Rene Descartess View on God Essay -- Philosophy essays

Rene Descartes's View on God      Ã‚  Ã‚   In 1996, songwriter Joan Osborne performed a song called "One of Us" that was nominated for three Grammy Awards.   What made this song so successful and interesting were the powerful lyrics that basically asked, "What if God were a human being?"   As she was writing the lyrics to "One of Us," she was wondering about God and how the world would be different if God did exist in real life and not just a supernatural force.   You may be asking yourself, "What does this have to do with the seventeenth century?"   Well, in the seventeenth century, there was a man, named Rene Descartes, who was interested in God and wondered about His existence.   After an unforgettable night in November 10, 1619, his interest in God became stronger, and had developed many views that concerned or were about God. When he expressed his investigations of applying inductive methods of science and mathematics to philosophy by the "Cogito ero sum" (I think, therefore I am), he started to ar gue the existence of God by saying that God and science could co-exist, since he proved that he existed.    Rene Descartes, a Catholic, had the benefit of an extensive classical education, which influenced him to become a great philosopher.   When he was eight years old, "he was enrolled in the Jesuit school of La Fleche in Anjou, where he remained for eight years" ("Descartes").   There, he received instruction in mathematics, scholastic philosophy, and classical studies. Although he was planning on having a military career in the Netherlands, "his attention had already been attracted to the problems of mathematics and philosophy to which he was to devote the rest of his life" ("Descartes").    Descartes experienced an unfor... ...    Descartes was an important philosopher in the seventeenth century and one of the reasons why was his view on God.   Because of his knowledge and inspiration that November 10, he has been able to elaborate on philosophy.   He had a mission to accomplish during his life, a mission to see the truth.   He was able to accomplish this mission by seeking the truth of God, algebra and geometry, reasoning, and many other theories that have caused him to be called the father of modern philosophy.    Works Cited: Descartes, Rene.   The Philosophical Works of Descartes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1911. Vrooman, Jack Rochford. Rene Descartes. New York: G.P. Putman's Sons, 1970. "Descartes, Rene." Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls Inc.,1952. "Rene Descartes." Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.   13 July 1999.

How to Tell Renata Essay

Relationship Development: â€Å"Renata is my mother-though I’ve never called her anything but Renata for as long as I can remember- and this is the way she’s always dealt with things. By ignoring them. Maybe it’s because she’s been on her own, except for me, pretty much all of her life and there was never anyone else for her to talk to†¦Renata’s OK as far as small things go, but keeps quiet on anything large and frightening. This is how I see it-she must think if the scary stuff is pushed to some far, webby corner of her cranium, shrouded and silent, then perhaps it doesn’t really exist†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Jacinda and Renata carry on a peculiar relationship between them. They had a stronger relationship between the two dramatic changes in her life. One was Jacinda’s father and Renata’s husband leaving and the second was Renata’s boyfriend Jerry. Now their relationship towards each other is very shaky. â€Å"Renata is my mother-though I’ve never called her anything but Renata for as long as I can remember.† This quote shows the formality between Renata and Jacinda and how they were never really close. Renata is afraid of reality and she is not afraid to let Jacinda know that. She thinks that if she doesn’t deal with the problems and ignore them they will just go away. â€Å"She must think if the scary stuff is pushed to some far, webby corner of her cranium, shrouded and silent, then perhaps it doesn’t really exist†¦Ã¢â‚¬  From this quote I have come to the conclusion that Renata is hesitant on confronting her fears and that she takes Jacinda’s relationship with her for granted.

