Literacies for Learning Essay Example for Free

Literacies for Learning Essay The necessity for educational institutions to equip students with the skills to cope in a rapidly changing, culturally diverse and globalised 21st century society, has led academics, such as the New London Group, to encourage educators to acknowledge the various literacy forms utilised in the new millennium (The New London Group, 1996) and to adopt a pedagogy of multiliteracies. This essay will explore the components of a pedagogy of multiliteracies and identify the transformations needed for the successful implementation of multiliteracies into educational practice. Likewise, the notion of language as a social practice which influences teaching content and assessment practices in secondary education will be examined, as will the use of multiliteracies in the teaching of the Mathematics curriculum. To understand the role of multiliteracies in pedagogy theory development, it is important to define the term literacy. Literacy is an evolving term that refers to an individual’s ability to construct and comprehend meaning via the accepted symbol systems of one’s country or language group (Winch, Johnston, March, Ljungdahl, Holliday, 2010). These symbol systems include written and spoken language and visual information such as icons and other graphical information. While literacy was traditionally viewed as a cognitive process with a focus on reading, writing and numeracy identification, in recent years its definition has become broadened to encompass the burgeoning text types being generated via multimedia and information technology (Winch et al., 2010). These electronic text types have quickly established themselves as integral components of a diverse range of 21st century vocations and social interactions (Tan, 2006).  A pedagogy of multiliteracies encompasses multimedia and digital text forms as well as traditional written and spoken texts. Likewise, the central role of literacy in a diverse range of knowledge domains and vocations has resulted in educators being encouraged to view literacy as a vital skill underpinning successful teaching and learning in all curriculum areas. The New London Group (1996) viewed the role of design as an ever changing paradigm of three stage teaching and learning processes. The first step, ‘Available Designs’ is determining what resources are available. These resources include texts, symbols, audio and visual resources. The second step is ‘Designing’ which takes these ‘Available Designs’ and places them within a social context, such as the classroom or learning environment, and is facilitated by an individual such as a teacher. This step creates an output with new meaning for both the learning environment and facilitator. This knowledge or new meaning is known as ‘Redesign’ (The New London Group, 1996). Literacy is a social practice that is not just taught in secondary schools, it is something which is part of each individual’s everyday life. According to Anstey Bull (2000), the way in which an individual may read the world will be strongly linked to the contexts of their own life. The NSW Department of Education and Training (2006) maintains that literacy is a skill that continues to grow and develop and is fundamental to students’ success at school as well as for the rest of their life. For literacy to be successful in schools, it is planned in collaboration with parents and teachers. This collaborative approach reinforces that literacy is inherently a social practice. This approach must include a range of social influences and practices, in order to increase student’s knowledge and skill in the real world for real purposes (NSW Department of Education and Training, 2006). As literacy development is undoubtedly a whole school and community approach, it is essential that a multiliteracies pedagogy, be utilised in the teaching of all curriculum areas. The impact of societal and cultural change is clearly reflected in the mathematics curriculum through the use of digital technologies such as graphical programs and spreadsheets. This use of technology provides numerous opportunities for the teaching of multiliteracies. Through explicit teaching and learning  experiences of digital texts, students are provided with the skills to successfully navigate and comprehend information communicated digitally. These skills can be acquired through students being provided with opportunities to access information via Internet websites. Likewise, students can use information technology to construct their own texts, thus allowing them to communicate their understanding of concepts to others. This may be achieved by encouraging students to construct texts through the use of software programs such as Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Visio, both of which allow students to communicate information graphically. These digital mediums allow students to acquire skills which will assist them in acquiring real world skills which they can utilise to gain and construct meaning, both in and out of the classroom. (Winch et al., 2010). Technology is an essential part of the transformations taking place in the social, political, cultural and economic spheres of contemporary society (Groundwater- Smith, Brennan, McFadden, Mitchell and Munns, 2009). Secondary school teachers need to prepare students with the skills necessary for life in a rapidly changing, technological world. In order to equip students with these skills, teachers must possess deep knowledge of relevant technologies (Treadwell, 2008). The Mathematics curriculum includes teaching of: statistics, probability, algebra, financial concepts, economics, technology, measurement and trigonometry. These strands include skills applicable to an individual’s school/work life, social life and personal life. Mathematics content areas, focus on aspects of society, reform, technology and life skills. It is important for teachers to link the social practice of literacy with the factors of a pedagogy of multiliteracies to create the best teaching environment they can (The New London Group, 1996). Walsh (2006) cites an example of successfully teaching his students literacy practices, through social relationships. Students worked in groups and were able to demonstrate specific social language structures. They were able to â€Å"enact, recognise and negotiate† in a social environment (The New London Group, 1996, p. 3) by design and re-design of Internet web pages. The created web pages were diverse, with each student using their own discourse to create what they believed the web page should contain. Prior to using multi-modal and digital literacy mediums in their teaching, it is essential that teachers be aware of cognitive and language factors in learning. The  ability to use multimodal learning, digital literacies and genres specific to each curriculum area must be carefully planned by the teacher. According to Winch et al., (2010) a multiliteracy pedagogy involves developing the ability to use language purposefully and skillfully in a range of social settings, rather than learning isolated segments of knowledge such as grammar conventions and spelling. Multiliteracy includes the use and creation of multimodal and multimedia texts (Winch et al., 2010). Multiliteracy seeks to address the