A comparison of the Ideas of William James and the Teachings of Christ Essay

William James had an incisive insight about a number of intellectual and psychological dealings. He was a trained medical doctor yet he excelled in the field of philosophy and wrote enormously about his thoughts and ideas. Pragmatism, Meaning of Truth as a Sequel to Pragmatism, Pluralistic Universe, and Varieties of Religious Experiences are considered as the major philosophical premises proposed by William James. The ideas of Pragmatism demand scrupulous attention to understand. As per William James, the meaning of an idea or a proposition or a thought lies in its observable practical consequences. Hence the idea under proposition must exhibit this quality of direct practical results. He believes that a thought or an idea must always be based on the verity of faith. He writes: â€Å"A fact [may] not come at all unless a preliminary faith exists in its coming†¦ Faith in a fact can help create the fact. † (James, â€Å"The Will to Believe†, 1897) Therefore trust and idea are sometimes inter-reliant and may often cease to exist without each other. He opines that the truth or falsity of a judgment depends on the obtainment of the expectations that follow the judgment under question. For a judgment to comply with this, one needs to be pragmatic [= as a matter-of-fact] in his approach towards the events which are going to be judged. We can also see a contrast between his thoughts when he constantly vacillates between science and religion. The general credence that religious experiences involve a supernatural domain, on the whole, is somehow remote to science. However, to the individual human being these remote things are accessible as their driving force is faith and not empirical examination. James tries to bridge this gap between science and religion. The difference between the scientific principles and religious beliefs are woven to arrive at a multipart thinking procedure which we can call as the â€Å"Science of Religion†. He wrote about this as follows: Religious experience, in other words, spontaneously and inevitably engenders myths, superstitions, dogmas, creeds, and metaphysical theologies, and criticisms of one set of these by the adherents of another. Of late, impartial classifications and comparisons have become possible, alongside of the denunciations and anathemas by which the commerce between creeds used exclusively to be carried on. We have the beginnings of a â€Å"Science of Religions,† so-called; and if these lectures could ever be accounted a crumb-like contribution to such a science, I should be made very happy. (James, The Varieties of Religious Experiences, Lecture XVIII) These thoughts point towards that eternal question of can there be a God who created this universe? A pragmatist, such as James Williams, would say â€Å"Yes, there indeed must be an empirical God who made all this universe provided the consequences are proved or the relations established†. That, simply put, is another state of perplexity where the vision of identifying the ‘Cause’ and ‘Effect’ may cease to exist. Now let us examine what pure religion and religious thoughts or philosophies (sans James Williams! ) say about such perplexities of life. The Bible and the preaching of Jesus Christ and other religious foundations categorically decline the right to question. They demand absolute ‘surrender’ in order to get absolute ‘delight’. The teachings of Jesus must be quoted here: â€Å"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash. † (Matthew 7:24-27) The teachings of Christ demands unquestionable faith in the supernatural in order to attain absolute delight. This absolute delight or state of freedom is in total contrast to what we have seen so far in the flow of William James’ ideas. However there is one similarity: That both the schools of thoughts agree to the fact that humanity is something which, neither needs to be empirically analyzed nor pragmatically accepted. The laws of both pragmatism and religion bend and tend to converge at one solitary point and this point of convergence is diligently referred to as ‘Kindness’. Historically, William James lived in the 19th Century. (January 11, 1842 – August 26, 1910) During this period of time America was witnessing the industrial revolution and started emerging as the international power. It was also that phase of the history when the country was reeling under aftereffects of the Civil War and the laborer strikes. The ideas of William James were widely accepted from both laymen and intellectuals alike. The very concepts of ‘Pragmatism’, â€Å"Will to Live’, ‘Pluralistic Universe’ and ‘A Study in Human Nature’ were regarded as the new hopes amidst turbulent times. Even though the dynamics of the contemporary society have changed immeasurably, I still feel some of James’ ideas would be contentedly accepted. Economical imbalances (Read: The Recession), and religious conflicts (Read: Fundamentalists/Extremists) have rendered a sense of cynicism. The thoughts of William James will surely be a respite if understood and implemented diligently. The astute adoption is the key as James writes: â€Å"The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook. † (William James â€Å"The Principles of Psychology†, 1890) Let us hope better sense prevails upon the humanity and the thoughts of William James guide us through the testing times. References William James, â€Å"The Will to Believe†, 1897 William James, The Varieties of Religious Experiences, Lecture XVIII Bible, Matthew 7:24-27 William James â€Å"The Principles of Psychology†, 1890

