some people dispute the success of Confucianism. Technically, Confucianism failed. But only during the lifetime of its creator. During his life, Confucius only gathered a few followers. After his death, these followers passed on his teachings, wisdom, and love for rituals and the tradition survived. It survived all the way to the Han dynasty when it became the official Chinese philosophy. From then on, it was firmly established in Chinese culture and its effects and value systems can still be seen today.

Relaciones Entre las Actitudes Bellas y las Morales :: Spanish essays

Relaciones Entre las Actitudes Bellas y las Morales ABSTRACT: There are no a-moral texts, even though amorality may be described by them: an amoral author would not dare into the search of beauty; it depends on a game of faculties that, also, play with the form. A moralizing literary text is not due to a game of author's faculties, but only to the author's conscience. Thus, it rebounds heavy and ugly. An ugly immoral literary text assaults on a redundant and calculated way some moral rules in favor of the "forbidden". Then, it is not a beautiful text. The aesthetic function is the one treating the stimulus as a purpose and not only as a means. This spontaneous behavior is condition of possibility for the moral act (the follower of the second kantian imperative). The one who spontaneously has the attitude that considers the other (alter) as a purpose and not only as a means, is a beautiful person. Its argued that it is not yet a morally good person. Anyway, "beau-ty" on its Latin etymologies (beau-t‚ and bello) means good, which involves a project that is dialoguing, truthful, respectful and advantageous for the community. It also means that the decision of using the proper means for the goal, has been taken. Once accepted the project, the individual shall act spontaneously on a ludicrous way so that the project may become real. He will be a more meritorious beautiful person if his spontaneous goodness means the overcoming over the experiences that have hurt hi. The matter is: is the moral beauty the highest point of morality? I will work on this topic on the basis of Schiller, Kant, Gadamer, and Sartre. La belleza de la literatura y su fealdad en relacià ³n con lo amoral, lo moralizante y lo inmoral. Segà ºn Alaidair MacIntyre—Three Rival Versions of Moral Inquire—el filà ³sofo no puede realizar ningà ºn estudio sobre la moral sin recurrir a otras fuentes ajenas a la filosofà ­a; en algunas narraciones literarias encuentra materiales và ¡lidos porque ejemplifican acciones morales, amorales e inmorales que serà ­an incomprensibles al margen de los datos que aporta el escritor sobre quià ©n, cà ³mo y para quà © las hizo, o sea al margen de su unicidad y de su caracterizacià ³n motivacional y circunstancial. Las preguntas que me inquietan es quà © tipo de textos tiene en mente MacIntyre:  ¿los inmorales, los amorales o los moralizantes? Los textos literarios llevan el