rapid changes in literacy brought about by globalisation, cultural and social diversity and information technology (Winch et al., 2010). In response to these societal changes, The New London Group (1996), questioned the role of schools and outlined a need for change in literacy teaching due to key changes in three areas of life: working life, public life and personal life (life worlds). Central to these changes, was the need for schools to integrate learning with life experiences that students have both in and out of the classroom. â€Å"As these three major realms of social activity have shifted, so the roles and responsibilities of schools must shift† (The New London Group, 1996, p.18). The New London Group advocated for a change in the way, education was delivered, by enhancing the existing structures and overlaying with a new â€Å"what† and â€Å"how† of literacy teaching (The New London Group, 1996). The ‘how’ of pedagogy comes from a view of how learning is acquired, embedded and utilised. The New London Group (1996) proposed that a pedagogy of multiliteracies is a complex blend of four methods of design. The first is Situated Practice which involves learning by creating meaningful learning experiences that allow students be in an environment where the learning replicates the social use of what is being learnt. It is an environment where risks can be taken and ‘trial and error’ is used to gain mastery of skills or knowledge. It should be used â€Å"developmentally, to guide learners to the experiences and the assistance they need to develop further as members of the community, capable of drawing on, and ultimately contributing to, the full range of it’s resources.† (The New London Group, 1996, p. 33). Situated Practice should be designed to motivate students to want to know, and engage students in their learning in a safe environment . Assessment or evaluation is not considered part of Situated Practice. Overt Instruction is the second method of how a pedagogy of mulitliteracies is  implemented.  This involves teachers guiding and using effective teaching techniques such as scaffolding or explicit instruction to build student’s knowledge and confidence. Examination of the current secondary school’s Mathematics curriculum, (NSW department of Education and Training, 2010) reveals many opportunities for teachers and students to collaborate and engage in dialogue related to mathematical concepts which will guide and provide a scaffold for student learning. For example, the teacher makes links with prior learning, through asking open questions to the group, and uses multi-modal methods such as mathematical symbols, diagrams, charts and pictures to add to the learning. With each progression of new learning in the lesson, the teacher labels a new part of the diagram. Overt Instruction â€Å".includes centrally the sorts of collaborative efforts between teacher and student wherein the student is both allowed to accomplish a task more complex than they can accompli sh on their own and they are conscious of the teacher’s representation and interpretation of that task.† (The New London Group (1996, p. 20). Thirdly, Critical Framing focuses on the â€Å"how† of a pedagogy of multiliteracies, through the use and application of real world knowledge. This method is where assessment and evaluation of one’s self understanding can begin in relation to cultural, social, political and historical influences on what has been learned (New London Group, 1996). Teachers are able to encourage students to apply their learning in a practical sense and assess the transfer of student’s knowledge or skill. This knowledge is based on what they have previously learned, and requires students to â€Å"constructively critique it, account for its cultural location; creatively extend and apply it and eventually innovate own† and strengthen their ability to demonstrate what they have learned (The New London Group, 1996, p. 37). A mathematical example of this process is the conversion of degrees to radians. Its real life use is the calculation of the speed of a piece of machin ery. This calculation includes the formula in terms of radians rather than degrees. Finally, Transformed Practice is â€Å"where we try and re-enact a discourse by engaging in it for our real purposes† (The New London Group, 1996, p. 36).  Students need to think and learn outside their own discourse and think about how they can re-create their meaning, linking their own discourses to understand what they have learned. An example of this practice was where students were asked to plan and present a lesson including a Wiki activity and a Prezi (presentation tool) that teaches the concepts from a previous mathematics lesson. In groups, students collaboratively utilised the Internet to research topics, and create: work sheets for others to complete, interactive wiki activities, team tasks, and their own YouTube clips. The lesson included the use and creation of multimodal texts and scaffolding of existing knowledge. Students developed new knowledge through authentic multimodal texts such as image, sound, video and written text (Tan, 2006). Gunning (2002) explores the impact of reading and writing difficulties in a social stance, and highlights that poor instructions given by teachers can contribute to a student’s difficulties. Gunning’s (2002) observations and research serve as a reminder that teachers must be sure to provide the ‘what’ and ‘how’ of multiliteracies, to ensure each student has the opportunity to progress. Teachers need to evaluate their current practice and identify the text types typically used in the Mathematics content areas and consider the social needs and teaching strategies that will develop student’s literacy skills (Goos, Stillman., Vale, 2007). In a mathematics lesson, students were introduced to the ‘Simpson’s rule’ formula. The lesson’s aim was for students to measure the area beneath a real life object, gain an understanding of what is needed to complete the formula and how the variables are calculated. Students were required to work collaboratively in pairs, discussing various ways in which measurements were taken in order to obtain an accurate result in working out the area of the object. Likewise, students were required to engage in higher order thinking, in order to formulate possible solutions to the dilemma. These experiences provided students with the opportunity to be inclusive in their learning, and consolidate their understanding of key concepts that are relevant to the lesson goals (Prain Hand, 1999). Teacher observations and questioning during group work, guided the student’s discussions, with the teacher embracing a teaching style where multiliteracies were used. The New London Group (1996) have profoundly impacted on teaching practices, literacy research, policy curriculum and pedagogy (Mills, 2006). Gee (1991) explores  social literacy and the impact of a student’s discourse that are established outside the classroom, from their social group, fa mily and cultural ties. Their view of literacy as social practice and their emphasis on incorporating the rapidly increasing number of electronic and multimodal text types in 21st century society into teaching practice represents a clear break away from the single dimensional teaching of literacy. However, for multiliteracies