Utilitarianism Essays (1113 words) - Utilitarianism,

Utilitarianism John Stuart Mill suggests that a person's ethical decision-making process should be based solely upon the amount of happiness that the person can receive. Although Mill fully justifies himself, his approach lacks certain criteria for which happiness can be considered. Happiness should be judged, not only by pleasure, but by pain as well. This paper will examine Mill's position on happiness, and the reasoning behind it. Showing where there are agreements and where there are disagreements will critique the theory of Utilitarianism. By showing the problems that the theory have will reveal what should make up ethical decision-making. John Stuart Mill supports and explains his reasoning in his book, Utilitarianism. Mill illustrates the guidelines of his theory. Mill defines utilitarianism as the quest for happiness. His main point is that one should guide his or her judgements by what will give pleasure. Mill believes that a person should always seek to gain pleasure and reject pain. Utilitarianism also states that the actions of a person should be based upon the"greatest happiness principle". This principle states that ethical actions command the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number of people. Mill further explores the need for pleasure by noting "a being of higher faculties requires more to make him happy." . He acknowledges that some pleasures are more alluring than others are. He adds to this by making known that when placing value in things to calculate pleasure, not only quantity important but quality as well. Mill's criteria for happiness is easily understood, some statements that he gives are questionable. John Stuart Mill plainly laid out what he believes that the basis for ethical decision-making. First, the pursuit of pleasure is directly related to happiness. This idea can be easily accepted. It is natural for a person to focus his goals on things that will bring him pleasure. It would be absurd if someone's goal in life was to be poor and starving. This being said, it does not mean that people are only happy due wealth but that no one's goals are focused on poverty. Although there are many issues that can be agreeable with Mill, there are problems that exist with his theory of utilitarianism. First, Mill says that all ethical decisions should be based on pleasure. This statement becomes questionable when Mill states that pleasure is the sole requirement for happiness. Pain indirectly effects happiness. Pain is an indirect factor because is not the object of one's happiness, but is an obstacle which one must overcome to gain it. If one is to avoid all pain in his or her life, then how will that person truly know what true pleasure feels like? True pleasure comes only after experiencing pain. If a person always wins a race, does he or she feel true pleasure each time they win or does it turn into a feeling that they come to expect? If there is a person who loses races constantly, will his happiness be greater when he finally wins? The rewards and pleasures of the second person would greatly outweigh the feelings of happiness the first had because he or she knows how it feels to be defeated. The second person knows the pain that is received because of failure so when he when he will recognize the joy and pleasure that comes with winning. Using this same setting, would it be better for the second person to run in races filled with people who are not matched in skill just so he may always win or should he or she race individuals who are equally matched? Although the first would produce pleasure, the second example would yield the greater amount of pleasure due to the understanding that the competition was evenly matched. Both of these examples show that pain can ultimately cause pleasure, and in some cases the presence of pain will increase the feeling of happiness. Another point were there is disagreement is when Mill justifies the pursuit of pleasure by saying "actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness; wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness." This statement is not universally true. People have different perspectives, what is pleasure for one could be pain for another. Who is right and is wrong? A problem evolves because there is no set definition pertaining to what is pleasurable therefore right and painful therefore wrong. The final disagreement with Utilitarian states that if someone saves a person who is drowning, the rescuer did what is morally right even if his

What Are Human Rights

What Are Human Rights One of the most peculiar aspects of a post-industrial living is that, as of today, just about every socially prominent politician in the West considers itself an ‘expert on human rights’ and refers the concept of human rights, as such that represents an objective truth-value.