Rational Approach to the Issue of Belief

The question of people’s beliefs can be discussed from many perspectives. The issue of God’s existence is closely associated with the problem of believing in God when there is no sufficient evidence. From this point, William Clifford and William James’s arguments are significant to be discussed in the philosophical and religious contexts.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Rational Approach to the Issue of Belief specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Clifford and James present rather opposite visions of the issue of believing in something in relation to the question of real evidence. In spite of the fact, objecting the position of Clifford, the person can support James’s views, and objecting the position of James, the person can discuss Clifford’s ideas as relevant, it is possible to provide the critical discussion of both arguments with references to their strengths and weaknesses. Alt hough the basic ideas which are expressed by Clifford and James in their works are opposite to each other, the authors concentrate on the notion of rationalism and the role of mind in making the decisions regarding the issues of belief even in the religious context. That is why, both authors can be considered as paying too much attention to the rational factor when the problem of beliefs should be discussed from the point of spiritual aspect and trust rather than from the point of mind. In his essay â€Å"The Ethics of Belief†, William Clifford states that it is impossible to believe in something when there is no sufficient evidence to support the possibility of the fact. According to Clifford, the evidence is necessary for supporting the credibility of each fact. That is why, all the hypotheses should be tested before people can believe in them as true. It is impossible to rely only on the belief itself. Thus, the investigation is the important factor to prevent the person f rom sufferings when the facts in which he believes are declared as insufficient. Any unjustified beliefs can be harmful, and these beliefs should be tested. However, when the definite belief was tested by another person it is possible to rely on the received evidence. William James presents the opposite argument to the ideas expressed by Clifford and accentuates the possibility to believe without the evidence presented. On the one hand, James rejects the idea of the intellectual approach to discussing the problem of believing and claims that it is necessary to rely on the non-intellectual or ‘passional’ nature.Advertising Looking for essay on philosophy? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More On the other hand, James provides some details to support the vision that the religious belief in the form of faith can be also discussed as rather rational in its nature in spite of the fact there is no supporting evidence for it. Thus, the idea of belief is based on the definite ‘genuine option’ which should be living, forced, and momentous to provide the person with the effective choice between the extremes when it is possible to believe or not in something. The option is a kind of decision or choice, making by the person regarding the issue of belief. According to James, there are no strict rules for believing in something as it is presented by Clifford who rejects the possibility to believe without evidence. James states that people can choose in relation to the ‘genuine option’ or wait for the situation when the truth of the definite belief is approved with some evidence. Although James can be considered as more flexible in his discussion of the conditions for believing or not, he presents the fact of believing as closely connected with the intellectual or rational processes. In spite of the fact Clifford and James accentuate the rational factor regarding the question of belief in different ways, the moral aspect and the concept of ‘heart’ in believing remains to be unappreciated. Thus, Clifford pays much attention to the issue of evidence when James concentrates on the choice between the possibilities to believe or not without any evidence. Clifford’s argument is based on two rational principles which are the investigation to find the necessary evidence and judgment to discuss the credibility of the evidence. From this point, the fact of evidence becomes more important than the fact of belief itself. It is possible to state that Clifford is inclined to substitute the fact of believing in something with the fact of judging something according to the evidence. Moreover, Clifford’s ideas in relation to the necessity of evidence can be interpreted to discuss the problem of believing in God. Thus, when there is no evidence to support the fact that God exists, the person cannot believe in God.Advertising We will write a custom es say sample on Rational Approach to the Issue of Belief specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Nevertheless, there are no enough evidences that God exists, and there are no enough evidences to repute the statement. According to the Christian tradition, people believe in God basing predominately on their intuition and inner feelings, but not because of some evidence. In this case, the evidence can be discussed as the supporting element for beliefs, but not as the basic one. Clifford’s intentions to avoid some errors while believing in something untrue make the idea of belief more rational in nature than it is traditionally discussed in the religious context. In his turn, James pays much attention to the fact that it is permissible to believe in something without reference to the evidence. However, he also emphasizes that such beliefs are permissible not only from the moral point but also from the rational perspective. Accentuating the idea of the option as the main choice making by the person, James focuses on the intellectual approach to resolving the moral problem. Making the choice with references to the living, forced, and momentous options, the person concentrates on his rational arguments but not on the voice of his heart which is significant in relation to the issue of believing in something. James discusses the possibility to believe in God in spite of the wrong or write choices and in spite of the evidence, but the question of the religious faith is also presented as rational to a certain extent. To conclude, believing in something, people are inclined to rely on their intuition and vision of the fact, idea, or concept. Clifford states that the beliefs which are not supported by the evidences can be harmful for people. James states that people have the right to believe without testing the hypotheses and ideas to rely on them. However, both authors focus on the rational category in relation to the discuss ion of beliefs rather than on the moral or spiritual aspect. That is why, beliefs are perceived as the people’s visions associated more with the rational sphere than with the person’s spiritual world. From this point, Clifford and James’s arguments are rather controversial to explain the nature of the belief in God in spite of the issue of evidence. This essay on Rational Approach to the Issue of Belief was written and submitted by user Kaleb E. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Polygamous Marriages essays

