Four Seasons Goes To Paris Essay

One of the worlds leading operator of luxury hotels in business for the last thirty years Four Seasons is successful due to exceptional personal customer service, adhering to standards, at the same time adopting to local customs and blending with the environment. While staying at Four Seasons guests can be assured they will get individual personal attention and exceptional service with no excuses whatsoever. At Four Seasons the hotel makes sure that the guest is comfortable and goes way out of the normal to do what the guest wants even if they have to bend the rules. The Four Seasons Hotel adheres firmly to its standards, according to the hotel management its standards are the foundations for all its properties, and every manager in the hotel has a clear perception of what the standards are, and they adhere to them, over a period of time these standards shape relationships between people and these relationships contribute in building a culture. The hotel has the policy that each individual property should blend with the environment, like if the property is in Chicago when a guest wakes up he should feel that he is Chicago, if the hotel is in Paris and the guest wakes up he should feel he is in Paris. In blending with the environment it still adheres to its standards of individual personal attention, prompt and exceptional service. Strong corporate culture with top management being in the firm for long time 25 + years, corporate and field managers thinking of themselves as part of a  family and treating each others as their own has been a big factor in the hotel’s success. The has a human resource Golden Rule which stipulates that â€Å"One should treat others the way they wanted to be treated themselves†. The firm believes in the fact that people make the strength of the company, the basic human needs stays the same all over the globe, people need respect, care, thoughtfulness. When the firm takes care of its employees as its own the employees takes care of the firm in return. An example of how this golden rule is implemented is the hotel provides the employee with several uniforms and there is nothing saying that they should change it once per day or at some specific time whenever they feel dirty they can change their uniforms, at the end it goes to their dignity almost no one feels comfortable in dirty clothes. Four Seasons has enough properties across the globe and has enough experience and expertise from different areas of this world with diverse cultures that its managers claim that they can go to any city or town and pull people who can follow its mission to provide the best luxury class environment for its guest. It says that even tough the culture and environment is really different but the process of opening a new property is exactly the same everywhere. With all these claim entering into business in France was a big challenge for the four seasons, they had to adhere to the American building code, adhere to the French laws for building and of the work force , modify the property to meet all these requirements and at the same time maintain the French George V look. The way four seasons entered the French market is one of the best ways to do business a business should adopt to the local cultures and blend in the environment, people are generally not that much in favor of a change and if  you blend with the local environment the local community will adapt to the new business in the area and things will go smooth. The hired a French interior designer whose policy was to make the guest rediscover the hotel and make them feel how much better the new redesigned place was. They had issues in adhering to the French labor laws. It’s a country with strong unions in short lots was different in what goes on in US so the firm had to change its way of working. In France they have an emotional way of doing things, the French did not take the company’s golden rule seriously they thought it was too American. They had an incredible pride in being French. The good thing about French is they can be very joyous and encouraging but at the same time French Temper also lashes out. It all ended up to how the four seasons came in to France was almost as important in what Four Seasons did. I would say they way they entered the French market was good but it required a great deal of tact and judgment. The way four seasons done business across the globe according to the policy of Diversity and Strength their belief in diversity and singularity should be a guide to any business entering the global market. Look at the case of McDonald its almost uniform and unique all over the world, now in its vision this mite be the good thing about it but people are generally not that easy to adopt to new tastes, if a community favors more spicy food then for starters they mite visit a McDonald restaurant for a change but in the long run they mite avoid it. Same goes if it sells food that is not consumed in that community no one is going to buy it.