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on What Are Human Rights? specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Partially, this can be explained by the fact that the classical definitions of human rights suggest the concept’s perceptual and implicational universality, which in turn implies that one’s endowment with a particular ‘human right’ should not be substantiated rationally, but rather ‘felt’ emotionally. As Cranston (1973, p. 36) pointed out, â€Å"A human right by definition is a universal moral right†¦ something of which no one may be deprived without a grave affront to justice, something which is owin g to every human being simply because he is human†. In fact, the belief that all humans are equally entitled to certain rights, within the society, served as a discursive foundation for the introduction of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) by the U.N., according to which, â€Å"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood† (UDHR 1948, Article 1). Nevertheless, even though that nowadays the concept of ‘human rights’ is being commonly discussed, as such that applies to all people, regardless of what happened to be the specifics of their ethno-cultural affiliation and their varying ability to act as the agents of progress, this is far from being the actual case. After all, it is not only that throughout the course of history, the concept of human rights has been referred to, as such that applies to only certain groups of individuals, but that the objective socio-political realities create dialectical prerequisites for this concept to be used by Western countries to justify their continual geopolitical domination in the world.Advertising Looking for essay on political sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This is exactly the reason why, as of today, we usually get to hear of people’s ‘human rights’ being abused, within the context of how Western countries (particularly the U.S.) go about rationalizing their decisions to resort to a military intervention, as the mean of ‘defending democracy’ in the de facto sovereign states. Therefore, there is nothing too surprising about the fact that, even though that the universality of people’s ‘human rights’ has been officially declared by the international community members, as far back as in 1948, there is very little uniformity to ho w this concept is being applied in practice. The reason for this is apparent – whereas, there is indeed a good rationale in thinking that the idea of ‘human rights’ does appeal to people on an unconscious level, not all of these people can be regarded humans, in the societal sense of this word. Let us explore the validity of this statement at length. When it comes to elaborating on what should be considered a discursively legitimate definition of ‘human rights’, it is important to understand that the concept in question cannot be referred to in terms of a ‘thing in itself’. That is, at first people evolved to the point of being able to recognize their basic humanity, and only then they realized themselves being in a position to coin the term ‘human rights’. What does make one human? It is the same that allowed the representatives of Homo Sapiens species to attain an undisputed dominance in their environmental niche, which no w accounts for the whole planet Earth – their ability to operate with highly abstract subject matters (intellect). Being endowed with intellect, people are able to act as the agents of civilization/progress, which in turn allows them to create societies and to ensure these societies’ effective functioning. Thus, in order for just about anyone to be considered eligible of taking a practical advantage of ‘human rights, he or she must be able to prove its humanness socially.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on What Are Human Rights? specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In its turn, this would require the concerned individual to attest his or her endowment with, â€Å"1. Capacity to reason; 2. capacity to act for normative reasons, including moral reasons; 3. capacity to act autonomously; 4. capacity to engage in complex social relationships† (Bernat 2008, p. 8). In other words, it is specifically the individuals capable of pushing forward a socio-cultural progress, which may be considered human, in the full sense of this word. Hence, the first discursive provision to how I think the concept of ‘human rights’ should be defined – the notion of a ‘right’ derives out of the notion of a ‘power’, rather out of the notion of a ‘morality/ethics’. This is why it is wrong to believe that one can simply be assigned with certain rights, without qualifying to possess these rights, in the first place. Rights are not given but taken (Pagden 2003). This is the reason why it is methodologically fallacious to assume that animals or unborn human fetuses can have ‘rights’ – it is not only the above-mentioned may have no understanding, as to what the concept of a ‘right’ stands for, but they would never be able to defend any of their hypothetical ‘rights’, even in theory. The second provision is that the notion of a ‘right’ must be discussed in conjunction with the notion of an intellectual advancement. After all, it is specifically people’s ability to indulge in abstract philosophizing, which allowed them to coin up the term ‘humanity’, in the first place. This once again suggests that it is conceptually inappropriate advocating the universality of human rights, without taking into consideration the qualitative psychological characteristics of those individuals, to which the concept of ‘human rights’ supposedly applies. The third provision is that, contrary to what nowadays is being commonly assumed, the earlier mentioned concept (in its contemporary sounding) did not come about because of the humanity’s ways having been turned thoroughly ethical/moral.Advertising