Polygamous Marriages essays The moment people hear the word polygamy their minds turn to images of "old-fashioned", "sexist", "fringe", "Mormon", and "illegal." "Polygamy", as referred to on this site, is meant in its most popular use, where one husband has more than one wife at the same time. Technically, Webster's Dictionary defines this practice as "polygyny." Polygamy has been practiced by mankind for thousands of years. Many of the ancient Israelites were polygamous, some having hundreds of wives. King Solomonbis said to have had seven hundred wives. The first essay we read was by Elizabeth Joseph, called My Husbands Nine Wives, which is a short essay on her normal days, and how she has grown from have a plural marriage with her husband. Joseph states, compelling social reasons make polygamy the life style attractive to the modern career woman. She supports this statement by telling us that the Old Testament disapproves of this act but it is just simply a better life style in her eyes. Joseph believes ever since she let her husband marry again, and again for eight more times, he life has only gotten better for herself personally. Joseph does not go into depth about it although, she just tells us a few reasons why she likes it and then thats it. The article I read to compare and contrast this essay with was called; I would Never Go Back to Being a Monogamous Wife By Mary Batchelor, Marianne Watson, and Anne Wilde. The three of them put one article together with well thought of facts and personal experiences very well written. The three women put this article on behalf of one woman who is in a Polygamous relationship, leaving the womans name anonymous, because this practice is illegal. The woman states how after her husband married his second wife she saw my husbands eyes full of new respect and approval, she made a point to ...

