Subcultures of violence in american society Research Paper

Subcultures of violence in american society - Research Paper Example Generally speaking, subculture refers to those smaller groups of people who are the part of a larger culture and engage in a specific activity which other refrain from doing. Here the subculture is performing violence and assaults, and take it as honor and pride to indulge in them. It is widely seen that the people in lower class or poverty line engage in violence and assaults as compared to people in other classes. Violence is an integral part of human being and throughout history he has proven this fact. Where there existed a society or community there was a prominent presence of violence, fights and hatred. However, America being a fast moving city has given home to many law violators, aggressive criminals and illegal activist. According to(Time) â€Å"In the U.S. today, it seems to many that violence is in the ascendant over cooperation, disruption over order, and anger over reason†. More or less major population who engage is violent behavior is the black population of Am erica. Sadly, they become violent because of the vengeance and bitterness they harbor in their mind towards their family and the society, and little less is done by law abiders to pacify them. Being violent and involving in crime and homicides can also be connected to psychological and physiological problems infested among wrong doers. The root of all evilness in mind is coming from various problems occurred in their childhood or family life during the past. â€Å"Children who grew up in a family without a male presence are more likely to engage in criminal activity ,specifically interpersonal crime ,than those grew up in traditional family†(Dibich,20). It is found that children with a single parent are more likely to commit crime than one who has been raised in a whole some family. If a child during the early years of his life misses the love and caring from one of the parent, they tend to find relief by committing violent activities and crime. If one look or analyze the cri me scene of American society, it can be easily revealed that black Americans are indulging in violence than white Americans. The crime filled dark streets have eventually become the hard truth of American urban culture and law abiders are not seemingly doing much about it. The senseless killing and cruelsome attacks are reckoning to be the black image of the American city life. A fire arm possession has become a right of every citizen of America and thus over 50 million homes has guns in the name of self defence.Such large possession of fire arms are giving opportunity to violent people to conduct any sort of atrocities to a strangers or family members in a moment of rage. In America the Southern region has been distinctively tagged as the violent region than rest of the country. And many study has a shown that this region leads in assaults and homicides in the country. However, the reason for south to remain a violent state has been a question to ponder on by researchers and sociol ogist. Many believe that the historical background of the southern region is to blame for this kind of criminology while other believes that poverty and social inequality is the real culprit. There is also an accepted concept in the southern region of America that one can enhance their honor and reputation by engaging in violence and criminal activities. The culture of a particular individual has a major role in determining the way he conducts himself in day to day

Business Structure Advice Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Business Structure Advice - Coursework Example A market survey can also give you valuable information on how to overcome the challenges, spot the present and the future troubles in the business and discover other opportunities. Financing a business that is just starting is always very difficult. The person in business should know the amount of cash that is actually required to begin and drive the business. You can start a business with the individual money or capital obtained from acquaintances, and relatives (Kurtz, & Boone, 2011). The individual investments show your obligation to the business and also give you a chance to request support from the government subsidy. This subsidy may be a loan for which you are expected to pay back the principal amount including the interest. These business loans are either short term or long term hence it will depend on the size of the business you want to venture in. There are different business structures or forms. You should consider what business form is efficient for your needs depending on whether you want to conduct the business by yourself, or you want to do it with a colleague. According to Pride, Hughes, and Kapoor (2012), an appropriate business form is determined by monetary, individual, law and duty issues. The following types may be suitable for a new business venture: Sole proprietorship: This is a business owned by a single person. The owner is entirely in charge of all its operations. All the earnings from the business are for the sole proprietor. It is possible for the owner to use own assets to remove the debts. Sole proprietorship is advantageous because: it is easy to start, the starting fee is moderately low, the management load is small, the owner is fully in charge and can make his choices in the business, and all the income goes directly to the owner. However, this form of activity has open problems, for instance, if you have debts, the individual resources will be used to remove the debts. There is also no stability in business