B2B and B2C

In these harsh economic period, dealing with the ethical, legal, and regulatory concerns associated with B2B and B2C websites and the free flow of information is a main issue for both kinds of e-businesses. For both of these websites, there are security issues, site policies, applicable law, disclaimers of warranties and limitations, and conditions of use.In any type of business, whether it is traditional or e-business, ethics creates specific judgments regarding what is right or wrong, meaning, it makes assertions concerning what ought to be made or what ought not to be made. As all of us know, ethics is universal and is applied to anything that has relationships and interactions with individuals. Ethics is needed to steer business from harming and damaging the general public.   Moreover, ethics is likewise tied with legalities to help protect and secure its codes and principles. Consequently, ethics and legality works together to produce a peaceful environment in doing and transa cting businessAs compared with B2C’s websites, the audience and clients of B2B’s websites are not individual people since these individuals are members of a company. When conducting business you need to be aware who has authority, for example, for signing an NDA or placing an order on behalf of a company. Because the relationship is more extensive, every time you exchange information.Lately, concerns such as identity theft are rising for the reason that websites are not secured enough. Information and data has to be cautiously tracked and identified as confidential or general business or confidential when needed. Regarding ethics, the correct behavior of participants are characteristically described in regulatory codes formulated and implemented by commercial standard groups, trade associations, and the professions.Legal and ethical issues in B2b and B2c websites are very much alike, even though victims in B2B have more advantage when settling legal concerns given that procedures are extremely black and white. It is a fact that ethics is founded on universal values that do not alter if you are transacting business with an individual or with a company. The lone difference is that a B2B website has special rules and regulations if it concerns kids younger than 13 years of age. Moreover, due to the fact that B2B depends on the sharing of mutual information, ethics is very important. Not like consumers keeping business in B2C, in B2B, a victim does not have a great deal to do, just to ask for a third party’s assistance to solve their problems with B2c websites. Moreover, in B2B, it is easy to identify what took place and who is responsible and accountable for what happened in a B2B website.It is exceedingly significant from a legal B2B and B2C perspective to ensure that the written words and what is depicted regarding a company are factual.   Another important legal issue concerns intellectual property rights. Since concerns come up regardin g marketing ethics and the significance of understanding a business for Internet, there are probable areas and opportunities for disclosing trade secrets or intellectual property if appropriate B2B and B2C ethical behavior is not complied with.Meanwhile, in terms of legal and regulatory issues, B2B and B2C websites should see to it that they do not violate and commit copyright infringement, identity theft, identity fraud, and they do not patronize and tolerate consumer survey scams and hoaxes and advertising and keyword scams.Lastly, with the prevalence of PDA communication devices and new wireless web mail from cell phones, the Internet will be definitely touching and affecting more lives than ever before. Hence, privacy and security issues together with e-business ethical, legal and regulatory issues will become more widespread since it will become increasingly difficult to fathom who you can trust online; with all the illegal and unethical online e-business email scams, and Inter net marketing advertising frauds. #ReferencesFerrell, O.   â€Å"Introduction to Business Ethics Issues.†Ã‚   E-Ethics Center, Colorado State University, College of Business.Harris, L. and L. Spence.   â€Å"The Ethics of eBanking.†Ã‚   Journal of Electronic Commerce Research Vol. 3 #2, 2002.Warholic, J.   â€Å"Importance of Ethics on the Internet.†Ã‚   Professional web Services, Inc.

Food habits and globalization Essay

Traditions has been changed since the western food had reached to the GCC, according to Topics-mag.com (2007) â€Å"Many people feel fast food plays a big role in changing the traditional diets of cultures worldwide†. The obesity is a global problem, that it impacted by the bad influence from the globalization. After this, the health became one of the most important issues, because changing habits can destroy the health, also it destroys the traditions, because children nowadays will not be able to eat and have the same healthy food that their parents had. In fact, Food in the UAE has negatively impacted by globalization. The first issue is health, years ago or maybe more our parents had accustomed to eat certain type of food, and by changing it this fast it would be dangerous. Globalization effected many countries by spreading the different types of food restaurants. America as an example spread many junk food restaurants in the UAE, like Macdonald’s, KFC, and pizza hut. Children and adults nowadays eat too many junk food, because its faster, and easy to find. Our parents used to eat healthy food and their bodies does not include junk food, by changing patterns in this generation health has been effected. Obesity and chronic diseases is caused by the changing diet pattern (Neuhouser, Thomson, Coronado, & Solomon, 2004). It seems like the junk food is spreading in the GCC very fast, and the demand of the fast food increased. The reason why health was effected is the new food pattern and if we looked at what this food included we would be surprised. Most of the junk food includes vegetables, meet, and sauces, if we looked gently to the ingredients we will find many of genetically modified organism. This GMO is harmful for the health, because it’s not natural (Emanuelle Landais, 2007). According to sid candid, the fast food can be done fast and taste better but in spite of this advantages â€Å"they are low on the nutritional elements and hardly provide any benefits to the body.† Junk food is full of oil and the person can get fats easily.