Responding to the global economic crisis can lead to a more Essay

Responding to the global economic crisis can lead to a more sustainable economy - Essay Example Financial break down occurred in these countries towards the middle of 2007 and intensified in the next year. The crisis had changed the economic working in most of these nations and led to stagnation of their economic growth (Obstfeld, Cho, and Mason 2012, 1). Bankruptcy filing by some of the largest financial institutions in the world, such as the Lehman Brothers and the Northern Rock, caused a steep collapse in the financial structure in the country and has triggered a global panic. It has disrupted the international trade pattern. The countries that take part in international trade are interlinked to one another through trade relations. Therefore the impact of recession created in the advanced countries owing to their economic and financial failure, have also spread to the other developing nations. This has brought in a recessionary pressure in the whole world (Takagi 2009). Financial crisis and recession in 2007 The twenty first century has been notified as â€Å"the era of gre at modernization†. However, these courses of events have caused concern about the economic growth pattern in the countries around the world. Depression in the business cycle in these cases has extended for more than four quarters (which is considered the maximum period of time for which an economy might stay in recession) (Arcega 2013). The future of the global economy is under lots of debates and discussion and experts opine that imbalances in the international trade pattern and overheating of the global economic structure and pose considerable importance on the economic future of all the countries. Hence, it is implied that the governments in these countries are required to take policy initiatives in response to this financial downturn in order to bring back stability in their economies (Obstfeld, Cho and Mason 2012, 2). In this context it has to be mentioned that the economic crunch has cast influence on the issue of sustainable development. The years prior to the financial crisis had witnessed good growth rate in the United States in terms of GDP. The GDP is commonly used as a measure of economic growth. The ideal growth rate of GDP is that particular rate of growth of the total national output, which is sustainable (Amadeo 2013). Macroeconomic policies therefore bear close connotation to sustainability issues (Eichengreen 2010). The financial crisis of 2007 has been compared by several experts to a bug that has eroded the hard earned benefits of good economic growth achieved by these economies prior to 2007. However, the more important question facing researchers and policy makers is that whether these development goals have been consistent with the concept of sustainable development. Sustainability and sustainable development The Federal government of the United States has applied the neo classical economic theory for attaining deep understanding of the economic issues occurring in these countries and curving out solutions from the fundamentals of this theory. The neo classical economic theory involves the dual notion of allocation of resources in the free market from within the resource endowment of the economy and the price system followed in such a market economy (Endres 2002, 6). Concept of sustainability Sustainability refers to the constraints put on the inter-temporal distribution of available resources that are used by the mankind for fulfillment of their current desires and requirements (Howarth 2010, 448). There are various notions about the concept of sustainability and these concepts are subjected to the economical, geographical, political, social and cultural precincts of each particular nation. Therefore, there is no strict and bounded definition of sustainability.