Reed Supermarket case Essay

Recommendations for Growth: 1. Stop the dollar special for each week: 1st step is to stop the dollar special promotion immediately. This is not consistent with the brand equity and positioning built over the years. It’s resulting in net operating loss of 76% on each discounted item and overall decreased the net operating profit for 2010 to 0.4% only (details in justification). Moreover, this promotional activity is polluting the message for regular consumers, considering that some of the dollar stores are located nearby. 2. Increase Sales Target: To increase the current market share to 16%, sales target is set to775Mn for 2011. It’s an increase of 95Mn. from 2010, on the assumption that total marketsize (4.74Bn) remains same. 3. Focus and Maintain current Target Segment and Increase the Wallet Share: Continue focusing on the current target segment of affluent and older customers with smaller household size. Their wallet share is 8.93% only as compared to average supermarket customer’s walle t share of 10.0% (details in justification). Wallet share of Reed customers will be increased by at least 1% which will result in additional revenue of 79Mn/year. 4. Maintain current Brand Positioning: Maintain current brand positioning by serving to highend of customers with good and specialised quality of products (like sea food and organic).Continue leveraging on better customer experience by providing attentive staff, shortercheck out times, and opening stores for long hours, with clean and better lit lay outs. This will able to defend the competition from Delfina, Whole Foods Market and Galaxy and Top Val. 5. Improve Product Mix: Improve the product mix by introducing more private labels. Increase the private labels to 25% of total products on offer while maintaining the same Gross Marginand SG&A. Offer 2 types of product in each category, one with different brands (total 75% ofthat category) as a premium product and second with private label with lower prices as compared to branded ones. This increase in private labels will send a signal to stores like Aldi to  not to enter their territory of high end market with private labels. Roll out the bundled products containing food and beverages. Increase the organic andprepared food (high margin) in a product category where feasible and continue the organicpets food for its customer (comprises 20% of existing customer). 6. Increase Customer Base: Reed will grab at least 1% of market share of Galaxy storesresulting in additional sales of $47.15 Mn (details in justification). 7. Price: There will be no change in pricing policy for all the products (dollar sp. is scrapped). 8. Promotion: Leverage the integrated marketing channel of online, print and ad to promotenew addition of more private labels, organic food and prepared food. Promote the message healthy food adds to betters quality of life and for this no compromises should be madeesp. in later part of the life (for older affluent population). This will help in tackling theperception of consumers that prices are high. Promote the excellence in customer service,clean stores and convenient locations. These promotions will drive the increase in customerloyalty, awareness, choice and will increase the trips to store. 9. Maintain Current Locations: As far as distribution is concerned don’t add new stores oracquire any new store this year. Lot of dollar stores have come up at convenient locations toconsumers but it has made only a marginal impact (increase of 0.05%) on their habit ofregularly shopping at supermarkets, so don’t react to it. Additionally there are no plans forany capital expenditure for next 2 years as market conditions are quite tough. Why These Recommendations To understand how these recommendations were made, let’s first explore the current Industry situation, followed by Industry player and competition analysis and finally thejustification of why these recommendations are made for Meredith Collins. Porters – Industry Analysis Industry Players & Competition Players in this industry make money by applying high volume and low margin strategy. Theonus here is to leverage the economies of scale driven by operational efficiency to reducethe cost. They buy large number of products across various categories in bulk from  different suppliers and sell them at lower prices as compared to a smaller store which have limited shell space, product range and category. Net Operating Margins are quite thin, 1.5% – 2.5%,room for error or slag is nearly negligible in operations. There are 5 types of player in theindustry competing in 3 segments, from high end to low end of market. They are differentiating with each other on the following parameters: Pricing as a strategy (shown below in perceptual map) is used by retailers to differentiate. Some are positioning their price low (Dollar stores) and some at premium like Reed, someuse discounted pricing or everyday low prices (TopVal). Product specialisation and variety is another way of differentiation being employed. Someretailers are offering specialised products, like Reed specialises in organic and fresh seafoods and some differentiate on packaging. Some retailers are selling various products in a category by different manufactures and some retailers like Aldi sell only 1 product exclusively (private label) in a category. Quality is another way of differentiating the product, higher the quality, higher the price. Reed and Whole Foods are leading the pack when it comes to quality. Customer Experience driven by customer service and presentation plays a bigger role inattracting customers. For customer service, stores like Reed open for long hours, have morestaff on check outs to reduce the servicing time, have runners for shuttling the baggage.Some stores (like Dollar stores) have less/minimal staff (reduced cost) for help and checkout. For presentation stores are leveraging cleanliness, bright and better lighting (Aldi, Reed)and a better layout of shelves and stores Perceptual Map: Justification for Recommendations Focus on current Customer Segment and Increase Wallet Share: Reed’s current customer segment is composed of affluent and older customers with, smaller householdsize. Their annual income is 12% higher ($58,200) then state’s median household income of$52,000. On Average Annual spend by customers in US is $5,200. Hence on average wallet share of Reed’s customer is 8.93% (refer Appendix) as compared to 