Multiple Sclerosis and its Development Case Study

Multiple Sclerosis and its Development - Case Study Example This has been continuous and thus has been associated with the cause of the hearing loss. His condition caused a lot of misery in his life since he mysteriously lost over 20 pounds of weight and often become fatigued. This prompted Philip to seek medical attention where a few medical and neurological checkups led to MRI scan of the brain. The results indicated a patchy demyelination controlling every part of his body, thus a confirmation of multiple sclerosis. The results proved quite challenging to him with concern for his family members, his real estate business, and fear of loss of more physical attributes (Richard, 1). Despite the condition, Philip never gave up but intensified search for more knowledge about the disease. In his endeavor of the search, he met Dr. Swank, a neurologist who introduced the low dairy diet as well as low fat for the patients suffering from the disease. This program seemed effective for Philip, and thus reducing the severity of his condition. Despite experiencing some improvements, Philip never gave up and this offered him the opportunity to meet Dr. Richard, an orthomolecular practitioner. Due to his desire to get better, he accepted a neurological diagnosis, which authenticated the weakness in the left foot, failure of concordant rotational motion of the hands, hand tremor. Moreover, he displayed junky movements of the left limbs in case of stimulation by the neurological hammer (Richard, 1). Moreover, he experienced left-sided hyperactive reflexes, had nystagmus among other symptoms of MS. However, the laboratory report was more promising and indicated an iron overload due to the high presence of ferritin, which stores a lot of protein. Consequently, the thyroid panel indicated a low activity of 1.1 while the nerve cells were sensitive to mercury due to the presence of tubulin protein. Nevertheless, the laboratory test revealed deficiencies of vitamins pyridoxine and thiamin,  which facilitate nerve function (Richard, 1).  

Reaction Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Reaction Paper - Essay Example Throughout the film, there are several events where the characters are shown to suffer or endure discrimination. The author uses multiple strategies to show and influence the viewers that prejudice should have no place in the society. These strategies, on a personal note, are effective in conveying the message about prejudice and racism. The story is a product of three different periods in the history of African Americans. In the short film, Mildred Taylor talks about her family’s own experiences during the era of slavery, and gives background information regarding the basis of her characters in the story. Taylor’s own family members were slaves in Mississippi. Interestingly, the main protagonist in her story, Cassie Logan, is also born from a family of former slaves. It can be said that the stories Taylor present in the film have a solid and first-hand basis because of her personal experiences during the era of slavery. Going through the experiences Taylor relays throu gh the characters’ stories, one can say that she is an admirably strong woman, and it makes me wonder how many more like Mildred Taylors suffered the same racism and discrimination without having the chance of being heard or recognized. Despite the sad outcome of the story, one can see a glimmer of hope in the ending. T.J.’s sentencing actually is not so harsh because of the many betrayals he earlier did. It is still wrong, however, because we know that he is sentenced not due to what he did, but due to his skin color. Personally, though, the outcome of this story also leaves people with a sense of cautious optimism that it is possible for whites and blacks to work together, as shown in their act to put out the fire in the cotton farm. The story can serve as a tool in teaching children of any race and ethnicity a significant part of history: that the generation of â€Å"Cassie Logan† served as a great influence in furthering the Civil Rights movements of the 50s and 60s. Booker T. Washington: The Life and the Legacy Booker T. Washington is a very famous personality particularly of the African American history. He is known to have risen from the bondage of slavery and gone through emancipation and became the most powerful African American during his time. His life and legacy are clearly shown in this film with its dramatic and realistic reenactments coupled by original photos taken during Mr. Washington’s time. Aside from learning the intricate details of this phenomenal man’s life, it is also interesting to learn more about the controversy surrounding his methods and strategies in dealing with the problems and issues due to racism. In the film, Mr. Washington encounters people who are not so much into his way of emancipating the African Americans. One good example of this is W.E.B. Dubios. Mr. Dubois opposes Mr. Washington’s idea of progress for the blacks. For Dubois, he believes that confrontational means are necessa ry, and ultimately more effective. Washington believes otherwise. I believe that this is primarily due to his Southern upbringing, which is circled around the dominant religion of Baptism. His ideas are gentler perhaps, and his thoughts could even be more forgiving of the whites. This is most probably why his methods and strategies are towards giving blacks education and career. Washington’s other opponent, William Monroe Trotter, has ideas similar to that of Dubois. The way the controversies surrounding