such as digital literacies, multimodal resources and ICT to provide best learning for students, teachers must be prepared to embrace the view that literacy is a social practice and and an essential skill underpinning all curriculum areas. Teachers also need to recognise that each lesson they teach to students provides the opportunity to develop the student’s literacy skills. In order to facilitate this change in pedagogical ideology, teachers must be prepared to evaluate their current teaching practice and adopt a more holistic approach to developing literacy skills in their students. As a consequence, students should be exposed to participative learning experiences with re al life learning outcomes. References Anstey, M., Bull, G. (2000). Developing multiple and critical readings of text. Reading the visual: Written and illustrated children’s literature (pp. 201-214). Sydney: Harcourt. Gee, J. (1991) What is literacy? In C.Mitchell K. Weiler (Eds.), Rewriting literacy. New York: Bergin Garvey Goos, M. Stillman, G. Vale,C. (2007). Teaching secondary mathematics. Crows Nest, NSW: Allen Unwin. Gunning, T. (2002). Factors involved in reading and writing difficulties. Assessing and correcting reading and writing difficulties (2nd ed., pp. 26-62). Sydney: Allyn Bacon. Mills, K. (2006). Discovering design possibilities through a pedagogy of multiliteracies. Journal of Leading Design, 1(3), 61-72 NSW Department of Education and Training. (2010). NSW Department of Education and Training. (2007). Literacy K-12 Policy Retrieved from https://www.det.nsw.edu.au/policies/curriculum/schools/literacy/PD20050288.shtml?query=literacy+policy New South Wales Department of Education and Training. (2006). State literacy plan 2006-2008: Equitable literacy achievements for all students. Retrieved from http://www.curriculumsupprt.education.nsw.gov.au/policies/literacy/guidelinies/plan/index.htm Prain Hand (1999) Tan, L. (2006). Literacy for the 21st Century. Retrieved from http://iresearch.osprey.url3.net/iresearch/slot/u110/litreviews/literacy4_21st_century.pdf The New London Group. (1996). A pedagogy of multiliteracies: Designing social futures. In B.Cope M. Klantzis (Eds.), Multiliteracies, literacy learning and the design of social futures (pp. 9-37). London: Macmillan. Walsh, C. (2006). Beyond the workshop. Doing multiliteracies with adolescents. English in Australia, 41(3), 49-58 Winch, G., Johnston, R., March, P., Ljungdahl, L., Holliday, M. (2010). Literacy: Reading, writing and childrens literature (4th ed.). Melbourne: Oxford University Press Cope, Bill and Mary Kalantzis (eds), Multiliteracies: Literacy Learning and the Design of Social Futures, Routledge, London, 2000, 350pp. | link

Mind Body Relationship In Human Person Philosophy Essay

Mind Body Relationship In Human Person Philosophy Essay The mind-body problem has been a much discussed issue in the Philosophy of Mind. All those who undertake any study in consciousness, necessarily need to touch upon this subject. One of the unsettled puzzles is about whether consciousness is part of material or mental realm. It has challenged the scientists as well as philosophers to look for some solutions. They have proposed several theories to address the issue. Among several theories dualism and physicalism were the most discussed. There are some crucial questions regarding mind-body problem: such as; how do they interact, whether the mind and body differ not only in degree and nature but also in kind? The arrival of neuroscience with its several scientific experiments has radically challenged the understanding of relationship between mind and body and forced us to rethink our positions about it. Thus, there is a renewed vigour in studying about consciousness in modern times and it has thrown open several other ways of settling th is issue. This chapter will briefly discuss on how different philosophers perceived the relationship between mind and body in a person and critically analyse various theories of dualism and physicalism in detail and present their difficulties. The concluding part of the chapter will show the need to go beyond dualism and physicalism with the help of neuroscience. We begin our discussion with mind-body relationship in a person. 1.1 Mind-Body Relationship in a Person For many centuries, we have been trying to understand the mind-body relationship in a person. The difficulty behind explaining the relationship between mind-body in a person is that s/he is a dynamic entity.  [1]  Thus, one is in a continued mode of knowing oneself. There are several thinkers who hold the view that a person is composed of body and mind. At the same time there are also some thinkers who oppose this idea. Now we shall discuss the views of some philosophers. There are several ancient philosophers like Plato and Aristotle who expressed their views on mind-body relationship in a person. For Plato, human being is composed of body and soul. Body is nothing but a prison house into which his/her soul has been locked. His understanding of person is different from our understanding of human being.  [2]  For Plato, person belongs to intelligible world and human being belongs to sensible world. Secondly person can be transformed whereas human being cannot be because human being belongs to physical level of being.  [3]  Thus he says that a person, the subject of interest, is not a human being but rather a soul, an entity distinct from that of human being.  [4]  Here we can see a clear-cut distinction of soul and body in Platos thinking. Aristotle, on the contrary, saw the mind-body relationship from a completely different angle. He says that a person is a composite not of body and soul but of prime matter and the human soul which as a substantial form.  [5]  He does not perceive the distinction between mind and body; instead he makes the distinction between matter and form. Therefore, Aristotle understands body and soul as not of two complete beings in conflict with each other but complimenting each other because matter and form are inseparable in a primary substance. There are also modern philosophers like Hegel, Immanuel Kant and John Locke who understand the mind-body relationship quite differently. For Hegel, an individual is part of the larger life of the Mind. He says that, Mind or spirit, passes through dialectical stages of evolution, revealing itself as subjective mind, objective mind and absolute mind. The subjective mind expresses itself as soul, consciousness and spirit.  [6]  From the above statements it is very clear that he gives importance to mind alone. He has absorbed totally the body into mind; for he says, It (mind) embodies itself, creates a body for itself, and becomes a particular, individual soul.  [7]  Therefore what truly exists for him is mind and not body. However Immanuel Kant speaks about metaphysical dualism rather than substance dualism of the person. He sees person as a Transcendental Self because there is a level of self-awareness that is over and above the categories of normal philosophies. Human being is alone a rational being who has a will and a free choice of action. So Kant postulates person as a transcendental free being, an idea that the inner self is not bound by the laws of nature.  [8]  However, John Locke, being a modern philosopher understands human person as that of ancient philosophers. For him mind is the real person and body is only a possession.  [9]  He separates mind from body and shows that body is only a material reality. He says that, Every man has a property in his own person.   This no Body has any Right to but himself.  [10]  For him mind is the real person and in the real person the body aspect is integrated totally into it.  [11]   The philosophers have changed their focus in the recent years. They give more stress on the purpose of human life. They ask; what does it mean to be a human person? However, with the growing interest in neuroscience, the ontological question bounced back with new a quest. One of the forerunners and pioneers of this movement is Philip Clayton who brought back the same question with a new focus. Now we shall discus the extreme positions of mind-body relationship and their solutions. 1.2 Extreme Positions The Mind-Body relationship has been an unsettled question both for science and philosophy. It has been a herculean task for both scientists and philosophers, who were greatly involved in unlocking the issue of the relationship between mind and body. There are two sets of opposing ideologies proposed; namely dualism and physicalism. Most of the philosophers are divided on their opinions hence this issue seeks our utmost attentions. Here we shall examine these two positions in detail and see why we need to go beyond these divisions. As part of this session, 1.3 deals with substance dualism and property dualism and 1.4 tries to examine the critical appraisal of the mind body relationship. The second part begins in 1.5 which deals with physicalism. Let us begin with dualism. 1.3 Dualism Dualism simply means a condition of being double. It comes from the Latin word duo meaning two which denotes a state of two parts.  [12]  It was originally coined to highlight the co-eternal binary position; for example good and evil, body and mind, mental and material, dark and light etc. It is supported by several arguments.  [13]  In philosophy it is a world view that the world consists of or is explicable as two fundamental entities, such as body and mind, the condition of being double or duality.  [14]  From the point of theology, it speaks about that human being having two basic natures, the physical and spiritual. There are two kinds of dualism- substance dualism and property dualism. 1.3.1 Substance Dualism The substance dualism sees mind and body as two distinct and separate substances.  [15]  Several philosophers like Plato, Thomas Aquinas and Renà © Descartes too held a similar view. They see mind as something that is diametrically opposing body. The attribute of body is extension but at the same time they see that the body is passive; whereas the mind is thinking, active and free. The two substances are absolutely distinct and mind is without extension. Those who hold dualism say that they have a clear and distinct idea of themselves in so far as they are only a thinking and un-extended thing.  [16]  The distinction between body as material and mind as immaterial substance becomes a crucial point of discussion in substance dualism because they differ not only in kind but also in nature and degree. However it is a compelling concept because it gives us a hope of personal survival after death and also many religions hold this theory very dear to them.  [17]  We can see th is distinction in Indian philosophy too. The Sankhaya philosophy holds that there are two entities; namely Purusha  [18]  and Prakrti  [19]  which are the two constitutive elements of the world. However dualism is more clearly and intelligibly spelled by the western thinkers. Now we shall discuss briefly about two predominant philosophers: Plato, from the ancient schools and Renà © Descartes, from the modern thinkers, who represent the rest of the dualistic thinkers of their time. 1.3.1.1 Platonic Dualism Platonic Dualism can be seen very clear in Phaedo, one of his dialogues. In the dialogue, Plato accepts the two ultimate principles; namely body and mind. Here his dualism is metaphysical in nature because he deals with immortality of mind or soul.  [20]  He calls mind as soul.  [21]  For him, the mind is immortal and body is mortal.  [22]  The mind is the one which differentiates the living from the dead. He sees the body as a prison in which the soul is confined. In the imprisoned life, the mind is compelled to investigate the truth by means of the organs of perception of the body. Forms are universals and represent the essences of sensible particulars. Plato says that we do not see reality as a whole. We perceive equal things, but not equality itself. We perceive beautiful things but not beauty itself. To have insights into the pure essences of things, the mind must struggle to disassociate itself from the body as far as possible and turn its attention towards the cont emplation of not only to intelligible things but also to invisible things. Plato defines death as the separation of soul and body, and the state of being dead as state in which soul and body exist separately from one another.  [23]  Thus for Plato, the dualism of mind and body are opposite in nature. He establishes the distinction of mind and body by establishing the distinction between the immortality of mind and mortality of body. He proves the immortality of soul through Argument from Opposites, Argument from Recollection and the Argument from Affinity.  [24]  These three arguments are keys to establish his dualism. Plato defends his immortality of soul from the Argument from Opposites. He says that things that have an opposite come to be from their opposite. For example, if something comes to be taller, it must come to be taller from having been shorter; if something comes to be heavier, it must come to be so by first having been lighter. These processes can go in either direction. Similarly he says that dying comes from living, living must come from dying. Thus, we must come to life again after we die. During the interim between death and rebirth the soul exists apart from the body and has the opportunity to glimpse the Forms unmingled with matter in their pure and undiluted fullness. Thus the cycle of life goes on. The second defence for his immortality of soul is the Argument from Recollection. For Plato, soul must exist prior to birth because we can recollect things that could not have been learned in this life. According to Plato, we recognize unequal things and strive for equality. To notice inequality, we must comprehend what equality is. In order to know what equality is, we must have the prior knowledge so that we can understand the form of equality. Hence, the soul must have existed prior to birth to the form of equality.  [25]   The third defence for his immortality of soul is the Argument from Affinity. Plato claims that composite things are more liable to be destroyed than things that are simple. The forms  [26]  are true unities and therefore least likely ever to be annihilated. Further Plato says that invisible things such as forms are not apt to be disintegrated, whereas visible things are susceptible to decay and corruption. Since the body is visible and composite, it is subjected to decomposition. As against to body, the soul is invisible part of forms and purifies itself by having no more association with the body than necessary. Since the invisible things are the durable things, the soul, being invisible, must outlast the body. Further, soul becomes form-like immortal and survives the death of the body.  [27]  Through these three arguments Plato proves the immortality of soul or mind whereby he makes the distinction between body and mind; thus he proves the dualism. However Platos arguments are highly challenged even by his own disciple Aristotle. Firstly, the Argument from Opposites applies only to things that have an opposite and, as Aristotle notes, substances have no contraries.  [28]  Further, even if life comes from what is itself not alive, it does not follow that the living human comes from the union of a dead (i.e. separated) soul and a body. The principle that everything comes to be from its opposite via a two-directional process cannot hold up to critical scrutiny. Secondly, one becomes older from having been younger, there is no corresponding reverse process leading the older to become younger. If aging is a uni-directional process, perhaps dying is as well. The Arguments from Recollection and Affinity, on the other hand, presuppose the existence of forms and are therefore no more secure than the forms themselves. Thus these criticisms show that we cannot simply take the prior existence of soul as it is true. Therefore Platos und erstanding is more of metaphysical and bit of vague because there are several unanswered questions like things which have two different natures interact. At the same time we acknowledge, he has brought certain clarity in understanding dualism with clear proofs. Now we shall discuss the dualism proposed by Descartes. 1.3.1.2 Cartesian Dualism. Renà © Descartes is one of the modern Philosophers who has extensively dealt with dualism. For Descartes, body and mind are distinct substances and the immaterial mind is somehow associated with the material body.  [29]  Substance dualism gets more predominance in Cartesian dualism.  [30]  He says substance dualism goes along with the view that the identity of a person over time is constituted by the identity overtime of this substance, and in versions of the doctrine that countenance life after death, it is survival of this substance, often called soul perhaps along with certain memory and psychological continuities, that constitutes the survival of the person.  [31]  The idea that there is a fundamental difference in kind between the mind and body can be spelled out in two broadly different ways.  [32]  Descartes held that minds and bodies are substances of distinct kind that, in the case of living human beings, happen to be intimately related.  [33]  The disti nction between the body and mind is: the body is spacial, public and has material qualities; and mind is non-spacial, private and has distinctively mental qualities. By spacial, he means that it occupies some space and time for its existence. It is public which means it is visible and we can experience it. When he says that the body has material qualities, he means that it has several qualities by which the substance expresses itself and reveals it to others and through which we come to know the things.  [34]  Firstly, in contrast to body, the mind occupies no space therefore it can be anywhere at any time. In short it is beyond space and time. Secondly it possesses mental qualities of life feeling, perceiving, experience joys and sorrows of life etc. Thirdly the mind is private because we cannot perceive it.  [35]  Descartes believes that the world is made up of substances. A substance is not a thing as we think like water or coal, or paint. For Descartes substance is an in dividual thing or an entity. He says that substances are different; they are complex. He gives importance to human being and his/her rationality. He claimed that, human rationality could not be a physical process.  [36]   The dualism of Descartes sounds good; however, there are certain conceptual difficulties and seemingly insurmountable problems. One of the crucial issues is the interaction of mind-body which is totally opposing each other in nature and kind. If minds are as distinct from material things as Descartes claims, it seems at least paradoxical: how can then the two sorts of substances interact. In this case property dualism seems to solve some of the problems which substance dualism cannot. 1.3.2 Property Dualism Property dualism maintains that mind is not only one kind of physical substance, having physical or behavioral-material-functional properties but also nonphysical behaviorally-materially-functionally in-eliminable and irreducible properties.  [37]  The advantage of property dualism over substance dualism is that it avoids the casual interaction problem because this theory has no need to countenance causal interaction between material and immaterial or spatial and non-spatial substance, since it admits only that there is only material substance.  [38]  It also need not appeal to Gods divine abilities in order to account for mind-body interaction or the objectivity of the perceived world. It has an edge over materialism that it provides for the intuitive distinction between body and mind by positing a difference in their properties, and especially in the metaphysical categories of their properties. Property dualism holds that without both properties, we cannot satisfactorily ex plain the psychological phenomena. The in-eliminable and irreducible properties are said to be essential to mind because they are responsible for experience, feeling, object directionality and intentionality of psychological states.  [39]  This property dualism could be understood in three ways; namely Theory of Attribute, Anomalous Monism and Non-reductive materialism. 1.3.2.1 Theory of Attribute The first way of understanding the property dualism is through Spinozas theory of attribute. Attributes are part of Spinozas metaphysics.  [40]  For Spinoza God is the only Substance since Gods essence involves existence. He says that, God exists and, moreover, only God can fulfill the conditions for substance, therefore there can be only one substance.  [41]  It is a mistake to assert that mind and body as substances because they are not fully self-subsistent, but are dependent modes or manifestations of God. For him, A true substance must be that which contains within itself, as part of its essence, the complete explanation of its nature and existence.  [42]  This God has infinite attributes. But human being can know only two attributes; they are namely thought and extension. By attribute what Spinoza understands is that the intellect perceives substance as constituting its essence. For him, the attribute of thought is attached to mind and extension to the body. He says that the object of idea constituting the human mind is the body which is certain mode of extension. He says that Therefore, the minds power of understanding extends only as far as that which this idea of the body contains within itself, or which follows there from. Now this idea of the body involves and expresses no other attributes of God than extension and thought.  [43]  This attribute enables us to understand and talk about an extended world and a thinking world in terms of which we understand bodies and minds. He partly invented this theory of attribute for the sake of solving an outstanding question raised by Descartes philosophy of mind. If the mind is, or belongs to, a separate substance from that of the body, then how does the body-mind interact? In order to avoid the problem, Spinoza considered that mind and body is one and the same thing under the attribute of extension and thought. Though the Cartesian notion of dualism was logical, it had constant problems. It coul d not substantially explain the relationship between substance constructed as individual and substance constructed as matter or stuff. But Spinozas explanation came very close to a satisfactory theory.  [44]   1.3.2.2 Anomalous Monism Anomalous monism is proposed by Donald Davidson, who is an American pragmatist. Anomalous monism is a philosophical thesis about the mind- body relationship. This theory has twofold divisions; namely mental and physical.  [45]  It states that mental events are identical with physical events. Events are causes in virtue of the properties that they instantiate, unless mental properties and physical properties are also identified, questions about the causal redundancy of the mental reappear at the level of properties.  [46]  But Davidson says that the mental events are anomalous, that is to say these mental events are not regulated by strict physical laws. Hence, he proposed an identity theory of mind without the reductive bridge laws associated with the type-identity theory. He understands the ontological nature of the relationship of mental events especially propositional attitudes with physical actions. Davidson accepts that there is ontology of events where events, which may seem to be opposed to objects or states of affairs, are the fundamental, irreducible entities of the mental and physical universe. He also believes that event-individuation must be done on the basis of causal powers. He further argues in favour of the individualization of events on the basis of spatio-temporal localization. According to this view, all events are caused by and cause other events and for him this is the defining characteristics of what an event is. The important aspect of Davidsons ontology of events for anomalous monism is that an event has an indefinite number of properties or aspects. He says that a very simple physical action like switching on a light has a large variety of mental events especially reasoning; for example recognizing the need of light, making a choice to switch on etc. For Davidson, a particular reason causes a particular action. Thus it explains that reasons are causes and actions are effects of the causal efficacy of the mental events.  [47]   However there are also people who are highly critical about it. One of the criticisms about the anomalous monism is whether mental events are ever causes of physical events in virtue of their mental properties. Gibb says that If the mental properties of a mental event do make a causal difference, then unless one admits systematic causal over determination, this is to violate the causal closure principle, for according to it an events physical properties are sufficient for the causal effects that event has within the physical domain.  [48]  It is otherwise the mental properties of an event make no causal difference to the physical effects that the event has, then mental properties have the status of epiphenomena. He observes that Consequently, to identify mental events with physical events whilst distinguishing mental properties from physical properties are not to remove but merely to relocate the problem of mental causation.  [49]  For this reason, the non-reductive physicali st who identifies token mental events with physical events but maintains a property dualism can plausibly be accused of property epiphenomenalism. Secondly a strict law cannot be formulated in the same terms as the causal claim because causally related events must have descriptions under which they instantiate a strict law. Similarly, the causal claim and the relevant covering law cannot be formulated in purely mental terms because any mental event that causes a physical event must be characterizable in physical terms and therefore be physical. Hence, mental events are physical events. On the other hand, as there are no strict psychophysical laws that would support the reduction of mental concepts to physical concepts, anomalous monism leads to the rejection of any conceptual reduction.  [50]   1.3.2.3 Non-reductive Materialism Non-reductive materialism represents the current orthodoxy in Western Philosophy thinking about the ontological status of the mind. The proponents of non-reductive materialism hold that the mental is ontologically part of the material world; yet, mental properties are causally efficacious without being reducible to physical properties.  [51]  Even though the mind itself is really physical, our mentalist explanatory scheme is not reducible to physics but is instead autonomous. They hold both irreducibility of the mind as well physical nature of the mind as realism. They are also arguing that they are fundamentally unstable combination. The non-reductionist distinguishes mental kinds from physical kinds, where the mental includes sensation and thought, and the physical is roughly the domain of the physical sciences, including neurophysiology. But those who oppose it say that the whole question of explanatory autonomy became a topical philosophical issue which threatened the reducti onism because there was a general acceptance of materialist theories. It was broadly a metaphysical doctrine. It would seem to follow that all phenomena are susceptible to physical explanation, and if this is true then what can the ontological status be of those concepts, categories and theories which fall outside the domain of the physical sciences?  [52]  Then the non-reductive materialist may have to give up all pretense of having a realist view of mental terms, giving up all talk of real but non-physical mental properties. It seems that you cannot combine Physicalism with realism about the mental and at the same time hold out for the autonomy of the mental. However non-reductive materialism could be still seen as fundamentally a stable position. 1.4 An Appraisal of Mind-Body Relations Though Descartes argues for the mind-body dualism,  [53]  the sort of dualism for which he argues, entails certain conceptual difficulties and seemingly insuperable problems. The main difficulty with mental activity is that, as Descartes understands them, how do the mind and matter interact. If minds are as distinct from material things as Descartes claims, it seems at least paradoxical that the two sorts of substances should interact. The question of the relation between the mental and the physical can be posed equivalently as about mental and ph