10% wallet share of anaverage customer. Additionally, on average customer in US spends $47.62/trip to a supermarket and currently Reeds Average Sales Value is $31.42/transaction. This must be  leveraged to increase the average sales value and wallet share. Having said that, it seems that current downturn has impacted the spending habits of Reeds customer segment. Competition and Brand Positioning: Reeds main competitor is Delfina, Whole FoodsMarket, Galaxy and TopVal. These players together comprise 45.10% of total market and Reed is leading overall. Since they are in same segment of market (except Top Val), its vital Reed maintain its current brand equity and position (defending the territory) which has beenbuilt over the years. Whole Foods which is competing with Reed on same positioning insame segment, but it has only 3 stores and has 1.2 % of market share. Reed need not worryabout them at this stage. As far as threat from Galaxy (supervalu) is concerned, they don’thave good locations and only some stores are marginally profitable. They are in trouble andit’s a matter of time when they are up for sale. Reed doesn’t need to react to them, in factthere is a potential for Reed to get some customers from Galaxy.On competition from TopVal it is positioned as low price player in the middle marketsegment. It’s very aggressive and is reacting hard to mai ntain its presence in competitionwith Walmart & Costco, this is not sustainable, and therefore there is no need to react totheir everyday low pricing discount roll out. To further defend against competitors, continueleveraging on better customer experience by providing attentive staff, shorter check outtimes, and opening stores for long hours with clean and better lit layouts. It’s neither attractive and nor possible for Reed to move to middle end of market (in middle ofperceptual map) where bigger players like Costco and Walmart hold the place with totalshare of 13.46%. Any signalling (using Game Theory)/movement in that segment can drivethe price wars leading to a disaster for Reed as they have bigger pockets and globalcapacity to sustain the price war.On the lower end (extreme right on perceptual map) of market it’s evident from perceptualMap that dollar stores doesn’t impose any serious threat as they have combined marketshare of 1.2% and can reach up to maximum of 3%. They have a different customersegment and market positioning. Similarly Aldi/Trader Joe has 1.62% of market share todayand can reach up to maximum of 5%. Store like Aldi rely heavily on lean operating modeland efficiency. It leverages private labels  (95%) and limited products (14,000 only) comparedto 50,000 in a supermarket) by Reed. Aldi targets niche customers w ith low and medium endof price market. In short term it doesn’t pose any threat to Reed, in longer term they canpose some threat as they have the expertise to compete and can grow aggressively byintroducing private labels for high end of market. Improve Product Mix: Currently 17% of sale is attributed by private labels in food andbeverage and has grown since 2005. Private labels aren’t perceived a low quality product anymore because of aggressive campaigning over the years in industry. These are beingused successfully at lower and middle end of price market by Aldi/Joe Traders. It will bewise for Reed to increase its product mix by increasing their intake of private labels in highend of products (high price and quality). This will add more choice for consumers along withbranded ones. Negotiate with the bigger suppliers and tell them that they need toincrease/add private label offerings as consumer doesn’t perceive them low value anymore.If they don’t come to the party then look for new suppliers in private label category.Bundling of food and beverages must be done as they complement each other and goeswell with target customer base. This will help in driving the sales and margin. Organic andprepared food is high margin as a product category and goes well with the health consciousand affluent people (less time for cooking). So these products need more attractive shelfspace and intake by Reed and it will help in driving the increase wallet share. Organic petfood is a good way of retaining (loyalty) affluent segment and increasing the trips to store asthey take their pets when they go out for shopping. Increase Customer Base: Reed need to target to grab at least 1% of market share($47.15MN) of Galaxy. These stores are poorly located & are in trouble as they can’t sustainthese promotions. Addition of more private labels, more prepared food, good customerservice & convenient locations will help in driving the customers to Reed. Scrap Dollar Special Promotions: Since June 2010, 250 items have been offered on adollar special on weekly  basis where prices have been reduced by 44% (refer Appendix).This sale constitutes 4% (12.69 Mn.) of total sales in a week, which is 0.51 Mn/week ofsales. This has increased the traffic in some stores by 3% but each sale is registering a netoperating loss of 76% on these discounted items and decreasing the overall net profit ofReed for 2010 to 0.4% only (refer Appendix). This is not sustainable from economic point ofview, if this is run for 12 months Reed will make a loss. Secondly from brand equity point ofview it is destroying the equity built over the years. It is sending mixed signals to targetcustomer segment as dollar stores are nearby. The 3% increase in traffic at some stores isdriven by bargain hunters, which is opposite to Reeds Positioning. Price: There is no need for change in pricing policy for all products as COGS and Expensesare built in using economies of scale. It’s already a very low margin business (NPM of 1.5%to 2.5%); further reduction of price (only and having same GM and S&A) will impact the economic model and the bottom line of Reed. This is also evident from the Dollar SpecialPromotions Conclusion: These points above provide the justification for recommendations. Reed muststay the course on what it has done successfully over the years. This current cycle ofdownturn and increasing competition must be used to focus on target segment & defend theterritory and grow on what Reed does well. Reaction like weekly Dollar Special without athorough analysis and plan can be detrimental to business. Soon there will be moreopportunities as some players will burn themselves by employing unsustainable practices.So Reed must stay the course with sharp focus.