Effects of economic and political climates on current higher education Essay

Effects of economic and political climates on current higher education - Essay Example Various factors of politics, economy and regulatory developments do have an impact on institutions of higher learning. Most issues are above the control of the national higher education community and the individual institutions. In response to these changes, institution budgeters must respond accordingly to the anticipatory changes in political and economic conditions that may have an effect on the amount of revenue that is available. In addition, of equal importance, they must put into consideration the pressures that are being exerted by the external forces on the institution of higher learning before its survival is put in jeopardy. Economic climate Institutions dealing with higher education are stable partly due to the mission and role that they have in the society and the way they are operated their activities and management. Despite this, the current financial issues in various ways are affecting the institutions of higher learning (Solt 2008, pp.48–60). Economic changes have significantly affected the higher institutions of learning since the beginning of 1990’s. In respect to this, changes seen in the national government support for higher education have been accompanying the turmoil of the economy. Today, the institutions of higher learning are no longer enjoying the high ranking that they used to on the societal agendas, local, state and national talks. Resources that were previously directed to higher education are captured by other sectors of the government.

Conceptualizing a Business Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Conceptualizing a Business - Research Paper Example As the paper outlines, the current business environment comprises of firms and organization offering different kinds of products and services (John & Randel, 2010). It is evident that researchers have attempted all explorations concerning the consumers’ needs that fit modern times. Introduction and adoption of capitalism presented a new are of free enterprise. This led to the aspect of competition among product manufacturers and service providers. In this context, there was the establishment of many companies manufacturing the same product type and providing similar services. In this case, it is fundamental that every company defines itself in a unique manner that differentiates it from its competitors. Therefore, entry of a new business firm into the market requires thorough execution of the conceptualization step. This will facilitate dispensation of the company’s operating principles to the concerned stakeholders (John & Randel, 2010). Mission Doll Company Limited ai ms at developing systematic mechanisms that will strive towards responding to the consumer's needs in the soft drink industry. The main focus of this company is to place the customer at a reference position in all its entire practices. Doll seeks to fill the gaps that are present in the beverage market. The company acknowledges the fact that there are numerous shifts in most social dynamics with respect to the aspects of lifestyles and fashion. As a result, the consumer market is currently divided along the lines of trends and lifestyles. In this regard, Doll seeks to develop a corresponding shift in the products’ nature as per the dictates of these external forces of social dynamics. This company will ensure the production of customized soft drinks based on the aspect of lifestyle and fashion. In this company, the consumers participate in decision-making exercises through the expression of their interests concerning product preferences. Therefore, the main objective of Doll Beverage Company is to address contemporary customers’ needs by responding to the social dynamic forces (John & Randel, 2010). Vision The company’s vision statement is, â€Å"Become the leading soft drinks manufacturer by responding to the aspects of social dynamics†. Doll aims at establishing a strong market base in the consumer population by responding to their needs through product differentiation. The company will integrate all the concepts of business ranging from social responsibilities to ethics in ensuring development and maintenance of a healthy relationship with the consumers. The basis of the company’s operation is to address the product issues resulting from the aspect of social dynamics (John & Randel, 2010). Doll appreciates the fact that consumers’ preferences are continually diversifying due to the relative morality in both the social and economic pillars of society. Therefore, the company seeks to identify the social changes and re spond to them accordingly in terms of product customization. The company will always identify emerging trends in fashion and lifestyle platforms. Consequently, Doll will produce tailor-made soft drinks for the consumer classes created by these social dynamic forces. We will develop close and healthy relationship with customers by incorporating them in decision making processes concerning product specifications.

