Machiavelli Locke And Plato Essays - Italian Politicians

Machiavelli Locke And Plato John Locke and Niccol Machiavelli are political philosophers writing in two different lands and two different times. Locke's 17th century England was on the verge of civil war and Machiavelli's 15th century Italy was on the verge of invasion. Yet, students and political philosophers still enthusiastically read and debate their works today. What is it that draws readers to these works? Why, after three hundred years, do we still read Two Treatises on Government, Discourses on Livy, and The Prince? The answer to those questions lies in each text itself, and careful review will produce discourses on those questions and many others. The focus of this discourse is to examine the treatment of "the people" by both authors, to discover what Machiavelli and Locke write about the people's role in their different structures of government. In particular, this paper seeks to understand that role in regards to the political power each author yields to, or withholds from, the people. In addition, these treatments of power and the people will be compared to the writings of another timeless political philosopher, Plato. By juxtaposing Two Treatises on Government, Discourses on Livy, The Prince, and The Republic against one another, this paper will show how writers from three very different centuries all agreed upon an identical notion of the relationship between the power of the people and their role in government. This theory is not readily apparent upon initial reading of these authors. Indeed, most political philosophers would argue that each author has a very distinct notion of what role the people play in government. Therefore, an ideal place to start is in the differences of each author's portrayal of the people and the political power they wield. Machiavelli, the most pessimistic of the three writers in regards to humans and human nature, writes that all men can be accused of "that defect" which Livy calls vanity and inconsistency (The Discourses on Livy, 115). He continues by writing: "...people [are] nothing other than a brute animal that, although of a ferocious and feral nature, has always been nourished in prison and in servitude" (Discourses on Livy, 44). Animals, that are by their nature ferocious, become scared and confused when released from captivity. Without the shelter and food they had come to expect when "domesticated," they are more susceptible to future attempts at captivity. Man also becomes scared and confused in freedom after living under the government of others. Machiavelli writes that these men lack understanding of "public defense or public offense," and quickly return "beneath the yoke that is most often heavier than the one it had removed from its neck a little before" (Discourses on Livy, 44). Men are docile like domesticated dogs or cattle, according to this description, and have a role in government of little political power. With Plato, there is a continuation of the same theme started by Machiavelli. The people primarily play a subservient role in Plato's structure of government under the rule of monarchs, aristocrats, or philosopher-kings. When discussing with Adeimantus the virtue and reason behind a regime instituted by philosophers, Plato does not paint a picture of men much greater than Machiavelli's animalistic comparison above. Indeed, he portrays them as easily swayed and ill-informed by those "from outside who don't belong and have burst in like drunken revelers, abusing one another and indulging a taste for quarreling" (The Republic, 179). For Plato, the largest majority of men constitute unknowledgeable masses that persecute the very group that can best lead them, the philosophers. Even in a democratic regime, a regime based on the will of the people, Plato does not give us a particularly optimistic view of men. This regime is composed of three types of men according to Plato; the multitude; the oligarchic; and the "men most orderly by nature" (The Republic, 243). The oligarchic rule the city through the license of the multitude, and the orderly rule in business through the disadvantage of the multitude. Thus, Machiavelli sees the people as subjugated and Plato sees the people as fatuous, both doomed to political ineptitude. With Locke, however, the character of the people is redeemed. The people, for Locke, represent a political power akin to force. Indeed, the people are the ultimate source of power for Locke's government, whether that government is a legislative body or a prince. In the closing chapter of his second treatise, Locke details the ways that government can dissipate when rulers misuse their power. The third way a prince may dissolve the government is when he arbitrarily alters the electors