MC DONALDS ADVENTURE IN THE HOTEL INDUSTRY Essay

MC DONALDS ADVENTURE IN THE HOTEL INDUSTRY - Essay Example anged but as the hotel was under the umbrella of McDonalds, therefore it is quite expected that the brand image will be the same as that of the McDonalds. It refers that the brand should be associated with cleanliness, hospitability and convenience but the fact was that the hotel management was unable to satisfy the expectations of the customers. Golden Arch should prepare different marketing missions and should promote those accordingly. Therefore, it can be concluded that Golden Arch did not have much success in the branding strategy. After deciding about the diversification of the business, McDonalds had entered into the markets of Switzerland with the hotel business. The pros and cons of this entry strategy can be analyzed as below. Pros: Switzerland is an attractive tourist destination and most targeted place for the hotel business. The country is economically sound and possesses a stable political background. The city that has been chosen for operating the hotel business is the political capital of Switzerland which comprises of 35 million populations. Also, 10 years ago there was not as much competition prevalent like today and therefore it was a good decision. Cons: McDonalds needed to have a market analysis before entering into the hotel industry in Switzerland. The related industries such as travel and construction should also be evaluated. Due to the booming construction industry, four and five star hotel can be built quickly. Another important aspect is the availability of the human resource. Switzerland ranks number two with respect to the productivity of the labor sources but there the availability of cooks and chefs are inadequate and that had definitely interrupted the flow of the work. From the above analysis it can be said that the entry strategy was not bad at that point of time but with the passage of time, scenario has changed as competition has increased and Golden Arch needs to strategize accordingly. Strategy was not the issue, rather

Nuclear Terrorism - U.S. Military Prevention Research Paper

Nuclear Terrorism - U.S. Military Prevention - Research Paper Example The weapons of mass destruction like the nuclear weapons were also created to find a better solution for the war, to maintain a peaceful environment and to protect the sovereignty of a region. The United States of America is the first country that developed, tested and imposed on nuclear weapons. The results were seen to be drastic and a kilogram of a nuclear matter is enough to make destruction that a more than 20 kiloton of TNT can. Thus a smaller amount of nuclear matter is as much effective as tons of explosives. Thus it is economical, diverse and drastic for a war. However, the nuclear attack was imposed only one time by the United States on Japan and after that, the attack is still not imposed on any other country under any condition. As the human race realized that there is an infinite amount of energy in the nuclei of the atom, many scientists began trying to find solution to extract the massive amount of energy for the civilian as well as military use. However, the first scientist that discovered the method to unstable the nuclei of the atom was ‘Enrico Fermi’ while scientist named as ‘Leo Szilard’ became his second in discovering the immense amount of energy. The more the science developed in the area, the field progressed similarly. However, at first, the technology was not tested to be utilized for the civilian purposes. The energy remained undiscoverable until Hiroshima and Nagasaki were attacked by the United States of America as response to World War 2. The attacks were considered as the consequence of the Japanese invasion and the Japanese attack on the ‘Pearl Harbor’ in ‘1941’. However, the consequences were drastic and no one after the Hiroshima and N agasaki attacks was permitted to impose such an attack on any country under any situation.

Human resources management Staffing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Human resources management Staffing - Essay Example tional materials and evaluation framework has been a hindrance in the achievement of success but with proper knowledge and practice, success is guaranteed. In talent management, various aspects of business and employer interaction are considered. The entire management is specifically divided into four parts namely entry, retention, development, and performance. Entry mainly streamlines recruitment, selection, orientation, and placement to ensure that the best candidates are incorporated in the business and their potentials well tapped. Once the new employees are recruited, employee retention through the company culture and congruity in values between the company and the employees is necessary to ensure that the best environment is maintained translating to improved performance1. As an organization, our employees and we definitely have our goals. We usually strive very much in realizing them. Thus, in talent management, personal and organization development is realized by dividing the competencies into knowledge, skills, behavior, and attitude after which each employee is considered individual. In ensuring that the employees understand their roles, they should be clearly outlined. Positive reinforcement and feedback is necessary to ensure performance is improved. Moreover, there are persons whose performance is favored by the organization structure and culture. As a result, use of such personnel in acculturization is very effective. Who does not require success in whatever he is involved? Thus, implementation of talent management will ensure that success is achieved in this organization. It is true that weaknesses in talent management may appear due to an innovation or technological advancement. Other hindrance in achieving success includes systems and resources. In the recent past, various transformations have been done to ensure that seal talent gaps that may be evident in an organization. When sufficient funds are offered to talent management, then, leader