Electronic word of mouth (eWOM) Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Electronic word of mouth (eWOM) - Assignment Example The eWOM as a marketing strategy depends on how the organizations trigger the altruistic motives of the consumers so that they can be advocates of the company’s brand on an online platform through relaying of feedback. They could do this by developing catchy ad messages to relay via the internet to their customers hence offering an excellent base for interaction to generate a good eWOM in customers. The outfit concerning eWOM should bring forth returns to either the company or the individual who has invested time in knowing. Expert’s opinion is very strong in eWOM compared to any other opinion. Because they will use the eWOM platform to offer professional counsel and as such demand incentives, the economic returns are tenable. What the expert think about your product will determine the consumption rate. When experts pass negative opinions via eWOM in a faster way than positive opinions, consumers scare from the product. However, when it comes to incentives, they will work in a manner to suit the

Television in Australia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Television in Australia - Essay Example Notably, the difference comes in where the television has to involve a camera to capture images that are to be displayed on the screen. A television camera converts the images into electronic waves and as well as the microphone. These signals are then converted back to images by an electron gun at the back of the television set (Herd, 2006:119). Television was first introduced in Australia on 1929. It was however, launched officially twenty-five years later because the Australian government wanted to observe the reaction of countries which had introduced themselves to the system. The official launch was on September 1956 with a studio called the communication network (TCN) being the only TV station in the country. Bruce Gyngell was the first presenter of the television station and his first words are still documented up-to-date (Hartley, 2007:44). The incision of the television in Australia drew the attention of many. Debates in the various cultural bodies and public interest groups struggled to define the impact the television would have to the country. The debates that came about were whether Australia was to have a television service at all and whether it should have a public or private owned television system (Byes, 2006:160). There were also controversies on whether any privately owned system would be in scrutiny by the government agencies. The people also wanted to know whether there would be control on ownership in order to prevent the influence of foreign companies in the ownership or overconcentration by local companies bringing unhealthy competition (Spigel, 2001:385). The country also had debates on whether there was to have protection of the Australia-made television materials against the imported material. Generally, the debates in the country revolved around ownership, control and the regulation of the materials that had come up due to the introduction of the television. The many controversies surrounding the television industry posed numerous que stions on the cultural aspect. The people were concerned on the role of the audience in response to determining the nature of the TV programming. There was also a desire to know the role of the government in the real matter considering that Australia was a liberal democratic country (Arrow, 2009:91). There was also a question on whether the models adopted by the United States were appropriate for Australia. There was a major contradiction between the politics and culture of the country. These debates and controversies overrode in the context of the cold war era and the great depression of the world super powers a global confrontation, which had powerful repercussions in the world countries and certainly within Australia (Hazelhurst, 1982:112). The Australian government showed much consideration on the matters concerning the establishment of the television in the country. It thus appointed an interim committee to look into the matter (Hartley, 2007:46). The report of the committee wa s to be significant, as it would lay regulations on the radio, which in turn would lay the basis for the television industry. The committee established a policy where all radio stations were to have operation licenses. It also determined the roles of ABC radio, which was the national broadcasting station (ABC). The general finding of the committee was that the government officials were optimistic about the introduction