Levittown essays

Levittown essays In the 1950s, Abraham Levitt had a dream. He dreamt of building an organized social community in response to the post WWII population boom and the urge to rebuild social connections. With the mindset of its creator and his familys business, his communities called Levittown grew to be thriving social centers and examples for the ideal American suburb that still stands today. However, there were some discrepancies and minor failures in the roots of Levittown, NY, and other Levittowns to come. Their tendency to stress conformity and the racial segregation that occurred would be viewed negatively today. Levittown's place in American cultural history of post war America is assured in part by the way each part of it was constructed: the site and the neighborhoods, but most importantly the construction of society and the community that resulted. The key figure in the construction of Levittown was Abraham Levitt. He and his sons ran a construction company known as Levitt and Sons. Abraham was born on July 1, 1880 in Brooklyn, New York. At the age of 10, Abraham quit school, despite his avid passion of Philosophy and his astonishing ability to read above his grade level. One of his hobbies was gardening, and his love of foliage and horticulture was later reflected in Levittowns agricultural setting. Abraham did however return to school at the age of 20 and received his education at New York University Law School, and finally earned his degree in real estate law in 1902. Abrahams abilities as a facilitator of land acquisitions by building contractors would lead him to create Levitt his youngest son, Alfred, would be the designer of the homes. William Jaird Levitt, who later became president of Levitt and Sons, was born on February 11, 1907. Just as his father he was educated in New York public schools, and took after his father, being an avi...