The 7 most common mistakes in technical writing †and how to fix them

The 7 most common mistakes in technical writing – and how to fix them How to fix the 7 most common glitches in technical writing Most of us are technical writers at some point or other, even if we don’t realise it. You may be quite happy with the label if you write test reports or standard operating procedures. But you can have a very different role and still sometimes need to write technical things: a design brief, an employee handbook or even guidance on how to use the new office photocopier. If your document is complex, and someone needs to be able to follow and act on it, then it’s technical writing. The fact that many people don’t realise that what they’re writing is technical may partly explain why so many of these types of documents fall short. Fortunately, those shortcomings tend to fall into just a few categories, and they’re easy to fix. So let’s look at some of the most common difficulties technical writers (and their readers) face – and how to fix them. 1. Messy structure Many technical documents confuse readers and fail to achieve their aims because they were not planned properly to begin with. This lack of planning means that documents, especially longer ones, end up structured in an illogical fashion. Things are hard to find in the text, sections don’t follow naturally from each other, cross-references are a mess, and so on. At best, this frustrates readers; at worst, it makes the document virtually unusable. How to fix it: Before you begin writing at all, think carefully about the overall layout of the document. Creating a simple outline will help you structure it appropriately and optimally. So when youve written the text, but before you publish it, have it carefully reviewed – preferably by an editor or by a colleague who will read it closely. They may suggest improvements to the document’s structure, especially if you ask them to keep this in mind. The structure of the finished document should seem logical and intuitive to its intended readers. 2. Too much jargon Who your readers are will inform the content and style of your text. So it’s important to keep them in mind throughout the writing process. If you’re writing something for specialist readers, some jargon and technical language is fine; it may even be essential. If you’re writing for a general audience or people who actually specialise in a different area, be careful – what’s familiar and self-evident to you may not be so to them. One manager who commissioned a technical-writing course from Emphasis described how different specialists may ‘talk different languages’. You need to ensure that nothing gets lost in translation. How to fix it: Take a few moments to identify and visualise your readers. Then consider what level and type of technicality in the writing will be appropriate for them – and what won’t be. Those acronyms that roll off your tongue because you use them every day – are they well known elsewhere? Unless you’re sure your readers will know all the technical terms you plan to use, it’s a good idea to include a glossary or a list of abbreviations, or both, at the start of a text. Another strategy is to explain those items in parentheses or footnotes when they first appear. But if you find yourself doing this a lot, you should probably just add a glossary instead. 3. Poor punctuation All writers have a passing knowledge of the main set of punctuation marks. Very few, however, outside of professional authors and editors, have a thorough grasp of how each one works. The use of full stops and question marks is painless enough, but beyond that there is widespread difficulty with getting the details right. When exactly are commas required? Which dashes go where? When should you use hyphens? What’s going on with colons and semicolons? How to fix it: Find a good, modern guide to punctuation and read it carefully until you have a firm grasp of each mark’s use and misuse. Pay particular attention to any area you have trouble with. If certain mistakes or difficulties crop up repeatedly in your company’s documents, address them in your style guide (see next item below). 4. Inconsistency Technical writing should convey coherent ideas and trains of thought. Unfortunately, this doesn’t always happen. And that’s especially true when a document is written over a period of time, created by multiple authors, or updated piecemeal without due regard for overall consistency and readability. These circumstances are common and can result in choppiness in the document’s style, layout, tone, point of view, and so on. For example, the text may address readers as ‘you’ in one paragraph and as ‘designers’ in the next. The tone may switch abruptly from warm and chatty to scientific. This can be disconcerting, if not downright confusing. How to fix it: If you’re making changes to an existing document, get a sense of the surrounding context – including things like tone and tense. Try to align your changes with these, so that new material is incorporated seamlessly (or, if necessary, signposted appropriately). Jumps in tone or tense can be overlooked even more easily than typos and grammatical errors. The sense is clear to the writer (or writers), so they don’t notice things that will jar for the reader. These jumps must therefore be looked for specifically. Create a company style guide and make sure all your writers have easy access to it and are encouraged to consult it. This will do wonders for the consistency of your documents, both internal and external. Ensure that the guide not only includes vocabulary items but also addresses things like readership, typography, company aims, and brand voice and identity. A style guide is a living document, so put a system in place for proposing and incorporating additions and revisions to it. 5. Too much abstraction People writing in a formal or semi-formal context often go overboard in an effort to make their prose sound proper and elevated. Their writing, as a result, can end up very abstract and noun-heavy. ‘The achievement of good performance’ may sound fancy, but it’s a mouthful compared to ‘performing well’, and it’s really no more impressive than the plain-language option. It’s also less clear. Abstractions like this are unnecessary and, as they accumulate, make your prose turgid, verbose, and tiring to read. They can also make it ambiguous: if you describe a system as having ‘enhanced functionality’, do you mean it has more functions or that it works better? How to fix it: Try to replace abstract, noun-heavy phrases with strong, straightforward verbs. This will make your points more concise and intelligible. ‘The carrying out of tests’ can become ‘carrying out tests’, or, better still, ‘testing’ or ‘tests’. Watch out for phrases like took place, which often point to gratuitous nouning and buried verbs: ‘Analysis of the figures took place’ really just means ‘The figures were analysed.’ A related issue is redundancy: ‘blue in colour’ means blue, ‘robust in nature’ means ‘robust’, and so on. 6. Unclear antecedents An antecedent is a word, phrase, or clause referred to by another word, which is usually a pronoun like it, they, or who. For example, in ‘Observe the results and add these to a worksheet’, results is the antecedent of these. Ambiguity can occur when there is more than one possible antecedent. Take the following: ‘Trainees should mark their schedules in the notebooks provided, then in the group calendars. The manager is responsible for them.’ Whoever wrote this knew what the manager was responsible for, but readers may reasonably wonder if them referred to the trainees, the schedules, the notebooks, or the calendars. How to fix it: This is a common blind spot for writers, and it shows why we are our own worst editors. When we review the text, we see only what we meant – we miss the potential for uncertainty. Have someone else look over the text, if possible, because a fresh pair of eyes will be more likely to notice problems like this. It’s better to choose someone who is less familiar with what is being described, since they are less liable to fall into the same trap of overfamiliarity. 7. Dense presentation Technical writing can be very †¦ technical. Unavoidably so. Applying plain language as much as possible will help, though you still probably won’t win awards for literature. But even allowing for its stylistic limitations, technical writing can be made much worse through poor presentation. Long, unbroken chunks of text, for example, are visually off-putting and hard to follow. They can make a reader’s brain shut down out of sheer effort and frustration. The prevalence of jargon and complex concepts add further cognitive loads, and it all adds up. How to fix it: There are several ways to tackle the issue of dense presentation. Short words, sentences, and paragraphs are generally preferable, though they’re no guarantee of lucidity – it’s more important to use the most appropriate words in the best possible manner. Some passages can be broken up with bullet points, which makes them far easier to digest. Bullets also allow you to simplify the grammar, since they don’t need to be full sentences. Parallelism can lend grace, polish, and clarity, and is a grammatical device worth attention and practice if you want to improve your writing. It can take various forms, but essentially it means using matching grammatical structures in words, phrases or clauses that should work in parallel. For example, consider the sentence: For breakfast we like eggs and to grill bacon. Here, eggs is a noun but to grill is a verb. Better to write: For breakfast we like eggs and bacon, or: For breakfast we like to fry eggs and grill bacon. It’s natural to struggle with technical writing, especially if you only do it from time to time. Producing something that reads effortlessly is a challenge. But thinking about and applying these seven straightforward tips will benefit your writing experience. Even more importantly, it will make everything a whole lot clearer – and life a lot easier – for your readers. Image credit: ALPA PROD / Shutterstock