Looking for essay on political sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Rather, it emerged because the concept’s advocates, which overwhelmingly consist of Westerners (Whites), came to realize that, on order for them to be able to continue exploiting the world’s natural and human resources, they need to have a legally legitimate excuse to meddle in the internal affairs of non-Western countries. In other words, the objective laws of history naturally predetermined the concept of ‘human rights’ to serve realist rather than constructivist purposes. What has been said earlier allows us to formulate a discursively sound definition of human rights. Human rights are the legally enforced civil liberties, to which the members of most evolutionary advanced societies happened to be entitled by the very fact that, due to their socio-economic and technological advancement, they can enjoy the luxury of not having to participate in the tribal ‘war of everybody against everybody’, as the mean of ensuring their physical survival. This definition, of course, implies that there is indeed a good reason in limiting the ‘universality’ of humans rights to encompass only those, which due to the genetically predetermined specifics of their ‘mental wiring’, are able to comprehend the concept, in general, and its discursive implications, in particular. Qualifying people for the entitlement to human rights will not represent much of a challenge. Since one’s ability to function as the society’s productive member (and consequently, the extent of his or her ‘humanness’) reflects the concerned person’s rate of IQ, it will be logical to assume that it is only the individuals with the IQ rate higher than 70, to which the concept of ‘human rights’ applies. Given the fact that, as sociologists are being well aware of, in some world’s countries the average rate of citizens’ IQ is measured to be as low as 50 (Lynn Vanhanen 2002), people that reside in these countries cannot be considered the de facto part of humanity. Consequently, the concept of ‘human rights’ cannot apply to these people, by definition. Even though that the earlier suggestion may be deemed ‘racist’, it nevertheless correlates perfectly well with the actual state of affairs in the arena of international politics. For example, during the course of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, which resulted in the deaths of at least one million people, Western countries adopted a ‘neutral’ stance the violation of Rwandans’ ‘human rights’ did not concern these countries at all. Had Rwanda been rich in natural resources, this would have been an entirely different matter (Kimpimaki 2011). Thus, it would only be appropriate to conclude this paper by reinstating once again that the presumed ‘universality’ of human rights is nothing but a myth, just as it is being the case with the theoretical paradigm, ou t of which this myth originated – the assumption of people’s universal equality. This is the reason why, if not adjusted to the earlier mentioned provisions, the concept of ‘human rights’ will continue to emanate a strong spirit of hypocrisy. References Bernat, E 2008, ‘Which Beings Should Be Entitled to Human Rights?’, Medical Law International, vol. 9 no. 1, pp. 1-12. Cranston, M 1973, What are human rights?, Bodley Head, London. Kimpimaki, M 2011, ‘Genocide in Rwanda is it really Finlands concern?’, International Criminal Law Review, vol. 11 no. 1, pp. 155-176. Lynn, R Vanhanen, T 2002, IQ and the wealth of nations. Westport, Greenwood Publishing Group. Pagden, A 2003, ‘Human rights, natural rights, and Europes imperial legacy’, Political Theory, vol. 31 no. 2, pp. 171-199. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948, https://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/index.html

Occupational Health and Safety Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Occupational Health and Safety - Essay Example Consequently, this may lead to injuries caused by human error. Once a person is exhausted, he or she requires time to rest in order for the mind to focus on the tasks at hand. The fatigue is often as a result of an employee overworking in order to get the favor of the management which pushes them to work beyond their limits (CCH Australia Limited., 2009). This results to overworking and hence getting tired. The other reason for occupational accidents is a tight working schedule which may force employees to work beyond their capacities just because the management has established tight deadlines. An overworking employee has often end up getting fatigued because their bodies work under tight pressure. A perfect example is whereby an employee working at a steel company is given a time duration of more than eight hours for the completion of a task. This is like using humans like robots. This will reduce his attention at his or her duties in the end he may accidentally place his hand in th e smelted steel thus causing body harm. The other cause of injuries at work place is stress which comes as a result of a poor working environment or problems at home (Burke, Clarke & Cooper, 2012). Stress at the workplace may be as a result of lack of payment or even delayed payment. For instance, a worker who was supposed to be paid within a week has had her payment delayed and has been anticipating it for over two weeks when management decides to make a lower