Redwall Book Report Essay -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Redwall is about a young mouse named Matthias. He lived in an abbey called Redwall. Redwall was a nice, peaceful place until a rat called Cluny the Scourge came with his horde and tried to take it over. The night before the citizens of Redwall knew that Cluny was coming, Matthias and Brother Alf had caught a giant fish that was big enough to feed all of the animals inside of Redwall so they had a big feast. When Matthias and Constance the badger were taking some of the animals who lived outside of the abbey home, they saw Cluny and his horde rolling past in a hay cart so they went back to the abbey to warn everyone. Cluny took one of the empty houses to use as his camp site until he took over the abbey. The Abbot agreed to meet with Cluny to see what he wanted but Cluny wanted Redwall to use as his fortress. Cluny said that the citizens of Redwall could surrender or die. The Abbot Refused to surrender and Cluny left to think of a way to capture the abbey. On his way out of the abbey, Cluny saw a tapestry of Martin the warrior. Cluny had a nightmare about Martin that night which made Cluny scared. Cluny had one of his men called Shadow try to sneak in to Redwall and try and steal the tapestry. Shadow is a half ferret, half rat and is completely black. Shadow snuck in without any problem but Matthias got in the way and ended up pushing Shadow off of the abbey wall. Cluny was waiting at the bottom and he got the tapestry of Martin and left Shadow to die. Matthias snuck out to steal the tapestry back from Cluny. On his way he met Basil the rabbit. Basil told Matthias he would help Matthias get the Tapestry back. Matthias snuck past the guards and Basil ran around the guards to get them away from the tents. Matthias heard someone calling for help in one of the tents so he went to find out who it was. It was the vole family. They had been missing since Cluny came. Matthias had to help them escape instead of finding the tapestry. While Matthias was out attempting to get the tapestry back, Cluny had launched his first attack against Redwall. Cluny’s horde tried attacking the abbey by slinging rocks at the mice on the wall and shooting arrows at them. The rats were losing horribly so Cluny came up with another plan. He had some of his army climb up a tree that was high enough for them to get up onto the wall. The oldest mouse in Redw... ...giving out meals to the soldiers on the wall, she saw the siege tower pop out of the forest right next to the wall. She was surprised and accidentally threw her lamp onto to the tower which sent it up into flames. All the rats ran back to their camp. Cluny had captured a family of field mice and sent the father in to unlock the abbey’s gates. If he refused, Cluny would kill his family. The guards let him in and later during the night, the father field mouse unlocked the gate. All of Cluny’s horde snuck into Redwall and tied everyone up. Just as Cluny was going to kill the Abbot, Matthias came back with one thousand sparrow warriors and five hundred of the Guerrilla Union of Shrews. Matthias fought with Cluny and ended up cutting the abbey’s big bell and it fell on Cluny. The sparrows and the Guerrilla Union of Shrews had more than enough animals to defeat the rats. Cluny had mortally wounded Abbot Mortimor and he was dying. Before he died he said that Brother Alf would become the next Abbot, Matthias would become the champion of Redwall and Matthias would marry Cornflower. All of those things happened and Matthias and Cornflower had a baby named Mattimeo. Kevin Frasier 4/17/05

Paper -- essays research papers

In the 1790s members of the industry in both Paris and London were working on inventions to try to mechanise paper-making. In England John Dickenson produced the cylinder machine that was operational by 1809. Although useful for smaller enterprises, this lacked the large scale potential of the machine resulting from the invention of Nicholas-Louis Robert in Paris, which had a more complicated incubation period. The last of the early improvements to this machine were financed by the Fourdrinier brothers in London, and it was after these brothers that the machine was named. The Fourdrinier could produce paper of virtually any size for the very first time, limited only by the width of the continuous wire mesh upon which the paper was made. It has been estimated that this machine could produce 40,680 14"x 18" sheets in 12 hours - the production equivalent of 8 hand-operated vats - thus reducing the price of some papers by about two-thirds. A watershed had been reached which le d to a rapid increase in other mechanical developments and improvements.The change-over to new technologies was, however, gradual. A few mills using the old hand-made methods continued to function until relatively recently. One mill, Wookey Hole in Somerset, still operates on a small scale but this is largely for tourist purposes. This is slightly counterbalanced by one or two new hand-operated mills that have opened in recent years.The scarcity of paper-making materials had been a problem from th...

Colonists and Indians Fight for Mutual Interests on the American Fronti

Colonists and Indians Fight for Mutual Interests on the American Frontier Since the settling of the English colonies in the early 17th century, pioneers have been destined to expand into the North American frontier and to domesticate it with their Christian faith and progressive nature. In their exploration of the frontier, however, the Puritan colonists often encountered Indians whose savagery challenged their discipline and morals. Just as the colonists expanded, Indians also saw their native lands of many years vanish. The situation naturally compelled the Puritans and the Indians to fight each other for their mutual interests. Thus, while most accounts of Western history focus on the heathen threat, both Indians and colonists experienced the harshness of the captivity myth and its evolution into other mythology that defined American history. Any discussion of the American culture and its development has to include mythology, because that is where most of the information about early America is found. Mythology is a unique source in that it gives a shared understanding that people have with regard to some aspect of their world. The most important experience for American frontiersmen is the challenge to the â€Å"myth of the frontier† that they believed in – â€Å"the conception of America as a wide-open land of unlimited opportunity for the strong, ambitious, self-reliant individual to thrust his way to the top.† (Slotkin, 5) In particular, the challenge came from Indians and from the wilderness that they inhabited. The colonists who first arrived in America came to this land because they saw an opportunity to regenerate their religion and to live according to it without subjugation. The immense size of the land sugge... ...ard expansion, a person finds information about the essence of American culture. Though the English colonists came to America expecting to renew their lives through the Puritan faith, they instead found their faith and, indeed, their very society in danger from the heathen Indian presence in the surrounding wilderness. But while the Indians threatened the core of the colonials’ lives, the presence of the colonists and their westerly expansion threatened the lives and land that the Indians had held for many years. American history thus began in violence that has no single source, but rather is derived from the Puritans and Indians both fighting for and protecting their mutual interests and desires. Works Cited Slotkin, R. Regeneration Through Violence: The Mythology of the American Frontier 1600-1860. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1973.