Full Review Erica Meltzers Complete Guide to ACT Reading

Full Review Erica Meltzer's Complete Guide to ACT Reading SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Erica Meltzer’s test prep books have burst onto the test prep scene (if that wasn't a thing before, it is now) in the last few years, to great acclaim. She's published 2 books on the ACT: The Complete Guide to ACT English and The Complete Guide to ACT Reading (which is what I will be reviewing in this article). While Meltzer's books are high quality, they are not without their flaws, so read on to figure out whether or not this book is appropriate for you and if you should integrate it into your own ACT test prep. All shall be explained! Why Trust This Review? When you get advice (both in general and specifically on the Internet), it’s very important to know why that advice is trustworthy/believable. I don't want to sound alarmist, but your ACT score is pretty important, and following the wrong advice might lead to a bad score and loss of chance to improve it. So why can you trust this review (over other reviews?). Well, for one thing, I know what I'm talking about. While haven’t taken the ACT (yet), I scored two perfect scores on the reading section of the (2005-present) SAT, and have been doing in-depth analysis of the ACT questions by skill set and writing articles on each skill. Other writers who haven't done that sort of analysis don’t necessarily have the expertise to be able to differentiate between books, so they end up recommending books as kind of an afterthought (and it’s pretty obvious). In contrast to other sites (like about.com and reviews.com), who get money if you click on their links to purchase the books they review, I'm not getting paid for this review, and don’t get anything if you end up buying the book. Disclaimers Disclaimer the first: I work at PrepScholar, an education company that produces online SAT and ACT prep programs. PrepScholar diagnoses your strengths and weaknesses and customizes a test prep program to suit your needs. I myself mostly write and edit articles for the associated blog and grade the essays of students taking practice tests through the program. While I think that PrepScholar provides the best prep platform currently available, you don’t necessarily need a prep program to ace the ACT. Which means that writing this guide might actually lost us some customers, since you might decide you don’t need a program after all. If you decide you don’t want to have to deal with 5 different books and want an integrated program that is customized to your learning, however, PrepScholar might be just the thing for you. But I digress. Disclaimer the second: While I did not attend college at the same time as the author of this book, honesty compels me to admit that we did attend the same undergraduate institution. I don’t think this particularly influenced my review, but I wanted to be transparent about it.  ©2009 Laura Staffaroni You've got to admit that's some campus, though. The Complete Guide to ACT Reading: Book Review When thinking about and evaluating any (test prep) book, I consider the following three points: Who’s the author and what’s her experience/background? How effective is this book overall? What are the pros and what are the cons of this book? About the author: Erica Meltzer Erica Meltzer started out as a tutor, but has been publishing SAT and ACT prep books for the last few years. She graduated from Wellesley College, which is a highly prestigious college ranked #4 of all the liberal arts colleges in the country (as of the time of this article’s publication – there’re always fluctuations). Even though Meltzer's focus has been on writing, rather than tutoring, for the past few years, her books show a good deal of insight into the SAT and ACT. In addition, she and her company also offer tutor-training sessions for test prep tutoring. How effective is this book? From my own experience, I know that ACT Reading is the most difficult score to improve. The skills you need to master it (logical/critical reasoning skills) are not as easily taught as the content on the Writing and Math sections. This means that it’s important to focus in on different question types and the skills required so that you can approach the questions in a systematic way. Fortunately, this is the approach Meltzer takes in The Complete Guide to ACT Reading. This book teaches how to get at the core of what each question is asking and how to squeeze the right answer out of the passage. If you're aiming for a 36, this is great for comprehensive drilling. If you’re aiming for a 25 or below, however, this book is probably too thorough. Contrary to popular belief, it’s not always good to study from the hardest material. Why? In this case, because Meltzer focuses on strategies that are the most useful for high scorers, she does not cover strategies that would be more helpful for low or midrange scorers (compare, for instance, our articles on how to get a 36 on ACT Reading and how to improve a low ACT Reading score). Pros and Cons of The Complete Guide to ACT Reading Pros Good breakdown of most skill types. Meltzer has a clear division of questions by major skill type – big picture, detail, inference, tone questions. This makes it easy to dip in and out of the book – if there’s one particular type of question you have problems with, you can focus on that and ignore the other sections fairly easily. Realistic passages and questions. The questions in the book are of high quality, as are the (licensed) excerpts the passage-based questions ask about. Some acknowledgement of different skill levels. Meltzer discusses the strategy of dropping an entire section if you’re a slow reader and have problems with comprehension, and also describes playing â€Å"positive/negative† with tone questions as a means to narrow down. Suggested reading list (to prepare for ACT passages). These suggestions are useful not just for Reading skill practice but also for sources to use for your Writing essay (if you do the essay). Also, I've read Inside of a Dog and really enjoyed it, so some of the books might be interesting as well as educational! Includes two full-length reading sections at the end to practice with. Provides useful skimming strategies and tips for how to approach the passage. Cons Expensive for the amount of material you’re getting. The book is 120 pages, but the last 32 pages are all practice reading questions, and many pages are full reprints of sample reading passages, which means the actual "teaching" content of the book is on the shorter side. Dry writing style. There are no pictures and there's not much layout variety (there's a whole lot of text), so it might be difficult to get into. Basically, it’s no frills, which works for me (I don’t really need to spend hours of my life reading about ACT†¦Reading), but it might be difficult for some students to get through. No real discussion of which questions might be easier/more difficult to answer. Meltzer describes some question types as the â€Å"most challenging,† which does help somewhat, but she does not provide clear â€Å"this is the question you should try to answer first if you’re worried about points on Reading† guidelines, which I think would be helpful. Does not cover paired passages. It has become standard on every ACT Reading section for there to be at least one topic area (often Humanities) with two passages; the ten questions are divided between the passages, with 3 questions that ask about both passages. To be fair, there are barely any materials out there that cover this, including the ACT’s own website, but that doesn't mean that they should be left out of a prep book. Overall Rating As far as I have been able to determine, this is the best book currently out there for ACT Reading prep. If you’re planning on scoring a 31 or above on ACT Reading and prefer to study via book, then this is the right choice for you. It’s ridiculously expensive for the amount of content it contains, and it may be too thorough for some students, but it’s a great choice that can teach you a lot. Overall rating: 75/100 FACEBOOK LIKE by Owen W Brown, used under CC BY 2.0/Cropped from original. Alternative Options for ACT Reading Prep I would be remiss if I did not point out that we provide some great free options out there for ACT Reading prep on our blog. In addition to general strategy articles, we also break down Reading questions by skill type with focused suggestions for vocab in context, big picture, little picture, function and development, inference, and paired passage questions. What’s Next? Read our detailed guide to the Best ACT prep books of 2015 and our list of the best ACT Prep Websites you can use to put together your very own study program. What’s a good ACT score for you? Figure it out with our step-by-step guide based around the colleges you’re applying to. Aiming for a high score? Read our guide to scoring a perfect 36 on the ACT overall and on the ACT Reading section, written by our resident perfect scorer (and PrepScholar co-founder) Allen Cheng. Also, don’t forget to check out our top-of-the-class ACT prep program! Want to improve your ACT score by 4+ points? Download our free guide to the top 5 strategies you need in your prep to improve your ACT score dramatically.