amount of pay or even fails to do so without placing reasons. Obviously, the employee will experience stress because there are bills to be covered with little or no money. Stress may lead to less concentration during working hours and this may lead to workplace injuries in form of accidents from improper use of machines or even missed quality issues. Collision is the other cause of accidents in workplaces. The collision between people and machines or objects at the workplace may result in injuries. Such accidents may result f rom poor set up within the working environment which limits movement of people as well as machines. Equipment may be placed in positions that may cause collisions during movement. For instance, someone carrying a box while ascending the stairs may hit the roof because it is very low resulting in a fall (Burke, Clarke & Cooper, 2012). Statistics show that conflicts do occur at work place in that employee may fight at the long run this may lead to body arm to the affected parties. This makes work related fights as the other cause of injury in workplaces. If they are not stopped in the right manner it may attract more groups hence people getting involve. The other cause of injuries in is slips due to slippery ground they may result due to the companies’ structures. The other cause is the most famous ignorance; this may be as a result to ignorance of safety rules. The workers may find themselves being injured due to their ignorance. Measures should be taken in order to deal with the accidents (Burke, Clarke & Cooper, 2012). First the setting up the workplace in away that collusions and slips are minimized. The high of the roof should be high to avoid knocks. Second safety measures should be but in place in that protective clothing and gloves are worn to prevent spillage of chemicals that may corrode ones body. Also counseling should be done to deal with stress and depression by the employees. Lastly the company should adopt a culture

Business law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 7

Business law - Essay Example Stanford Engineering, Inc. is engaging Cornell Code Corporation in an unhealthy and unfair competition through advertising. Stanford Engineering, Inc. makes a false claim against Cornell Code Corporation through an advertising campaign that seeks to market competitive software products. As a result, Cornell is losing its sales to Stanford based on the false claim against it. Stanford can be held liable in a number of ways for injuring Cornell’s reputation in business. To start with, Cornell clearly understands that Stanford’s claim is untrue, but this has actually affected its sales negatively. Cornell is justified to file a lawsuit against the advertiser, which in this case is Stanford Engineering, Inc. This lawsuit would be set to forbid and restrict Stanford from using Cornell in its advertising activities. Stanford is likely to be asked to refrain from involving Cornell Company in its advertising strategies. On the same note, Stanford would be required to desist from making any reference to Cornell in its line of business and operations. In other words, Cornell can seek to have Stanford prohibited to make any reference to it. This can actually take the notion that Stanford cannot refer to Cornell as its competitor in form of advertising until the underlying dispute is resolved. Another ground upon which Cornell can sue Stanford is demanding of reimbursement of sales lost due to false advertising. Cornell has lost significant sales due to Cornell’s false claims. Cornell can sue Stanford for damages. Stanford’s false advertising has led to loss of sales to Cornell. Fair competition is governed and controlled by provisions of law. Through these laws, Stanford could be made to reimburse Cornell’s losses in sales. Cornell is losing sales to Stanford due to the ruined reputation in the market. Stanford could be sued for defamation. Stanford is tarnishing Cornell’s reputation in a

An Australian Luxury Fashion Accessories Company Essay

An Australian Luxury Fashion Accessories Company - Essay Example The paper "An Australian Luxury Fashion Accessories Company" talks about Australian Fashion Accessories Company. The report starts by outlining the historical background of the company which will be followed by an analysis of the company’s micro and macro environments in a bit to establish the degree to which these have an impact on the operations of the organisation. The main body of the report will focus on a critical analysis of the marketing strategy used particularly the current marketing mix in order to evaluate the effectiveness of this strategy. The last part of the report will look at the recommendations section where suggestions are given in order to improve the marketing offering of the chosen product or brand. â€Å"OrotonGroup Limited is a retailer, wholesaler and brand manager operating in Australia and the principal activities of the Company include retailing and wholesaling of leather goods, fashion apparel and related accessories under the OROTON and POLO RAL PH LAUREN labels, and licensing of the OROTON brand name.