The case method of stratigic analysis David and Goliath Essay

The case method of stratigic analysis David and Goliath - Essay Example -There are a number of possible solutions to the problem. One solution is to have each side choose its strongest member. For the Philistine this would be Goliath. For the Israelites this would be David. Both individuals would then fight to the death. The winner would determine the resolution for the entirety of their population. While this would provide a resolution and avoid significant death, one recognizes that it is largely an arbitrary means of deciding on the solution; for this reason not all participants may be happy with the final solution. -Another potential option would be to have both organizations engage in diplomacy. While a regular component of international relations in the contemporary environment, during the time of this conflict such actions occurred only in limited form. This then constitutes a major potential option a means of solving this conflict. -Still, another potential option would be to allow both armies to engage in warfare. While this is the most extreme solution it is an option that continues to be implemented through the contemporary world environment. This solution would be effective in providing a strong and resolute answer to the issue, as the stronger party would have the final say in the matter. Still, the human death toll would be significant. One considers that diplomacy functions as the best option as it determines an amenable solution without bloodshed and death. This approach functions within the Ansoff management techniques. One considers that turbulence is a prominent area of concern within the Ansoff approach, and this situation demonstrates a great degree of unpredictability. Ansoff recognizes that managers must meet these challenges with an appropriate aggressiveness of strategy. In this sense, the diplomatic approach recognizes that because of the turbulent nature of the situation, a strong and resolute solution needs to be reached. The diplomatic action then will