Calculus project Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Calculus project - Lab Report Example Q2. A scalar quantity can be either negative or zero or positive. This depends on choice of the reference point or zero point. Choice of reference or zero comes from convention and / or convenience. Suppose someone is conduction an experiment and observing some change with time; then he can choose zero time as per his convenience and there is nothing that can bar his choice of zero or reference point for time, if some choice of zero reference point is offering him some convenience in formulating some equation or like that he is free to choose it. Once he has assigned some zero or reference point for time, the time corresponding to all the preceding events becomes zero. In fact we write 1999 AD which is nothing but +1999 year and similarly a date like 530 BC is as good as -530 years. Similarly, another scalar quantity temperature is often measured in negative with melting point of ice being 0o Celsius and all the temperatures below it being negative temperatures. Similarly one can find many instances where scalar quantities are have negative values. Q3. A vector quantity is formed by vector addition of its components. Therefore, if any of the components has a non-zero magnitude the vector will also have a non-zero magnitude. So it is not possible to have a vector of zero magnitude if one of its components is not zero. However, under some operations, in which the magnitude of the resultant depends not only on the magnitude of the individual vectors but on the angle between the two vectors as well; one can get a resultant of zero magnitude. This is illustrated below. This means resultant of two vectors with unequal magnitude can be zero under scalar product provided the two vectors are mutually perpendicular. Physically work done by a force is zero if the displacement caused by it is normal to its direction. This means resultant of two vectors with unequal magnitude can be

Alcoholism as the Plot Builder of Fitzgerald’s The Beautiful and Damned Essay Example for Free

Alcoholism as the Plot Builder of Fitzgerald’s The Beautiful and Damned Essay To echo Fitzgerald’s postulation of Antony Patch’s messed up life, â€Å"†¦As winter approached it seemed that a sort of madness seized upon Anthony. He awoke in the morning so nervous that Gloria could feel him trembling in the bed before he could muster enough vitality to stumble into the pantry for a drink. He was intolerable now except under the influence of liquor, and as he seemed to decay and coarsen under her eyes, Glorias soul and body shrank away from himCITATION Fit02 p 111 l 1033 (Fitzgerald, 2002, p. 111)† This is a depiction of a desperate man’s life that has turned to alcohol after experiencing multiple frustrations in life all through his adulthood and a wife who is drawn away from him for this reason. How Antony Patch’s character is molded and developed in the novel is just but a reflection of the messed lives of many uber-rich adults who were lucky enough to be born in rich families but ended up blowing up lifetime opportunities in wasteful escapades of lavish spending during the excessive drinking and partying Jazz Era of the 1920s. Ideally, The Beautiful and Damned is about Anthony Patch who is married Gloria Gilbert and they are hypnotized with the party life. They lead an extravagant life where they enjoy throwing and attending parties which eventually develops to a habit of drinking o a daily basis. Such was the life of Anthony Patch who had mastered the art of laziness leading a valueless life only eager for his grandfather to pass on so as to inherit his multimillion fortunes .Patch’s drinking habits were picked while at school in Princeton where his initial life was tied around books but due to peer influence channeled through his schoolmates who thought of him as being dull and a hopeless romantic, he besought to drinking just like the rest of his peers and vowed to explore the world and party using his family fortune. At some point in life, Anthony Patch is enrolled into Camp Hooker during the war years but he proves to be mentally disoriented as he spends his days in the camp getting drunk and t o cap it all picked up a mistress. Though the move of enrolled into Camp Hooker is considered as a patriotic one, his friends at the camp are another worthless lot who gratify and support his drinking tendencies by indulging in the same with him. His drinking trysts make him a favorite among his camp buddies for he is treated respect for the incessant parties he throws while at camp thus putting to light contemptibility and stupidity of his friends CITATION Mau22 l 1033 (Maunsell, 1922). Patch then meets Gloria Gilbert who beauty is impeccable and he is quickly swept off is feet as he vows to pursue his romantic desires to his life’s death with Gloria. Gloria herself is a replica of Antony for her dogma is satisfaction of worldly pleasures as she selflessly puts it herself, â€Å"If I wanted anything, Id take it I cant be bothered resisting things I want†¦ (Fitzgerald, 2002, p. 235)† It is with the same creed that she detests her husband’s inability to continuously sustain her lavish and innumerable cocktails. Just like everyone else, this couple turns to alcoholism to camouflage their life frustrations to the extent that Anthony cannot do without a taste of the bottle described in Gloria’s own words, â€Å"Oh no, he doesn’t show it anymore unless he can hardly stand up, and  he talks alright till he gets excited. He talks much  better than he does when he’s sober. But he’s been sitting here all day drinking- except for the time it took him to walk the corner for a newspaper†¦ (Fitzgerald, 2002, p. 398)† This entry at towards the end of the novel shows how despicable and dependable Antony patch’s life has been on alcohol after missing out on his grandfather’s fortune and the same being directed towards a servant. Perhaps, Patch’s party and drinking habits were fueled by the fact that he was heir to a rich empire built by his rather strict disciplinarian grandfather who gave no room to unvalued morals. An event where he walks into one of Gloria and Antony’s raucous wild party at their apartment is a representation of his disgust and vilification for irresponsible behavior. His body language and events that transpire after this speaks volumes about his disciplinary antics; at the party, he stares at a white-faced Antony with disgust and in disbelief and utters five denouncing words to the young man in front of him, â€Å"†¦Well go back to Suttleworth..(Fitzgerald, 2002, p. 235)† The mood in the mood is all somber, both Gloria and Patch are frightened by Cross Patch’s presence but he silently walks out of the room after his works. Repercussions that follow are that gets disinherited of his grandfather’s fortune and it is directed towards a servant. They co ntest the decision after his grandfather’s passing but it only makes them more miserable as they entrenched deeper into alcoholism to drown their sorrows. The Damned and beautiful closes as tragic story of an individual who had it all but wasted the opportunity through lavish parties and alcoholism to end up in a wheel chair by age thirty three. References   Fitzgerald, F. S. (2002). The Beautiful and The Damned . New York : Simon Schuster . Maunsell, F. L. (1922, March 5). Latest Works of Fiction: The Beautiful and The Damned . Retrieved October 11, 2014, from The New York Times : http://www.nytimes.com/books/00/12/24/specials/fitzgerald-damned.html Source document