Journal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 36

Journal - Essay Example It is for this reason that the international community bypassed the government and channeled their aid funds through nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). From the time Haiti got independence, it has failed to construct proper buildings and have efficient infrastructure and public service in place. Decade after decade, the authorities in Haiti do not have much to show in terms of developmental goals achieved, despite receiving aid from several donors as well as grants (Brooks 1). From this, I believe the government might have no development plan in the first place or, its excessively corrupt officials are drowning any national, people-oriented agendas. It follows that a government that has no development plan or is full of corrupt officials cannot have a practical means of using aid to bring down poverty. It is argued that the aid received is not sufficient. However, that hardly seems the truth, because the highest number of NGOs per capita in the world is found in Haiti. I think Hai ti needs to do away with its anti-developmental cultural influences because, like Barbados, the both come from oppressive histories of slavery, but Barbados is not facing poverty problems to the extent witnessed in Haiti. Haiti is languishing in abject poverty because of the lack of a growth policy. It is true that much of the pledged money in terms of aid after the 2010 earthquake was not received, but the government did not portray the image and capabilities of an able custodian of the people’s aid. It is true that the government is by all means accountable to its people, albeit through democratically elected representatives, but NGOs are not. Yet, aid was channeled through the NGOs. In this sense, the government is doing itself more harm by allowing the international community to belittle it in full awareness of its subjects (Brooks 1). This all goes back to lack

The 5 most important ideas of politics and US government Essay

The 5 most important ideas of politics and US government - Essay Example An individual has the innate tendency to resist all that obstruct one’s liberty. The connotation of liberty is so vast that it defies definition. Each one sees a new horizon of liberty. For the American people the concept of liberty is supreme as it stands to protect the essential dignity of an individual. Dr. Rabindranath Tagore, the Nobel Prize winning poet, describes the concept of liberty in his beautiful poem â€Å"Where the Mind is Without Fear.† He writes, â€Å" Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high, where knowledge is free, where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls, where words come out from the depth of truth, where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection, where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way, into the dreary desert sand of dead habit, where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action, into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake. † (Tagore, n. p.) This is fantastic explanation about the concept of liberty. In the context of American history, the concept of liberty has undergone many changes as per the demands of time. Each advocate of liberty takes a different line of argument as to its potency and desires to outsmart the previous definitions. Ernest Hemingway in his Autobiography writes â€Å"[†¦.] the loss of liberty anywhere in the world is a threat to liberty everywhere† (Hemingway†¦).... They are born in poverty. Live in poverty and just walk up to the grave in poverty. The African-Americans(slaves) survived only because they had a chance to work(just one aspect of liberty) though on a meager or no salary. Schumacher, E.F in his book â€Å"Small is Beautiful† writesâ€Å"[†¦]the chances to work is the greatest of all needs, and even poorly paid and relatively unproductive work is better than idleness†( 161).This was the position when the practice of slavery was legal in America. After the abolition of slavery, when African-Americans took to education, they began to comprehend the meaning of liberty. Prior to that, in the land of tyranny how could the African American think of equality? Isaiah Berlin in his book â€Å"Liberty: Incorporating Four Essays on Liberty† writes â€Å"It is interesting, but perhaps irrelevant, historical question at what date, and in what circumstances, the notion of individual liberty in this sense first became exp licit in the West†(p.32, 33).Liberty does not mean people should do what they want to do, but they should do what they are expected to do. Liberty is an individual prerogative subject to the liberty (rights) of others. It is a carefully balanced walk and not a carefree race. It is to act with caution, always minding the fact that rights go with duties and responsibilities. Limited Governance The source of the power for the government is the willingness of the people to make and unmake it. The people cannot dethrone the government in power at will, and yet the people of America are supreme and the government itself is limited to the power given to it by them. The Government of