Social, emotional and behavioural difficulties 2011-2012 Essay

Social, emotional and behavioural difficulties 2011-2012 - Essay Example Behaviourism with emotional and behavioural difficulties Introduction This critical review is about ‘Behaviourism’ and its role in learning while helping students having behavioural and emotional complications. In the first section Behaviourism is defined and its background discussed in detail. Then the role of Behaviourism in teaching and the point of view of different groups regarding its importance in applying for removing the SEBD issues in classrooms. At the very end in conclusion, a brief overview has been given for its improvisation in Saudi Arabian schools to improve the teaching methods and techniques and entails a new policy for SEBD students. More importantly the research question has been given at the end aroused from this review. Background John B. Watson, initially brought in ‘behaviourism’ into examination in the year 1912, which minted the word ‘behaviourism’. In 1938, this study was further preceded by B. F. Skinner who proposed that ‘learning’ can be determined as a discernible change. Afterwards, Ralph Tyler then made use viewpoints from behaviourism, in 1949, to direct lesson design. Behaviourism, merely deals with altering the behaviour by honouring demanded actions and penalizing or neglecting unwanted activities. Behaviour theorists determined ‘learning’ as nothing beyond the attainment of a novel behaviour. ‘Behaviour Modification’, a teaching framework was formulated through the previously identified research works and findings (Alberto and Troutman, 1995). The fundamentals of the behaviourist theory go back to the philosopher Aristotle (Black, 1995). This theory illustrates that the learning of behaviors could be assessed and noticed. It identifies the brain as a "black box" as the reaction to any stimulant can be detected quantitatively, entirely neglecting the likelihood of intellections happening in the brain. Skinner, Pavlov, Thorndike and Watson are the most famous behaviourists who played significant role in developing this theory. B.F Skinner was a psychologist who put forward this theory of Behaviourism. He believed that behaviour is controlled by cause and effect and it has got nothing to do with mind or reasoning. Behaviourism is considered as conditioning or training introduced by Pavlov, a Russian psychologist. The classical conditioning was formulated by Ivan Pavlov, a physiologist of Russian origin. It may be referred as, ‘A sort of learning, established by linkage of a classified stimulant unable to commonly evoke peculiar reactions on some other stimulant having the ability to evoke a desired reaction (Feldman, Papalia and Olds, 2007). The above mentioned description inculcates that the fundamental elements in this type of conditioning is the term linkage, depicting that the simultaneous occurrence of two distinct stimulants frequently will lead to the development of linkage in them.. For example if a student faces continuously a problem in his/her English language class in the shape of unfriendly teacher, unmanageable questions, and a great deal of home assignments may create an undesired perception in his/her brain about the instructor (Murdick and Petch-Hogan, 1996; Schloss and Smith, 1994). Classical conditioning was discovered by Pavlov by accident. Originally, he wanted to study the role of salivation in digestion. He measured that when given meat, how much saliva dogs produce. After a few days in the experiment, Pavlov noticed that the dogs in his laboratory started salivating when the lab attendant entered the room with the meat dish, before meat was placed in their mouth. This aroused Pavlov’s curiosity and he pursued the issue with more experiments. For example, he sounded a bell just before presenting his dogs with food. Before obtaining food, various times, following the sound of the ringing bell, the dogs were observed to start salivating as shortly as the bell started to ring. In other word, in reaction to a novel stimulant (the