Evaluative Phase â€Love and hate :: Drama

Evaluative Phase –Love and hate First we looked at the poem â€Å"Stop the clocks† by W.H. Auden. Before we thought about adding hate we thought about what the poem is about. It’s about a woman who’s husband has just died and how she is devastated about his death and thinks the whole world should mourn his death because he was so great (or at least he was to her). So we now had 2 characters the husband and wife and we knew the husband was going to die, which would devastate the woman so much that she wrote the poem. Next we looked at the word ‘hate’ and its implications. Everyone in the group had to say one thing they hated. Then we all went into small groups (about 3 people) and had to make a still image of some form of hate. We chose to do an image of a person being executed by terrorists. Then as a whole group we thought about how we could add hate to the poem. So we thought that the man could have been killed because he had been hated, then it developed further and we thought the woman could have killed the man then she wrote the poem as a cover up. We decided to make the man rich and the woman a gold digger. When we went into smaller groups we had the idea that the man pretended to be rich and the woman killed him when she discovered the truth. Everyone in my group (including me) probably didn’t work together as well as we could have done when we where initially thinking up what to do in our piece. Basically after we had the idea of having the woman find out the man is not rich our progress slowed down quite a lot until the last 20 minutes we had before performing, this made us rush quite a lot so we didn’t iron out all of the mistakes and get everything exactly right like we could have done, but overall our performance was ok and it was quite a good idea. Love and hate are both extremely powerful emotions. Both can cause people to do absolutely crazy things that they almost certainly wouldn’t do for any other reason.