Informal Proposal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Informal Proposal - Essay Example There is a dearth of consultancy service providers against an ever increasing demand (Remenyi, 2012). As a result, most clients fail to obtain the required services because there are few players in the market that specialize in consultancy. Basically, consultancy involves the offering of knowledge and counsel services upon demand. Additionally, consultancy services can be offered along with other professional and business services. The consultancy field is wide enough and involves a multitude of disciplines which implies that any business corporation offering professional or educational services can successfully venture into consultancy. In fact, already established business organizations are in a better position to offer consultancy services because of a number of factors. First is experience, organizations that offer professional or educational services have enormous experience in their particular arenas which could be exploited in consultancy. Offering consultancy services only re quire mastery, expertise, and experience in a relevant field through which firm can offer advice to clients. Therefore, the organization can successfully incorporate consultancy in its product and service range. Consultancy services will be offered along with the regular educational services in the sense that the schedule of the organization will be made more flexible to permit the new service. As a result, a new desk will be opened at the reception labeled consultancy and potential clients can inquire and book appointments with the consultancy department which will be created specifically to offer this service. Since consultancy services are offered on demand, once an appointment is booked the department will arrange and schedule the consultancy session without hindering other organizational processes. Consultancy is a professional field that would require the hiring of individuals with the necessary qualifications to

Hip-hop music Essay Example for Free

Hip-hop music Essay Hip-hop music, according to Joan Morgan, is a powerful force in popular culture. However, she also criticized how hip-hop â€Å"repeatedly reduced me to tits and ass and encourages pimping on the regular. † Emphasis is given on how machismo and sexism prevail in the lyrics of hip-hop music. As is seen in various examples highlighted in Morgan’s article, hip-hop music taught men to treat women without the respect and love that they deserve. They came to learn to treat women as objects to fulfill sexual desires, calling them â€Å"bitches† and â€Å"hos†. It is seen in hip-hop music how women use sex as a weapon to gain material wealth and protection, not because they want it, but because it is the only option they have. This only shows how women are, in modern times, still victims of gender inequality. Over and over again, these themes have been the topic of hip-hop music, along with â€Å"alcoholism, substance abuse and chemical dependency. † After all, hip-hop music has done much to encourage these acts unbecoming of decent people. However, Morgan also suggested it as a part of a more complex problem, stemming from the racism experienced by black people. All these talks about sex and drugs and crimes are reflections of the bitterness, the hurt that the black people feel, resulting to more damage. According to Morgan, crimes committed against black people, are more likely done by black people themselves. White people are long ago out of the question. Depictions of a violent and cruel world where everything can be bought by money and sleeping with a rapper will give you a record contract gives them self-satisfaction and a self-liberating feeling when they play master and the women their slaves. But deep inside they do not feel real happiness as they fail to face their problems and responsibilities in reality. In the end they continue to feel empty. Take for example the music video of the song â€Å"Gold Digger† by Kanye West and Jamie Foxx, which topped the charts at the time of its release and even won a couple of Grammy Awards. The video alternates with scenes of West and Foxx singing, women wearing skimpy lingerie making poses for men’s magazines, and women dancing all over the men. These depictions of women in the video did not give any love, let alone respect for women in general. They are merely seen as objects of desire that can be bought anytime of the day. There are also some scenes in the music video wherein the men are dragged into a dark room where all the women wearing lingerie are present. They are represented as nothing more than â€Å"bitches† and â€Å"hos† only after these men for their money. As it is, these women are depicted to give sex to those who can pay, and even trick some of the richer guys into marrying them. One scene in the video even spelled out the word â€Å"pre-nupt† as the men supposedly wanted pre-nuptial agreements before marrying these women so that they can’t touch a cent of the men’s money. Even the lyrics of the song, sung in the point of view of a rich husband, describes how his wife tricked him into marrying him by saying that she’s pregnant with his son, but after eighteen years, he found out that he was not the real father of this child. Now that he wants a divorce, half of his assets will go the cheating wife. Nevertheless, the â€Å"kid† in the video was white and not black, a direct allusion that it is not his child. His perpetrator was â€Å"white†. This not only shows how lowly they think of women but of how they are forced to do these things so that they can have financial and emotional security that they cannot in themselves achieve because they are prevented from doing so. Women themselves are deprived of the love and care they need as the men continually search for physical love and satisfy their egos in order to forget their own worries and problems. In a deeper context, â€Å"Gold Digger† tries to disguise the hurt of being fooled, of being cheated, by bragging that yes, she’s a gold digger, I’m rich and I can afford to buy any girl I want. The video did not objectify men and women. The difference in the treatment of men and women can be seen in the whole video. In a sense, the men are the customers, and the women, mere products they could buy and use at their whims. As Morgan puts it, it is not about calling women â€Å"bitches† or â€Å"hos†, but men’s incapability to show love. They treat women as some kind of objects because it is the only way that they can feel powerful. This incapability to love proves Morgan’s point that these men are hurt. The pain has taken something very special from them, and that is the ability to love and to care for others. The distrust for women shown in â€Å"Gold Digger† is there, in the first place, because these men are afraid, afraid to love and get hurt in the process. But because of this loss, women became victims of abusive treatment. One lesson that can be learned is that love per se is not synonymous with sex. According to Morgan, we all should learn to address our issues and better treat each other. We should eliminate all the barricades caused by the depiction of women in hip-hop music and eliminate the confusions. As mentioned earlier, hip-hop has a big influence on popular culture. What we hear, we incorporate in our minds and way of living. We can use this influence to create hip-hop music that loves, respects, and most importantly, hip-hop music that forgives.