Movie Review of Maria Full of Grace and De Nadie Essay

Maria Full of Grace is a film by Joshua Marston revealing drug trafficking world. The desperation of people sue to poverty is depicted well in this movie Columbian drug lords use mules to transport cocaine to the U. S. Mules are actually humans used to carry drugs to be transported to other countries without being detected. The mechanism is through the ingestion of capsules containing the product and stores it in the mule’s stomach, after which it will be expelled. Many people are attracted to this type of job because the drug lords will try to convince you that the job is easy plus it involves a large amount of money in exchange of your service to them. However, if any of the drug products was lost during the transport, you will have to deal with the brutal consequences and it means exchange of your life or your family’s life as the mules are no more important as any other plastic containers (Berardinelli, 2004, p. n. pag. ). Maria, performed by Catalina Sandino Moreno is a 17-year old young girl who hates her job as a â€Å"de-thorner† in a factory. Her family that includes her mother, grandmother, and unmarried sister however relies on Maria’s salary to survive. Maria then quits her lifeless job and finds out that she is pregnant but her boyfriend refuses to marry her. After this devastating event of her life, she accepted the offer a man gave her to be a mule of the Columbian-New York run. Together with two young girls Blanca (Yenny Paola Vega), and Lucy (Guilied Lopez), Maria thought the job was easy and was blinded by the money she will earn in this type of job. In addition, Lucy grabs the opportunity to go to New York to reunite with her sister. The three girls were not forced to be in this kind of business; they chose their own path because of their greed and need for money. They thought of United States as their only way out of poverty especially Maria as she prepares herself for her unborn unwanted child (Berardinelli, 2004, p. n. pag. ). The dramatization built by Marston in the film is flawless as he developed each character. The story is very moving as it is very realistic because of the increasing poverty in third-world countries. Moreno gives a memorable performance as she flawlessly portrayed Maria as a hopeless, desperate and selfish girl who greed for money (Berardinelli, 2004, p. n. pag. ). De Nadie Another documentary film showing the desperation of people driven by poverty is De Nadie. This film directed by Tim Dirdamal brings us to the world of migrants from South America looking for a way to enter North America. They believe that migration to the United States is the only way to get rid of poverty. However, their search for a route is often illegal and migrates from the Central America who initially has to cross Mexico before going to United States are given less attention (Coupeau, 2006, p. n. pag. ). The process of migration is by a fast moving cargo train crossing the Mexican territory. However, many aspiring migrants die or amputated as they fall and pushed off the fast moving train. This unimaginable risk is taken by those people as a solution to their miserable poor life. Se Maria, a Honduran migrant whose life was changed after seeking help in the hands of a group of Mexican nuns who conducted a fund raising activity using raffle draws. Madres de la Patrona gave food to the immigrants taking risks to enter United States (Coupeau, 2006, p. n. pag. ). . Compare and Contrast Both films are political as they expose the desperation of many people in order to escape poverty. The directors are not biased in their portrayal of poverty and the hopelessness and greed of people for money. Also, the aspiration of many people from all countries to go to United States is because of their belief that when you go to U. S, poverty will go away. What they don’t know is due to global crisis, many people in the U. S are now unemployed and also experiencing financial problems. Both Maria Full of Grace and De Navie showed that people’s principles are easily swayed when money is involved. The natural greed of humans to money made the characters Maria, Blanca and Lucy of Maria Full of Grace and Maria of De Navierisk their lives. They took what they though the one chance that will get them out of their miserable lives. Also, both are very realistic films since it cannot be denied that drug trafficking and illegal immigrations are two of the most known illegitimate money-making businesses. Both films showed that no one is to be blamed other than yourself because it was shown in both movies that no one forced the characters to enter drug trafficking and illegal immigration. Although they are both victims of poverty, they are not innocent victims of drug trafficking and illegal immigration. I find Maria Full of Grace more moving than De Navie since more lives are ruined in drug trafficking than in illegal immigration. Drug trafficking is a more serious problem in that the mules that act as carriers of drugs doesn’t realize that they are tolerating the business that ruins many lives and families. Bibliography Berardinelli, J. (2004). Maria Full of Grace. Retrieved May 2, 2010, from http://www. reelviews. net/movies/m/maria_full. html Coupeau, D. S. (2006, August 2006). Alterinfos America Latina. Retrieved May 2, 2010, from http://www. alterinfos. org/spip. php? article465

Hubspot Case Study

Case Study: HubSpot 1. ** Do you agree with HubSpot that the â€Å"rules of marketing† have changed? If so, how? Is inbound marketing the answer? Why or why not? 1. I do agree with HubSpot that the â€Å"rules of marketing† have changed. But I do not think that the position of traditional outbound marketing will be totally replaced by inbound marketing. Inbound marketing is a type of marketing strategy through Internet that focuses on getting the qualified custom’ attention and attracting them to find out and learn about what they want and what they need.Companies using inbound marketing strategies relied on market research methods to gain and analyze the information about interests and needs of customers. In contrast, traditional outbound marketing strategies increase a company’s awareness and brand image by all kinds of advertising and promotional activities (such as TV commercials, print advertisements, direct marketing, etc) to find and attract custome rs. With the coming of the era of Web 2. 0, Internet usage becomes more and more common.As a result, inbound marketing contents (like blogs, videos, eBooks, and so on), SEO, and other online marketing and social media platforms will definitely support inbound marketing to become a very important type of marketing strategy. However, I think there will still be some room for outbound marketing in the future since it’s the basement of all kinds of marketing approaches. So I think the mix of inbound and outbound marketing will be the main trend for most companies during the era of Web 2. 0. 2. ** Is HubSpot finding and serving the right set of customers?Given its position as a start-up company, should it widen its focus to serve any customer that comes its way? Or narrow its target, by focusing exclusively on either Owner Ollies or Marketing Marys? Or by focusing exclusively on either B2B or B2C customers? 2. As a start-up company, in my opinion, HubSpot should narrow its target since they have relatively limited resources. Between the choices of Owner Ollies and Marketer Marys, HubSpot can choose one as their exclusive target during their start-up period.In spite the fact that Marketer Marys had more needs of HubSpot’s services and more money to spend on products like HubSpot, Owner Ollies accounts for 73% percent of total customers. Although the profit after acquiring Owner Ollies is much more, Marketer Marys are easier and cheaper to reach and more likely to acquire. As a start-up company, HubSpot needed more money and resources to get started and develop. So, in my opinion, they can narrow their target to Marketer Marys at first. 5. ** Halligan and Shah want HubSpot to be marketing what salesforce. com is to sales. What would your plan of action be to make this happen?Why would you take these actions? What keeps you up at night about your plan? 5. What I concerns the most about HubSpot is that it is facing the threat of competitions from larger a nd more established companies providing similar services. To make HubSpot at the position in marketing field as Salesforce. com in sales field, it is necessary to realize and learn about the competitions in the market. In my opinion, HubSpot needs to quickly go through the start-up period and enlarge to a certain size. Thus, they can expand their target much more widely, and then play to their advantages.