Listening

Importance of ListeningAccording to Zarefsky, listening is important for three reasons: (1) Accuracy; (2) Feedback; and (3) Assessment.First is accuracy. I can still remember back in my 6th grade this one test given to us by our English teacher. Looking back from today, it was actually more of a listening test than a reading test. Before we begin, our teacher told us to read first the instructions before proceeding. Then she gave out this two pager test about following instructions like this:Write your name in capital letters on the upper right hand corner of the paper and underline your family name.List the top ten movies you like. Draw three stars of varying sizes and encircle the biggest star.  You get the picture. There were about 50 of these instructions! So, I hurriedly answer as much as I can since we were told that it we will be under time pressure. After just five minutes, the teacher announced that it was already time to pass the paper and I wasn’t even half-way! I protested that there was not enough time. She asked me if I was listening when she asked us to read the instructions. I said, â€Å"Of course.† To which, she replied, â€Å"Then, you should have read in the instructions that you are only asked to do item no. 1.†Second reason is to be able to give feedback. I remember one of the fights I had with my then girlfriend Donna. (Not her real name.) She was saying something and but I was too engrossed with in solving this differential equation which was an assignment due next day for Math. Of course, that got her really mad. â€Å"Are you listening?† she angrily asked. â€Å"Of course, dear,† I said. â€Å"Then, tell me what you think?† Confident that I could get away with this, I made a remark on the phrase about assignments. â€Å"Yeah, I know. It must be tough for you.These teachers are driving us nuts,† I consoled her, thinking that I can get away with it. That, of course, made her really mad. She was not talking about assignments. It was actually a sarcastic remark, â€Å"Sorry, I think I’m getting in the way of your assignments.† And so she unleashed the conclusion of the matter, â€Å"I guess I really do get in the way of your assignments. Maybe it’s now time for us to move on.† Then, she walked out on me. That one, I did get clearly, because I was listening intently: She wanted to break up with me.And that brings me to my last point: Assessment. I was able to interpret and evaluate the message. Because I was listening well that time, I understood that she didn’t mean we were ready to discuss another topic or we were supposed to go somewhere. Based on what she said and her reaction, I knew she was really mad and moving on means breaking up.Personal Listening HabitsI was able to hear Steve Murell 2007 last year (July 19, 2007) speak on Leading With the Next Generation for 25 minutes. He got his text from 1 Samuel 17:38-40 and while he was expounding on the passage, and to get the most out of his talk, I employed note-taking – a technique which, according to Nwokoreze (1990) is the stage where I would reach the maximum level of understanding. (His talk is also available as pod cast in the Every Nation World Conference (2007) website.) He introduced his talk by first saying that Saul had always been used as an example of a bad leadership but if we will examine his life, it was not all bad. If ever he did only one thing great, this is it. And that introduction really hooked me in.I his teaching, he claimed that there are principles we can actually learn from this two men of God and that is in the area of leadership. We know that Saul was a lot older than David and he is a warrior. During his time, he was able to defeat his enemy using his sword and armor. So, wanting victory for David, he suggested that he should wear it, too. The problem is David was not used to it. So, he reasoned with Saul and asked Saul t o allow him just his sling and stones. And to that, Saul agreed.If you would ask me up to now what can we learn from that, I can still tell you without even referring to my notes but I can tell you that the notes really helped me really listen and digest the message. If I had not done so, I would have forgotten it all by now as studies show that this process begins almost right way. (Scott 2002) Besides, taking good notes has been found to aid individuals in remembering what they hear. (Cuesta College Academic Support 2003)Note-taking helped me in two ways: First, it helped me to focus on the focus points of the message. In as much as I was very interested in the topic, there were times that my mind would wander away or be caught up by a particular illustration. For instance, when Steve tell that David and Saul’s story is also a picture of the church, I got lost momentarily because I got caught up in analyzing what it means. I was still figuring out all the parallelism when I heard him say, â€Å"the point is†¦Ã¢â‚¬  As if on cue, I reached out to my pen and paper and write the point.I also jot down what he said that caught me so that I could later refer back to it and meditate or savor it if necessary. There were also times when I become too reflective which is quite distracting in a way. I asked myself (because Steve asked us to evaluate ourselves), â€Å"Am I giving opportunity to those who are under to me rise up in leadership or am I too insecure a leader to let them have the spot light?† Then, he would ask another question but I was still in the middle of my reflection. So, what I did was to pause, write down what I was thinking, and jot down his next question or point and knowing why I was there – to learn how to be a better leader – helped me be effective in my note taking as suggested by Fajardo (1996) and was proven by me.Since Steve spoke for just about 25 minutes, I didn’t have a great deal of difficulty li stening to him. I’m used to attending classes where teachers would lecture for more than an hour so his teaching was actually a refreshing break. But, I must admit, though, that too long speeches or lectures literally give me a headache. Just before writing this paper, I came from a whole day academic forum where I had to listen to different speakers lecturing for at least one and a half hours each. I tell you, it was difficult, especially when they say something that is beyond my vocabulary or knowledge. I actually had a headache afterwards. Perhaps, this was due to the fact that I was already very sleepy during the middle of the third session but I still pushed myself to listen.Margaret Sanger’s SpeechMargaret, on her speech, addressed the morality of birth control as she said on her opening statements, â€Å"The one issue upon which there seems to be most uncertainty and disagreement exists is the moral side of the subject of Birth Control. He next statement reveal ed her audience: â€Å"It seemed only natural for us to call together scientists, educators, members of the medical profession and the theologians of all denominations to ask their opinion upon this uncertain and important phase of the controversy.†Sanger seemed to suggest that birth control is a moral imperative. In fact, she said that her belief is that â€Å"the discussion of the moral issue [of birth control] was one which did not solely belong to theologians and to scientists, but belonged to the people.†Ã‚   Therefore, if this is not confined only to specific groups of people but to all people, then it, indeed, is a moral imperative. To drive home her point, she even explained what moral means. According to her, this would have implications of different actions which rely on the mind and the brain and that brain development is very much linked to morality.To those who are saying that birth control is unethical, immoral, or violation of God’s law, she start ed first with a discussion on morality. According to her, it would be immoral if we are irresponsible and reckless and irresponsible in our actions. We would have the â€Å"finest kind of morality† on the other hand if we are able to think ahead about the actions we plan to take. Then, she went into the discussion of how the progress of women we opposed for the fear the they would be immoral if they were granted freedom. Then, she appealed to the church to have more confidence in them.Then, she discussed the foundations of birth control which she also accepts. She said that the only problem with this in how methods to uphold these principles were carried out. So, she suggested information dissemination which should be done directly by those in the medical field. In this may, â€Å"motherhood may be the function of dignity and choice, rather than one of ignorance a chance,† claimed the speaker.Finally, she went back again on the concept of planning ahead so that populat ion control would begin at conception instead of resorting to the killing of infants, abandoning children, and abortion which is less civilized and gives life a lower value. Then, she concluded by encouraging people that the masses are becoming wiser and have been giving enough thought for their conduct. It more people would exhibit this, she claimed that there would be less immorality.ReferencesCuesta College Academic Support. (2003). Listening and Note-taking. Retrieved February 7, 2008 from http://www.cuesta.edu/student/servs_classes/ssc/index.htmlFajardo, C. (1996). Note-taking: a useful device, Forum, 34(2), 22.Nwokoreze, U. (1990). Note-taking. English Teaching Forum, 33(2), 39-40Scott, J. (2002) The 13 Keys to Effective Listening and Note-taking. Retrieved February 7, 2008 from http://www.csun.edu/~hcpas003/Listening.html