Assess the Ontological Argument Essay Example for Free

Assess the Ontological Argument Essay The ontological argument was first formulated by St. Anselm in the 11th century. It argues the existence of God from a deductive and a priori stance. God is a being than which none greater can be conceived. This is the response given by St Anselm to the fool in the psalm who believed there was no God. St Anselm the Archbishop of Canterbury and of the Benedictine Order explained that for God to exist in the mind he would not be the greatest being. However were God to exist in the mind and reality this would make a being ‘than which none greater can be conceived’, this means God must exist. This demonstration for the existence of God was immediately criticised by his contemporary Gaunilon. He argued that Anselm’s argument could easily be used to prove the existence of many different beings or even places. In Gaunilon’s ‘response on the behalf of the fool’, he argued that he could conceive of a perfect island ‘blessed with all manners of delight’, yet it did not mean it must exist. However, Anselm responded to this claim arguing that a perfect island contains contingency; it is dependent, whereas God possesses aseity, is self-sufficient. This means that God’s existence is therefore, necessary, independent. Descartes famously wrote his version of the ontological argument in the ‘Meditations’ in which he argued that God is an infinite being, perfect. For God to remain perfect he must then retain existence. He used the illustration of a triangle with three angles which all add up to 180 degrees. This quality of the triangle allows the triangle to be perfect and to be defined as a triangle. If the angles were taken away from the triangle it would no longer be a triangle. This is similar as to God; he could not be God if he did not exist. This proves according to Descartes that God’s existence is necessary. But, it can be argued that the ontological argument is using an analytic format to define God as existing. Immanuel Kant refutes this as he believes that existence as a predicate or property cannot define God. For instance, the analytic statement ‘a spinster is an unmarried woman’ is tautological and true by definition. But if you were to add the predicate existence it would have no direct effect on the statement, this means that existence cannot be a property of God. David Hume also went on to support this idea, as we cannot prove that existence is even a positive attribute, we know that ‘evil’ exists yet could this ‘existence’ be the same as the ‘existence’ of God? They would argue that the ontological argument failed to understand and make existence a meaning of God. However, there have been responses by other philosophers such as Frege who argues that existence is actually a first level predicate which is able to explain the second level predicate. For instance, the ‘greenness of the apple’ is known through our senses but by adding ‘the greenness exists’ we are able to understand that such a predicate exists in reality. This means that ‘God exists’ allows us to understand that such a being as powerful as God does exist in reality as well as the mind. However from an empirical view, Thomas Aquinas would argue that the flaw in the ontological arguments attempt to demonstrate God’s existence stems from the fact that Anselm wanted to argue that God’s existence can be proven from ‘de dicto’ instead of what is ‘real’, and this caused the argument to be weak. On the other hand, some will still argue that St Anselm and the ontological argument is still strong in the second half, ‘God is a necessary being’. This is due to the fact that only God’s existence can be either necessary or impossible and because it is possible, God is proven to exist. To evaluate the whole ontological arguments’ attempt to prove and demonstrate God’s existence, it is clear due to the deductive stance, it shouldn’t be argued as the conclusion drawn must be ‘God is a necessary being’, ‘God is a being than which none greater can be conceived’. But as soon as you understand that definition you will find that it could be used to prove the existence of many things and beings. The ontological argument proves the idea that if God exists he is going to be a necessary being, but it does not prove that he actually does exist. Therefore as Richard Dawkins would describe it ‘infinite, playground argument’ and does not demonstrate God’s existence.