Space shuttle columbia failure Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Space shuttle columbia failure - Essay Example The velocity of the shuttle was 17,321 mph, while its actual weight depended on the payload and the other consumables on board. The thermo protection system of the space shuttle comprised of service coverage with high and low temperature reusable surface insulation tiles (Perkins, 86). The other areas such as the bay doors, fuselage and wings were covered with white silicone-rubber painted Nomex, which served as the insulation system (Christensen, 377). However, during the subsequent upgrade of the orbiter, the initial insulation tile and the silicone-rubber were replaced with Fibrous Insulation Blankets, which were found to be more flexible and appropriate for the orbiter surface insulation (Christensen, 377). The space shuttle was the first of its kind in many aspects. The space shuttle Columbia was the first spacecraft that was a reusable spacecraft and it was the first spacecraft that could carry large satellites both to and from the orbit (NASA, n.p.). The space shuttle Columbia comprised of three major components; the orbiter where the crew on board were housed, two solid rocket boosters which provided the shuttle with lift during the first two minutes, and a large external tank that fueled the main engines (NASA, n.p.). The Shuttle was 184 feet long, while its orbiter was 122 feet long, with a wing span of 78 feet and a height of the 57 feet, measured while standing on the runway (NASA, n.p.). On the day of the actual landing of the space shuttle Columbia, within the last few minutes of its landing, the shuttle entered the Earth’s atmosphere from the orbit. The incidence occurred when the spacecraft was approaching its Kennedy Space Center which was its targeted landing destination (Howell, n.p.). However, at 9.00 a.m. EST, an abnormal reading showed up on the NASA mission control center, starting with the loss of the

Course Project Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Course Project - Assignment Example Such brainstorming combines fun, brainpower, thought process and creativity all in one. The target groups of this game board are industrialist, marketers, and start-up enterprises aimed at stimulating marketing ideas necessary for edging modern business competitive environment. I must emphasize though, the uniqueness of this new game model because playing a game like this promotes and brings on board the whole entrepreneurial idea. There are several board games in the market but as far as the core innovation is based, the Know your Opponent game will revolutionize and alter existing game instructions. Of all tons of board games in the market, none can be compared to this innovation and its entrepreneurial concepts. Our approach has taken the core idea of a stratagem board game and building on that a slightly fresh track will eventually lead to transformational board game improvement. To facilitate the success on this project I work with a team of four personnel: the financial officer, the design office, purchase and supply and marketing panel. The finance officer ensures that all budgetary allocation and inventories are up to date whereas the design office formulates the board game prototype and clear specifications; the purchase and supply office ensures that all specifications to manufacturer are met and ensure timely delivery. Lastly, is the marketing team works tirelessly to ensure our products are visible and sells in the market. In terms of financing board game, together with my savings I intend to approach a bank manager for a loan to aid in the launch. According to estimations, a sum of $25,000 will be enough to see off the project and sustain its entry to the market for some days. The board game market is totally constricted, however depending on how successive the games sales and customer feedback outcomes, we look forward in developing new products. Building trust will put as at high par at meeting the