† Details about the historical background of the company can be viewed from its official website. This organisation is wholly owned subsidiary that includes OrotonGroup (Australia) Pty Limited, Polo Ralph Lauren Australia Pty Limited, OrotonGroup (New Zealand) Pty Limited, Macbray Pty Ltd, Marcs Wholesale Pty Ltd and Oroton Share Plan Company Pty Limited. The company operates approximately 60 retail stores and is listed on the Australian stock exchange. Critical analysis of Oroton’s Micro Environment According to Kotler & Armstrong (2004), the micro environment is comprised of actors close to the company such as suppliers, marketing intermediaries as well competitors while the macro environment consists of demographic, economic, technological as well as cultural factors. The first section of this analysis of the microenvironment is mainly going to look at the company’s competitive environment, its financial s as well as the structure of the business. According to Ibisworld (2010), the major competitors in the luxury brands industry include Luis Vuitton Australia Pty Ltd and Proud Jewellers Pty Ltd. Competition in the market is always a threat to the other actors operating in the industry given that they will be competing for market share. Oroton does not operate in a vacuum since it can be seen that the luxury brands industry is a bit different from other conventional industries. The company’s financials show an upward trend since 2007 according to Au Stocks (2011). This can be attributed to the management strategy that was adopted after the company had witnessed a decline in the revenue generated owing to decline in business. This is a major strength for the company. The company embarked on a drive to cut costs through laying some of the workers while at the same time offering affordable luxury brands. Another important factor about Oroton’s micro environment is that its structure is a typical brick and mortar model. This model mainly relies on linking the organisation directly to the customers through personal interaction but it can be noted that the organisation has also adopted e-commerce in its marketing strategy. However, a critical analysis of the factors characterising the micro economic environment of this organisation shows that the company is better positioned to operate viably in the market given that these factors do not pose serious challenges to it. The other advantage of this

Impact Of Cyclone Nargis In Myanmar Environmental Sciences Essay

Impact Of Cyclone Nargis In Myanmar Environmental Sciences Essay In May 2008, a very severe cyclonic storm1 named Nargis caused the worst national natural disaster in the history of Myanmar. It killed almost 80,000 people and thousands of people are still missing in this catastrophic event1. The devastating cyclone was initiated in the area of deep convection, which was established in the Bay of Bengal, in late May and then intensified rapidly into a severe cyclone with the action of warm water and upper-level tough1. This strong cyclone hit the coastal areas of Myanmar on May 2nd and brought serious damage to these areas. In this essay, the major factor that contributed to such a tremendous loss of life during the storm will be first discussed and then followed by the factors accounted for the great damage after the storm. The essay will be concluded with some issues regarding the choice of human being on the cyclones attack. High surge wave First and foremost, the high surge wave brought by the cyclone Nargis was the most significant cause for the great damage during storm. The massive surge which was triggered by cyclone swept away everything like houses, roads and other infrastructure on its way in the inland area1. The 12 feet high wave swept away and inundated 50 % of house in the low-lying area. At least 10,000 people in Bogalay had died because of the storm surge1, it is a town 50 miles southwest of Yangon. Flooding with several serious consequences The secondary effect was the flooding caused by surge in the low-lying area. Flooded sea water ruined the agriculture area and other residential places. The high salinity of sea water damaged the vegetations growth there as well. More importantly, the soil then became saltier which makes it unfavorable for the planting of vegetation and thus affected the food supply in affected area evermore. In addition, flooding caused the blockage of road and this further broke down the public transport network. People could hardly get through the flooded area and this caused inconvenience to people especially the elderly. Moreover, the electricity power lines were damaged and this led to electricity shortage in the low-lying area for about six to seven days. Furthermore, the wells used to be providing clean water were submerged by the sea water. As a result, the clean water systems were polluted. To conclude, the food, electricity and clean water could not be found in the coastal area of Myanmar and this lack of resources further deteriorated the situation. Due to the absence of these three basic survival elements for over four days, the number of the death kept on increasing to an unimaginable level. Satellite images of flooding In addition, the satellite image of Myanmar could demonstrate the destructive damage brought by flooding. In figure 2, it can be seen that rivers and lakes are sharply observed as there was a sharp boundary between them and both the vegetation and fallow agricultural area on April 15. The Irrawaddy River flows in the south direction and the Mouths of the Irrawaddy are formed by numerous distributaries 2. The deep blue green area near the shore was