Field Project in a School Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Field Project in a School - Personal Statement Example e) entertaining activities also proved to be effective such as literacy activity games like playing word search, boggle, ending words, site words, how to use the computer, E.S.A games, scrabble, smart boards, cursive writing and book reports. 3. Learning to write effectively prepares students for success in both the classroom and the outside world. Being able to express oneself well in writing can be a great source of power. I helped the students develop writing skills by applying interactive and effective methods. These include: a) writing exercises about topics that are close to the experiences of the students like their favorite junk food, pair of pants, first day of spring, what you are thankful for in your life, etc. or topics about special occasions such as Easter where they are asked to relate what they did on that special day with their family c) through excursions or trips where children were able to see plays or shows (like retumbia, Cinderella and Doctor Amelia Bedelia), and were asked to write their viewpoints about the show or they are taken to class trips to the museum of natural history to share what they saw and what was their favorite part of the place d) new spelling words for the week where students write the new words 5 times and make a sentence for each word e) research about Egyptians pyramids and its contents f) playing site word bingo g) writing letters to their parents or write letter to their teacher about what they did over the weekend. h) the five-sense taste test, the students write about their favorite ice cream flavor (vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry) and make a graph for it i) students practice writing their address on loose-leaf paper 3 times, this helps students learn how to prepare an address envelope j) story reading like "Dear Mr. Blueberry" by Simon James where students are required to write Mr. Blueberry with an address envelope k) the students are also taught to do persuasive writing l) students were taken to a field trip to Sony wonder technology laboratory and explored the communication and

Technical Report about Zigbee Network Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Technical Report about Zigbee Network - Essay Example Zigbee is a set of specifications that facilitate a low cost, low consumption power, low data transfer load and non-complex wireless mesh network. Zigbee protocol has been standardized by IEEE. In this paper, the basic attributes of Zigbee networks shall be discussed along with the network topologies, applications and components. The protocol shall also be studied with reference to the OSI model to highlight the layers where it is defined. Table of Contents Abstract ii List of Figures iv 1. Introduction 1 2. Background 1 3. Components of Zigbee Networks 3 4. Applications of Zigbee 5 5. Network Topologies of Zigbee Networks 5 6. Zigbee Specifications in OSI Model 7 7. Conclusion 8 References 9 List of Figures Figure 1: Zigbee comparison with other wireless technologies 2 Figure 2: Zigbee network in a smart home 3 Figure 3: Coordinator, Router and end-devices 4 Figure 4: Types of network topologies of Zigbee standard 6 Figure 5: OSI layers comparison with the definition of Zigbee in th e model 7 Zigbee Networks and Specifications 1. Introduction Technology has intervened to an extensive degree in the lives of humans. The intervention has made man rely on technology for his business, as well as domestic needs. The trend of transforming regular houses into smart homes has been a field of interest for researchers around the world. Gohn (2007) stated that the advancement in the domain of wireless networking and information technology has made an age-old dream come true of automating one’s house with a centralized source of control. The innovative technology that is responsible for leaping wireless technology to another level of automation is known as Zigbee. The report focuses on the components and network topologies that develop the standard and facilitate communication with devices that are placed within a close range. Section 2 discusses the background and overview of the Zigbee standard. Section 3 includes the components of a Zigbee network while Section 4 discusses the applications of the respective standard. Section 5 includes the network topologies that are followed by the standard and Section 6 defines its placement in the OSI model. 2. Background Several technologies have been developed in the past years that are based on different levels of bandwidth, ranges and degrees of power consumption. Some of the common technologies to provide connectivity with different devices around a smart home have been Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and WiMax. Leopold, Dydensborg and Bonnet (2003) provided the information that bluetooth is considered to be the first technology in the domain of Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN) that gained extensive recognition and acceptance. Leopold, Dydensborg and Bonnet (2003) stated that Bluetooth offered omni-directional communication that led to the desire for a smarter technology after some years of its common usage. Stevanovic (2007) provided the information that Zigbee Alliance introduced a new standard with the nam e ‘Zigbee’. Zigbee is a standard which is meant for communication between embedded devices placed in a limited range. It was recognized as a standard under IEEE 802.15.4. Gohn (2007) stated that the main aim behind the standard was to facilitate wireless connectivity between devices such that it would possess the following attributes: Low complexity Low cost Low consumption of power Two-way communication Low load of data transfer Lonn and