The Effects of Poverty on the Inner City Family Values Essay Example for Free

The Effects of Poverty on the Inner City Family Values Essay The family is the basic unit of the society. It is an institution that is composed of the father, mother and their children. It can be said that the existence of the family is a simple matter but we should realize that the conglomeration of families is what makes up the world today. The existence of families is governed by family values that are passed from generation to generation. Family values are proven to be effective in keeping families intact no matter how dynamic the world is. In other words, the inability to maintain and practice family values at home makes a family chaotic thereby affecting the society as a whole. There are various family values that are utilized and practiced by families worldwide. However, most of the common values include individuality, integrity, industry, knowledge, compassion, love of family and optimism (Learning Family, 1999, p. 1). These values are useful in keeping family cooperation and order that will result to happiness at home. Moreover, we are aware that family values affect how we face the realities of life. Our values can manifest to others about what kind of people we are, and can assist them in understanding our actions (Learning Family, 1999, p. 1). In this paper, the primary factor that could affect family values is the problem of poverty that surfaced in the world today. This paper will give a simple yet thorough discussion of the effects of poverty on actual and perceived families found in the inner city and their values. The basic manifestations of poverty are overpopulation, food shortage and related problems, high crime rate and poor educational background of which family values can be applied in solving for these problems. Poverty and Its Effects to Actual and Perceived Inner City Family Values Poverty is a problem that hits the whole world. Many countries are suffering from poverty and its constituents always hope for changes. Having families forced to fill the streets due to inability to afford a house is a reality. Even in the United States, there people who are found in the streets as they could not afford to own a house (Wattenberg, et. als. , 2003, p. 517). It is for a fact that the United States has been considered as a country that has the highest national income worldwide (Wattenberg, et. als. , 2003, p. 517). Yet, poverty still exists due to unequal distribution of income and wealth. Due to this situation, many families are becoming malfunctioned as their children caused so many problems in the society. Family values are no longer frequently taught among children since juvenile delinquency is rampant nowadays. There are two kinds of families that we need to deal with in analyzing family values in relation to poverty in the inner city and these are the actual family and the perceived inner city family. In order to have a basic backdrop in understanding the paper, it should be put in mind that these two kinds of family will be analyzed with respect to each manifestation of poverty together with the family values mentioned earlier. Hence, the purpose of this paper is trying to stress the differences in views between the actual and the perceived poor inner city family. Schools are getting problems of truancy as a sign that parents can no longer control their children in their homes. Parents are more focused in solving financial problems that they tend to forge their children’s emotional and psychological needs. Overpopulation and Its Effects to Actual and Perceived Inner City Families The problem of poverty includes population growth. As time continues to exist, the number of people living in this world also increases. In line with that, life expectancy as well as standards of living became more complicated. Besides, the populace has developed into a huge number that is about six billion, and continues to increase over time (Overpopulation Website, 2008, p. 1). In addition to that, the pressures of rising populations on natural resources and commercial greed coalesce, resulting to detrimental consequences (Overpopulation Website, 2008, p. 1). As many people exist, there is shortage of space in cities wherein most families live to earn a living. Housing problems occur and the government is trying to resolve the issue. Due to the rising number of unemployed people, homeless families continue to increase. Children start to show disgust in the situation leading them to stray in the streets. Aside from that, many families stay in the streets to earn a living by selling whatever materials to passersby and run errands to other people. Besides, those people in the countryside try to relocate into inner cities in order to search for economic opportunities. This situation adds to the burden of having a congested place in the urban and suburban communities. Diseases that affect the people living in the cities continue to be a problem since clean water supply is limited. In other words, overpopulation greatly affects those families who live in the inner cities since all other huge problems related to poverty exist there. For a detailed analysis on the effects of poverty on the actual inner city family values, we need to consider the matters discussed earlier. The main focus in this section is the effects of poverty on the actual families in inner cities and their values. Considering overpopulation, there are family values that are utilized by actual families. These values include industry, compassion, and optimism. Actual inner city poor families are aware of the value of industry, compassion and optimism. First and foremost, the hardships that these families need to bear require an optimistic heart so that life can be fully enjoyed. Small amount of food can be shared by family members and a few clothing supply can be used by them. However, actual families are weak in terms of compassion since they would not care for other people’s welfare as long as their own families can survive. The future is that a family of three members who are earning the minimum wage in the year 2009 can still considered as living below the federal poverty line. The only family values that can prevent this situation are industry since there is no other way. Yet, because of poor educational background leading to poor qualification in work with better pay make the family members indolent. The effect of poverty on the value of industry is very severe as long financial crisis may result to inadequacy of work qualifications. Actual families and its members usually blame each other in their poor educational background due to the coming of more family members leading to more mouths to feed. Parents are always blamed by their children of their inability to afford for the educational needs of their children. As a result, the value of industry never worked out due to lack of work qualification. In addition, poor actual families view poverty as something that they do not deserve as they thought they worked hard to earn a living. Whatever it may be, the actual families still believes that no matter how hard life is, optimism is a value that should not be discarded. On the other hand, the views of perceived families on inner city values are much more different than views of actual family. The perceived family in the inner city viewed overpopulation as the failure of the government to address the issue. Perceived families most likely blamed the government for not giving then sufficient work opportunities that resulted to their economic difficulties. Aside from that, perceived families living in urban and suburban communities do not care about the value of compassion. Most frequently, people in inner cities who are poor fight against each other over little resources. Their dire needs of living allowance made them inactive to the welfare of other people but for themselves. In addition, perceived families in inner cities are not optimistic in nature. They tend to submit to negative actions just to escape poverty. There are so many cases of theft, robbery and even rape that exist in perceived families due to the inability of family members and even neighbors to help each other. The scarce resources in the inner city due to overpopulation pushed young children to wander in the streets for possible alms and donations. Just think of the existing people in the streets begging for food and basic necessities, perceived families in the inner cities experienced these things. However, the value of industry is something that is treasured by perceived families on inner cities. This is due to the fact that if they will not work to earn a living, they have nothing to eat. Their children will suffer more due to lack of sustenance. Poor perceived families on inner cities could be aware of the fact that only a sincere industry could give them a chance to earn a living.