wetlands. Cyclone Nargis attacked directly the Mouths of the Irrawaddy and then moved to the northeast of coastline2. After 20 days, the coastal plain was flooded shown in figure 3. The agricultural areas had been totally destroyed and most of the coastal areas were covered by sea water. For instance, Yangon with population over 4 million was almost completely submerged by sea water whereas several large cities with population from 100,000 to 500,000 experienced large magnitude of flooding2. The flooding turned the coastal areas of Yangon i nto muddy places. Figure 2 NASAs Terra satellite- Burma coast on April 15, 2008, before the arrival of Tropical Cyclone Nargis Credit: http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/nargis_floods.html Figure 3 NASAs Terra satellite- Burma coast on May 5, 2008, Tropical Cyclone Nargis causes the devastation of flooding. Credit: http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/nargis_floods.html Strong wind Furthermore, the strong wind brought lots of damages to the Myanmar area. Cyclone Nargis was a strong Category 3 or minimal Category 4 hurricane with sustained winds of 130 mph and gusts of 150-160 mph3. The strong wind resulted in devastating damages to the environment. Since the area of Myanmar is very poor4, the houses were usually made only by thin woods instead of concrete. As the storm brought the strong wind to the coastal area, most of the houses were destroyed; it was because they could not withstand the high speed wind. More importantly, the wind would bring all the debris and broken woods especially those from the houses along its track. This particularly endangered human lives in that area, as the high speed flowing woods could possibly destroy any lives or properties along its way within a few seconds. Therefore, human lives as well as properties were destroyed in large scale under the influence of strong wind. Aya, near the Ayeyarwady estuary in Myanmar. Cyclone Nargis caused significant land loss and coastal erosion. (Credit: Hermann Fritz) Mudflow effect Last but not least, the mudflow was one of the factors causing large amount of death in Myanmar5. The heavy rainfall brought by the cyclones saturated the muddy area with water and thus pressure would be built up on the mud surface. When the combination of water pressure and gravity of the mud is larger than the resisting force, the high speed mudflow will occur. The mudflow which contained large amount of suspended particles and silt rushed into the coastal area, hence many residents of low-lying rice fields were simply swept away in Maynmar4. It was estimated the death has been to 140,000 cases or more. People were crashed with the broken woods in mudflow, swept away or suffered from suffocation4. Even worse, the mud flew on the coastal area prohibited the excavation of the buried people, making it more difficult. The mud blocked the transport network which presented a difficult challenge to disaster management; and would result in serious damages. Poor management of international relief From above, we have screened through the factors causing significant destruction during the passage of strong cyclone. Then, the discussion should move on to the factors of great damages after the storm. The blockage of international relief by the military government was a major reason for the great destruction of lives and properties6 after the storm. Many disaster assessment officials had to wait for few days in order to get the visa and enter area of Myanmar6. This further hindered the relief work as the international relief teams and private charity groups were not allowed to fully assess the situation. As the disaster could not be fully assessed, teams could not estimate the amount of relief materials and other supplies required promptly. Moreover, as mentioned before, Myanmar is a poor country which does not have enough relief technology and equipment to help rescue the buried people out of the mud flow. Due to the initial blockage from the military government, the internationa l relief team cannot enter the affected areas promptly. This delayed the time of the arrival of foreign relief teams and as a result, most of them arrived there after three days of the event. However, the survival time limit of human being buried in debris or even mud was only forty-eight hours and this increased the number of death. In fact, when the teams finally arrived, they could only do little as the golden period had passed through6. The International Federation is stepping up its efforts to get food and water to those most affected by cyclone Nargis. Credits: http://www.ifrc.org/Docs/News/08/08051202/index.asp Blockage of assess In addition, access was a challenge for the rescue teams to face. The United Nation estimated that there are 1.4 million of survived victims who need resources like food, clean water, medicine and shelter7. However, most of the flooded area could not be entered by trucks. Instead, the helicopters were required to transport the relief materials. The situation worsened because the Myanmar government was too poor to have enough helicopters. Moreover, it took time in sending extra helicopters from other countries. Eventually, the officers allowed the first of ten helicopters from the World Food Program to carry food and water supplies from Yangon into the delta after a 10-day delay. The other nine were en route to