Byzantine Civilization

Byzantine Civilization began â€Å"by the end of 3rd century A. D. † or 330 A. D. to be more exact (Byzantine.. n. p. ). Byzantine Civilization entails â€Å"works of art considered an expressionist interpretation of late Roman art† (Byzantine.. n. p. ). Significance of San Vitale, Ravenna San Vitale is very significant because until today it is still intact (Byzantine.. n. p. ). Aside from that, it reiterates the accomplishments of Emperor Justinian who played a major role in the â€Å"First Byzantine Golden Age† (Byzantine.. n. p.).Significance of Hagia Sophia, Istanbul Hagia Sophia which is located in Istanbul is a church created by Constantine (Byzantine.. n. p. ). It has been restored several times during the period of Byzantine Civilization (Byzantine.. n. p. ). Hagia Sophia has been very significant as it is the â€Å"most important monuments of the Byzantine Architecture† (Byzantine.. n. p. ). This extremely important landmark has a garden that sur rounds the basilica and is composed of a hall, central room, as well as, a gallery (Byzantine.. n. p. ).Furthermore, it is exceedingly large; in fact, it comes next to St. Peters, Duomo, and St. Pauls, thus making it the fourth largest church (Byzantine.. n. p. ). Significance of St. Mark’s, Venice St. Mark’s basilica is significant because this has been the shrine designed exclusively for the purpose of keeping the saint’s bones (Byzantine.. n. p. ). Even though it caught fire before, the architects of the Byzantine period was able to successfully restore it making it eventually as one of the best monuments of Byzantine Civilization (Byzantine..n. p. ). In addition to that, it contributed greatly to civilization since its location is very strategic (Byzantine.. n. p. ). This is evidenced by â€Å"Venice’s unsurpassed position in trade with the East† (Byzantine.. n. p. ). References Byzantine Civilization. 2005. n. a. 11 August 2007 http://www. foc usmm. com/civi_021. htm The Columbia Encyclopedia. Byzantine Civilization. New York: Columbia University Press, 2005.