Political conditions of the Cold War Era Essay Example for Free

Political conditions of the Cold War Era Essay The Cold War is increasingly treated as a historical period that customarily begins in 1947, when the Truman Doctrine sought to contain communism and the expansion of Soviet influence, and ends with the decline and fall of the Soviet Union and the Eastern bloc in the late 1980s. My thoughts are that this event occurred after war world II between the Soviet Union and the United States of America due to a conflict about political, ideological, military, and economic values because the United States was capitalist when the Soviet Union was communist. During this time there was a fair that they were going to destroy each other with the arsenals of gigantic artillery. Germany was separated into 4 sections controlled by Great Britain, France, the Soviet Union and the United States and the Cold war started because there was a disagreement on unifying Germany. There were events that happened during the cold war the first was the foreign aid policies, which were able to divide the superpowers after that treaty organizations and alliances started forming up again one of these alliances was the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), as well as the Warsaw pact. The superpower were always involved in a conflict the mayor political crisis was that Soviet blockade on Western Berlin they block off supply routes to Western Berlin so the people were dying because they did not have how to cover the firs needs. Another conflict was the Cuban missile crisis it was the closest the world ever came to all-out nuclear war. Following the first sightings of the missiles being placed by Soviets, additional Russian vessels were seen heading towards Cuba carrying more missile components. Thus began what became known as â€Å"the 13 days,† a period of extremely high tension in which the Kennedy administration tried to find a way to get the missiles out of Cuba without starting World War III. Kennedy and his advisers had to walk a very tight line in order to achieve that end. In the end, Kennedy followed the path of Presidents Truman and Eisenhower as a leader determined to prevent the further spread of Communism in the world by all reasonable means. He had campaigned on the issue of a missile gap  between United States and the Soviet Union, and even his plan to place a man on the moon in the decade of the 1960s was, to a large extent, aimed at defeating the Russians in space. The military implications were obvious. It was during Kennedys administration that the most dangerous point in the Cold War was reached: the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962. http://www.academicamerican.com/postww2/coldwar.html Presidents and Prime Ministers on either side came and went but the war never ended. Every President of the United States took the war personally as a Commander in Battle and it became a competition of who would do better. Finally, it was the Republican George W. Bush who called the final shots and that too because Mikhael Gorbachev backed down. http://www.historyking.com/World-War/cold-war/Summary-Of-The-Cold-War.html Explain the specific threats to American citizens One threat that is becoming more severe in the post-Cold War world is the proliferation of chemical, biological, nuclear, and missile technology. The probability of a retaliatory strike on the U.S. homeland by rogue states or terrorist groups using such weapons, however, can be reduced by ending unneeded and provocative U.S. military intervention abroad. Politicians of both parties often tapped into that fear and ran for office based on how strong they would be against communists. Fighting communism always involved the threat of nuclear war since both the U.S. and Soviet Union had nuclear weapons trained on each other. President Dwight Eisenhowers military plan relied on nuclear stockpiles rather than land forces. He hoped the threat of nuclear destruction would restrain the Soviets. http://www.tn4me.org/minor_cat.cfm/minor_id/23/major_id/10/era_id/8 Describe the preparations you would make to protect your family Those are my thoughts , it is important to have things that are going to be necessaries to survive in this situation as water medical and food the family can survive if they go to the close shelter they usually have a wonderful staff to help those who need them. It s important to keep the medication close and accessible. Conclude with one question for further study on the Cold War era What effect did the Cold War have on the political, economic, social, and  military conditions of the world’s nations? Conclusion Cold War as a period which began with the rivalities of the superpowers The effort to contain communism and capitalism (and covertly subvert the other), however, entailed a larger containment or channeling of the flow of possible change in various areas of political, social, and cultural life within its political imagination. The Cold War rivalry sustained an equilibrium which tended to freeze not only the power relations between hegemonic and client states but also the political contours of nation-states in the two camps backed by economic inducements, military power, and nuclear threat.

Film Trailer Portfolio Essay -- Papers

Film Trailer Portfolio When the task of creating a film trailer was first put to us, I had several ideas for the movie's context. The first was of a movie in the action genre that dealt with revenge, whilst the other two were in the horror genre. The horror genre appealed to me more, as a low budget film can still have the desired effect by use of different filming techniques, and I wanted to depend more on a psychological aspect. My first idea was to do a film about a poltergeist. I had watched several films such as "Poltergeist", but wanted to create a film that relied less on visual effects, something that leant towards the style of Albert Hitchcock, who is still seen today as the "Master of Suspense". This Poltergeist idea did intrigue me, but I could not think of a plot thick enough, or original enough to capture an audience. The remaining idea was more original, and would create the correct feel of the horror genre. This idea leant more towards several horror films from the 1970s, when a crop of films also used religious undertones to great effect. My idea was for an ancient relic to be uncovered that posed a threat to religion, an idea that didn't require special effects or large production values. I took this idea and tried to further it by thickening out the plot for the trailer. To do this, I researched other films in the same genre. I looked directly at three films from the last three decades, "The Exorcist", "The Name of the Rose" and "The Sixth Sense". I was first attracted to these films by the techniques that had been used to produce the desired effect on the audience. The Exorcist (William Friedkin 1973) ... ... on a Panasonic Digital Camera, and was edited using Pinnacle Studio software on a PC. All of the footage was shot without the use of a tripod after several experiments to see what presented the storyline the most effectively. Most notably at the beginning of the trailer, a short zoom shot towards a radio speaker was attempted with a tripod, but the elegant and fixed camera movement lacked the character and ambience that was available when recorded handheld, especially with the emotional sound bite that accompanied the shot. I decided to use two different tints Editing during "I dare not say" I wanted the speed of the trailer to change when I was editing, from calm and mellow camera movement with slow transitions, to brisk and abrupt movement with quick transitions. This was my idea of representing chaos.