Myanmar7. Some people died out of starvation as the supplies reached the impact area only after the ten days delay. Secondary damages of flooding Besides, the tidal surge drove inland from the sea caused secondary damage to the cities of Myanmar8. Three quarters of livestock were killed and almost half the fishing fleets were sunk. Moreover, a million acres of rice paddies were salted by the seawater surges8. This flooding of seawater cut the local food supply and inundated the low-lying area. Water pipes and electricity power lines were destroyed that people had to survive through four days without electricity and clean water. Even worse, the flooded areas remained flooded for a week and the water was contaminated by the dead bodies. There was a clear lack of sanitation facilities for the 500 people. said by an officer from red cross9. People had no choices but needed to drink the polluted water in order to survive. This led to the spread of water-borne diseases like cHYPERLINK http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclosporiasisyclosporiasis and aHYPERLINK http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amoebiasismoebiasis. Reports of digestive tract d isorders and malaria were heard and one in five people was reported sick9. In addition, the lack of transport resulted in a shortage of medicine. When people got sick because of drinking unclean water, their situations would probably worsen and they may die eventually. This caused a viscous cycle. Cyclonic storm1 named Nargis was the worst national natural disaster on the history of Myanmar. Both the natural and human factors greatly worsen the impact brought by cyclone which caused lots of death and damages. Natural factors like high surge wave, mudflow and flooding reconstructed the low-lying area of Myanmar; whereas human factors like poor preparation for the cyclone and delay of the relief teams further worsened the situation and increased the number of the death and damages of properties. The coastal low-lying area of Myanmar originally had fertile soil and favors agriculture10. However, after the storm, all the agriculture areas were inundated by flood water; and the farmers lost all their farming products in three hours10. The power of nature cannot be modified by human being and this can be well demonstrated by the example that cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar. Unfortunately, people had to earn money so they chose to stay there. On the other hand, Hong Kong, as an Asian c ity also, is always sheltered. Hong Kong people probably never give a serious thought on what will happen if this typhoon hit our city instead. Some of us might even hope that the typhoons could attack Hong Kong directly so that there will be no working or school days. Hong Kong is a safe place that no one can remember the destructive typhoon and it leads to our neglect of unfortunate disaster elsewhere in the world. Should we change our attitude and understand more about how people suffer in the other part of world; and ultimately show more care to the unfortunate ones?

God Exists :: Descartes Philosophy Religion Essays

God Exists The existence of God has been a question since the idea of God was conceived Descartes tries to prove God's existence, and to show that there is without a doubt something external to ones own existence. He is looking for a definite certainty, a foundation for which he can base all of his beliefs and know that they are true. Descartes' overall project is to find a definite certainty on which he can base all his knowledge and beliefs. Descartes attacks the principles that support everything he believes with his Method of Doubt. The Method of Doubt is Descartes' method of fundamental questioning in which he doubts everything that there is the slightest reason to doubt. Think about it like this. Almost everything you believe to be true comes from the senses or through the senses. However, the senses are sometimes deceptive. Since the senses are not completely trustworthy, it is irrational to place complete trust in them. However, it is no small leap of faith to presume that everything our senses tell us is false. In fact, it seems almost absurd to say such a thing. Nevertheless, as Descartes points out, we have dreams regularly and in these dreams, everything we experience is a figment of our imagination, or at least not real in the physical sense. So, it is reasonable to doubt everything our senses tell us, for the time being. Now, using similar logic, we can say that everything we have learned from physics, astron omy, medicine, and other such fields are all doubtful. Descartes even believed we could say that such simple, logical statements as 2+3 = 5 or a square has 4 sides could be conceived to be false. "Since I judge that others sometimes make mistakes in matters that they believe they know most perfectly, may I not, in like fashion, be deceived every time I add two and three or count the sides of a square†¦" We are now at the point where we are doubting everything - the world around us, that we have a body, and anything else that we could possibly believe. Perhaps I even doubt that I exist myself. In doing this, I am in the act of doubting. How can I doubt something if I do not exist? Similarly, maybe I am deceived into thinking I do not exist by some other entity. Then I must exist for it is I who is being deceived.