Good in the Moral Context

GOOD IN THE MORAL CONTEXT i. e. OBJECTIVISIT, SUBJECTIVIST AND FUNCTIONALIST ‘Good’ can be described from three views: †¢Objectivist †¢Subjectivist †¢Functionalist Objectivist point of view One main philosopher who defended the objectivist point of view was George Edward (G. E. ) Moore. In his book Principia Ethica, Moore discussed the definition of the word ‘good’. With this book he influenced the philosophers who came after him. The objectivist point of view is naturalism i. e. (what moral law predictates, usually from the natural law). In defining the word ‘good’, G. E. Moore attacks the objectivist point of view.He criticizes the naturalistic point of view. Moore, an intuitionist (meaning he is someone who decides if something is good or wrong by reflecting on his own, without anyone explaining to him) disagreed that good could be explained objectively. Moore criticised Utilitiarians as they were emotivists, i. e. depending on feelings. Thus they defined ‘good’ according to feelings. So good = pleasure. Thus utilitarians do not judge whether an action is good or bad by the quality of the action but by the consequence of the effects. Moore also criticised Christian morality, because these reason an action is good because it pleases God.He said, something is not defined as good because it pleases someone else. Moore invented an interesting term called ‘The Naturalistic fallacy’. Naturalistic fallacy, according to Moore, is to define a term, in this case ‘good’ by means of something which is a state of fact. To explain ‘good’ in terms of pleasure, is committing a Naturalistic fallacy. His reasoning is as thus: if something gives me pleasure, and thus because of this feeling, I say it is good; I conclude, since it is good, then I ought to do it – this is a wrong conclusion. ‘Is’ is a statement of fact, while ‘ought’ is a mor al statement.Moore was an intuitionist. Moore says that the word ‘good’ is not defined by its natural qualities (the qualities which are natural to something and which describe the object e. g. a red, juicy strawberry. If someone is asked why the strawberry is good, his answer will be, ‘because it is red and juicy’ thus defining ‘good’ by its natural qualities). For Moore, good is good and cannot be defined. The objectivists say that moral terms are explained by means of natural qualities. Objectivism is the view that the claims of ethics are objectively true. They are not relative to subject or culture.A term is defined as thus because it is as thus. So good is good not because of feelings or situations, the definition of which would be from a subjectivist point of view, giving rise to relativism. ‘Good’ is defined as thus, because the actions showing good are inscribed in us in the natural law. So according to objectivists, †˜good’ is described by its natural qualities. Naturalism, which the objectivists used, is a term which interprets the word as it is standing for natural characteristics. This may be misleading as good might stand for a quality of pleasure or for something to be desired, and this is not always right.Something pleasurable may in actual fact be wrong. One argument against naturalism, which the objectivists use, is that attribution (is) is confused with identity (ought). ‘Is’ is a statement of fact, while ‘ought’ is a moral statement. These (‘is’ and ‘ought’) are sometimes confused. Thus if something is pleasurable, thus it is good, thus it ought to be done, is (1) a wrong definition of ‘good’, (2) a wrong assumption as not all pleasures are good. One cannot equate good with solely pleasure. Moore goes deeper. In defining a word, he tried to split it into simpler terms.According to Moore, ‘good’ cannot be split into any simpler terms as it is already in the simplest term. So Moore’s philosophy states that ‘good’ is ‘good’. ‘Good’ is indefinable. Subjectivist point of view Subjectivism means that what is right or wrong is defined from the perspective of one’s attitudes, one’s theories and one’s emotions. Subjectivism is based on feelings, and as a result of emotivism. Subjectivism may also be called emotivism. Subjectivism is ethical values expressed in emotional values; personal emotions which can differ from one person to another.Thus there is no fixed standard, no norm, no mean. David Hume He is a basic figure in subjectivism. He was a 17th century philosopher. Hume was also an empiricist (tries to tie knowledge to experience) as he did not use rationalism (reason) but got experience from things around him. Hume said that all we know comes from around us, from our senses 9what we see, what we feel). Decante on t he other hand used rationalism. Kant tried to fuse empiricism and rationalism. Hume thus says that a person, basically, is a bunch of sense experiences. He also says that the senses can never lead us to the universal truth.We cannot say that something is right or wrong just from our senses. According to Hume, ethics is not built on reason (which is what Aristotle says) but on the senses. The universal truths (which are basically what the natural law states – do good to others, harm no one etc) are simply cut off by Hume’s subjective approach. Hume emptied ethics from any rational foundation – he shifted ethics based on reason (like that of Aristotle) to ethics based on emotions or feelings. Hume says not to look for reason but for sentiments – thus if something feels good – do it.He said that passion not reason is what leads us to do something – reason alone is ineffective. According to Hume, it is sentiments and not reason which are the fou ndations of morality. Hume said that statements like ‘This car is red’ (descriptive) and ‘This action is good’ (evaluative) are statements both of the same nature. He mixed descriptive and evaluative argument. In the statement, ‘This person is good’ one is not saying something about the person, but it is my reaction towards that person. Three philosophers affected by Hume were AJ Ayer, CL Stevenson and Hare.AJ Ayer According to Ayer, when we make a judgement, it can be classified as 1. empirical or factual 2. logical or analytical 3. emotive Ayer said that ethical statements are non-statements because you cannot verify them (as in analytical statements) and you cannot make them as a statement of fact (empirical statement or factual). Ethical statements such as good, just expresses one’s emotions (emotivism) – a statement depending on one’s feelings. For Ayer ethical statements are meaningless. Ethical concepts, such as good , cannot be analysed because they are not real oncepts at all – they are false concepts. He stated, ‘The presence of an ethical symbol (good is an ethical symbol) in a statement adds nothing to its factual content, meaning nothing is stated about the nature of the ethical symbol. Thus ‘good’ has no value when describing someone or something – for Ayer ‘good’ was just a way of expressing a feeling about the person/object concerned. CL Stevenson Statements such as ‘good’ do not say anything about state of facts but says only about