Psychological Intervention and Schizophrenia Essay -- Disorder Schizop

Psychological Intervention and Schizophrenia There are perhaps two main prongs to the development of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy as an intervention for schizophrenia, the first being based upon the sizable research that centre on family interventions, which have been successful in reducing patient relapse in schizophrenic families (Pilling et al., 2002). Family interventions are important to consider as they became established treatments during a phase where drug treatments were the main focus of attention in this field and so opened the area of non biological treatment for schizophrenia. And as I will touch upon later drug therapies are frequently used to reduce psychotic symptoms and relapse but these treatments rarely provide the answer, with as many as 50% of patients suffering from persistent psychotic symptoms when adhering to pharmacological treatments (Dickerson, 2000). The other aspect that has seen CBT be considered as a treatment for schizophrenia is that it has been effective in treating a range of non-psychotic disorders both mild and more serious (e.g., Hawton, Salkovskis, Kirk, & Clark, 1989; Clark & Fairburn, 1997). The range of effective CB therapies stem from early studies where depression and anxiety disorders were the subject of interest (Beck et al., 1979; Barlow, 1988) to more serious psychotic disorders, such as bipolar disorder (Basco, Rush, 1995; Perry et al, 1999) and personality disorders (Beck et al, 1990). While the success of family intervention, a non drug related therapy, and CBT’s success in treating various disorders provide evidence for the potential of CBT in treating schizophrenia they have been developed amid a backdrop in which drug therapy has been extensively explored, but has failed to produce a whole solution to the complexities exhibited by schizophrenia sufferers. It is likely then that as an intervention for schizophrenia CBT will provide a part solution rather than an all-encompassing answer. Detailed study of patients’ experiences has led to a greater understanding of the stress suffered by patients who go on to develop coping mechanisms, which can be treated using CBT, to deal with the symptoms of their illness (Mcnally, Goldberg, 1997). The fact then that there are so many aspects to this disease means that it would be impossible to provide a comprehensive review in this paper but I will discuss... ..., Tarrier, N., Morriss, R., McCarthy, E., & Limb, K. (1999). A randomised controlled trial of teaching bipolar disorder patients to identify early symptoms of relapse and obtain early treatment. British Medical Journal, 318, 149–153. Pilling, S., Bebbington, P., Kuipers, E., Garety, P., Geddes, J., Orbach, G. et al. (2002). Psychological treatments in schizophrenia: I. Meta-analysis of family interventions and cognitive behaviour therapy. Psychological Medicine, 32, 763–782. Sensky T., Turkington D., Kingdon D., Scott J. L., Scott J., Siddle R., O'Carroll M. & Barnes T. (2000). A randomised controlled trial of cognitive-behavioural therapy for persistent symptoms in schizophrenia resistant to medication. Archives of General Psychiatry, 57: 165-172 Watts FN, Powell GE, Austin SV. 1973. The modification of abnormal beliefs. British Journal of Medical Psychology 46: 359–363. Wiersma D., Jenner J. A., van de Willige G., Spakman M., Nienhuis F. J. (2001) Cognitive behaviour therapy with coping training for persistent auditory hallucinations in schizophrenia: a naturalistic follow-up study of the durability of effects. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica. 103 (5): 393-399