Gender Inequality in the British National Curriculum Essay

Gender Inequality in the British National Curriculum - Essay Example Key stage tests have been brought about by the British national curriculum whereby pupils are usually assessed at various stages throughout their education. This National Curriculum was introduced in England, Wales and Northern Ireland to be used national wide by primary and secondary state school following an Education Reform Act 1988. The main aim of the National Curriculum was to ensure that all pupils cover certain basic materials and later on entire teaching time was covered as the curriculum grew in majority of state schools. There have been debates amongst educators about gender-related issues throughout the 20th century. This refers to the cultural classification of people as ‘masculine’ or ‘feminine’. Societies set down cultural expectations for males and females and people are encouraged to think, feel and act in manner ‘appropriate’ to their sex. It is argued that although boys get much more attention from teachers, â€Å"it is not s imply because they are boys, it is partly because of the way both boys and girls behave and this behaviour is shaped by the wider society,†. The most determined action taken within the school cannot effectively counter the influence of peer groups, magazines, television and family. Even if teachers get rid of their sexist attitudes everything would not necessarily be fair and both boys and girls would be treated equally, but classroom action is a two-way process, it is not simply teacher led. French argued that pupils bring in their own behavior patterns to the classroom.... Key stage 1 This stage includes children between the ages of 5-7 years. The key stage is the legal term for the two years of schooling in England and Wales known as year 1 and 2. The students in this stage follow 12 areas of education programme. In year 2 at the age of 7 years, the pupils are assessed with a test known as SAT's that covers English, Science and Mathematics. The subjects this stage is suppos ed to cover include: English Mathematics Science Information and Communication Technology Design Technology History Geography Modern Foreign Language Art and Design Music Physical Education Religious Education (Education Act. 2002, 2002) Key stage 2 This stage includes children between the ages of 7-11 years. The key stage is the legal term for the four years of schooling in England and Wales known as Year 3, Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6. In this stage, covers pupils during junior schools although in some cases part of this stage fall in a middle while the other part falls through primary school. In this stage, the pupils follow the same areas programme of education just like of key stage 1. In Year 6 at the age of 11 years, the pupils are tested as part of the national programme of national curriculum tests known as SAT's. These tests covers English, Mathematics and Science and the tests are externally marked and the results published in DFES performance table. (Education Act. 2002, 2 002) Key stage 3 This includes children between the ages 11-14 years. The key stage is the legal term for the three years of schooling in England and Wales known as Year 7, Year 8 and Year 9. The stage covers pupils during the first three years of secondary education although in some

Human Services Questions Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Human Services Questions - Coursework Example with the reskilling of professionals of traditional servings, to have a larger gratitude of the individual as an entire person and to be responsible to the societies they work for. In the ancient time, service delivery was brutal where individuals were not treated well. In addition, the services were incomprehensive and not easily accessible (Packard, 2009). In present time delivery is humane, integrated, accessible and comprehensive. Human service professions have also developed to be more responsible unlike in the past where irresponsibility was common among them. In the present time, laws regulating how human services are delivered have been put in place, unlike in the historical era when there were no laws governing it. According to OLooney, (1996), in his article tries to capture the spirit of service integration movements and explain why it is such an enduring challenge and problem to the public organization. In addition, Weaver, (1997), discusses issues that workers delivering human services should be aware of so as to deliver services to the people effectively. Also, Monette et al., (2014), also talks how different researches done on human services and how it is a tool for enhancing service delivery. In the New York Times, The Guardian and The British Broadcasting Co-operation discuss on human services pertaining to health are d iscussed and how they vary from one hospital to another. This articles Scholarly articles have been reviewed well and make sense than the non-scholarly ones are just ones individual opinion and cannot be relied on since they have not be reviewed. Some stressors that I have experienced in life do not have enough time to complete tasks and getting more than I can manage. The emergence of this stressors was due to some psychological effects that triggered me to do impress others by subjecting myself to more work and tasks that I could not handle. In managing the lack of time, I rank my priorities and did tasks according to their