one’s behaviour, one’s attitudes and one’s feelings.Ethical statements such as ‘good’ do not express a belief, only attitudes. Beliefs are based on reason, attitudes and one’s emotions (emotive). ‘Moral discourses are primarily not informative but influential’, says Stevenson. Thus when I say ‘John is good’, I am expressing my feeling s and at the same time influencing others by my statement. Stevenson, being emotive, says that ethical language, such as good, does not give us information about the person or object – they simply express one’s emotions. They simply intent to inform, they do not say anything about the nature.Hare While Ayer and Stevenson said that ethical statements are non-rational, non-logical, Hare is introducing rationality. He says that by a statement one influences another person, if the latter accepts it, and to do so he must understand it and he has to use his reason. Another point that Hare brought up is that an ethical statement can be 1. emotive 2. action guiding To guide it involves rationality. So ethical statements are not simply giving a piece of information, but action guiding (presciptivism – moral commitment to the giving or accepting of a command).Hare says that ‘a right action is one which ought to be done’ while ‘a wrong action is one that ought not to be done’. The prescriptive theory holds that the words ‘good’ or ‘bad’ are used not simply to command but to comment (=give an advice to do or not to do). ‘Good’ as applied to objects. It is important to distinguish between ‘meaning’ and ‘criteria’. Meaning always has a value, but criteria (the description) is different. ‘This marker is good’ or ‘This microphone is good’. The meaning is the same as the marker writes and the microphone amplifies sound. As applied to people, if I say, ‘John is a good man’.If we stick to the idea of Hare, that moral discourse, ethical statements, are action guiding, am I saying that ‘if you want a good man choose John’. It does not make sense. So when we place human beings as morally good, we are not talking about use or function. Hare deals with the distinction of the function and by treating the moral sense of good , it becomes an advice for imitation rather than a choice. A weak point of Hare: he still says that moral statements (such as good) still not saying anything about the person, but simply is a matter of influencing others and telling others to imitate him.Moral discourse is not only influential but action guiding – brings in rationality. He is still an emotivist saying that if an object is good, I am action guiding you; if a person is good I am just telling you to imitate him. Functionalist approach The functionalist approach is defining good in terms of aim and purpose. Good is the fulfilment of a function. For example a marker is good because it fulfils its function – it writes. If you are saying something is good, you are saying something about the object. O am not reflecting my emotions on an object (thus not an emotivist).A functionalist approach is based on its function. An emotivist approach is based on the attitude. A person chooses the good from the bad chooses a good life, because we are aiming at a ‘goal’ at an ‘end’. Aristotle is saying that there is something in-built in every object, in every person, to seek the good – the good being that at which all things aim. For a person to live a good life, he must understand the purpose of the human life. The purpose of human life is common to all humans, from a philosophical point of view – to have a good life.Aristotle defined end or purpose as ‘that for the sake a thing is done’ and good ‘as that at which all things aim’. Aristotle aid that God and nature do nothing in vain – that everything in the universe has been created to achieve a particular purpose. According to Aristotle the purpose of all human beings is the same. To understand the meaning of the word ‘good’ and of the ‘good life’, we have to understand the purpose of the human life and thus the metaphysics of the universe. In attempt ing to answer the meaning of ‘good’, Aristotle looked at the dynamic elements of the world around us (oak tree, chimpanzees, humans and so on).This is the general characteristics which defines Aristotle’s philosophy (metaphysics and ethics) and teleological (the study of the ends and purpose of things). According to Plato’s metaphysical views, he came with two kinds of worlds, the world of ideal and the world of reality. What we see is not the real world but an imitation of the ideal world. So substance in the ideal world is not included in the real world. Aristotle was Plato’s student but he still rejected Plato’s approach. Aristotle brought together the world of ideal and the world of reality.What we see is not an imitation – it is real. To explain the universe, Aristotle gave the theory of the four causes. 1. natural cause 2. formal cause 3. effective cause 4. final cause The theory of the four causes explains the dynamic nature of all the animate objects including human beings. In that way we can understand the goal, the purpose of the life of a human being, thus the meaning of a good life and the meaning of the word good. Metaphysics gives us a way of understanding reality how the human person acts and behaves, this behaviour can be living a good or a bad life.Ethics and metaphysics are distinct but interrelated. The theory of the four causes goes to explain, that if we think of an example of something which is produced by an agent such as a statue – then Material cause – that which constitutes the statue eg marble Formal cause – the pattern or blue print determining the form and the result Efficient cause – agency producing the result eg tools, sculpture Final cause – the sake for which the cause is produced ie the end towards which the production is directed In the case of humans: Material cause – genes Formal cause – humanEfficient cause – freedom, i ntention, responsibility, practical reasoning Final cause – the good life In humans the efficient cause and final cause are dependent of the formal cause – the fact that I am a human being. We are free to make choices in the efficient cause, choosing responsibility or lack of it, thus effecting the final cause. Aristotle also spoke about potency and actuality. Potency is the potentiality of something or someone – characteristics, which if cultured, become actual. Actuality means when something, which is potential, becomes actual. So we have to ask†¦what is our potentiality?We have a potential to reach our goal in life. Conclusion Having been exposed to these three views, in the definition of the word ‘good’, I think that subjectivism is the view which least defines well the word ‘good’. This view shows relativism and emotivism. To define a word well, especially one with a moral value/a virtue, there has to be a norm, a mean, a stan dard and subjectivism fails to do this. On the other hand, the functionalist definition of the word ‘good’ is the best definition of all as it shows a standard – its function; so there is no relativism involved.