Static Analysis of Uncertain Structures

Static Analysis of Uncertain Structures Static Analysis of Uncertain Structures Using Interval Eigenvalue Decomposition 1Mehdi Modares and 2Robert L. Mullen 1Department of Civil and Environmental   Engineering Tufts University Medford, MA, 02155 2Department of Civil Engineering Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH, 44106 Abstract: Static analysis is an essential procedure to design a structure. Using static analysis, the structures response to the applied external forces is obtained. This response includes internal forces/moments and internal stresses that is used in the design process. However, the mechanical characteristics of the structure possess uncertainties which alter the structures response. One method to quantify the presence of these uncertainties is interval or unknown-but-bounded variables. In this work a new method is developed to obtain the bounds on structures static response using interval eigenvalue decomposition of the stiffness matrix. The bounds of eigenvalues are obtained using monotonic behavior of eigenvalues for a symmetric matrix subjected to non-negative definite perturbations. Moreover, the bounds of eigenvectors are obtained using perturbation of invariant subspaces for symmetric matrices. Comparisons with other interval finite element solution methods are presented. Using this method, it has shown that obtaining the bound on static response of an uncertain structure does not require a combinatorial or Monte-Carlo simulation procedure. Keywords: Statics, Analysis, Interval, Uncertainty  © 2008 by authors. Printed in USA. REC 2008 Modares and Mullen In design of structures, the performance of the structure must be guaranteed over its lifetime. Moreover, static analysis is a fundamental procedure for designing reliable structure that are subjected to static or quasi-static forces induced by various loading conditions and patterns. However, in current procedures for static analysis of structural systems, the existence of uncertainty in either mechanical properties of the system or the characteristics of forcing function is generally not considered. These uncertainties can be attributed to physical imperfections, modeling inaccuracies and system complexities. Although, in a design process, uncertainty is accounted for by a combination of load amplification and strength reduction factors that are based on probabilistic models of historic data, consideration of the effects of uncertainty has been removed from current static analysis of structural systems. In this work, a new method is developed to perform static analysis of a structural system in the presence of uncertainty in the systems mechanical properties as well as uncertainty in the magnitude of loads. The presence of these uncertainties is quantified using interval or unknownbut-bounded variables. This method obtains the bounds on structures static response using interval eigenvalue decomposition of the stiffness matrix. The bounds of eigenvalues are obtained using the concept of monotonic behavior of eigenvalues for a symmetric matrix subjected to non-negative definite perturbations. Furthermore, the bounds of eigenvectors are obtained using perturbation of invariant subspaces for symmetric matrices. Using this method, it has shown that obtaining the bound on static response of an uncertain structure does not require a combinatorial or MonteCarlo simulation procedure. The equation of equilibrium for a multiple degree of freedom structure is defined as a linear system of equations as:   [K]{U}={P}   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   (1) where, [K]is the stiffness matrix, {U}is the vector of unknown nodal displacements, and {P} is the vector of nodal forces. The solution to this system of equation is:   {U} = [K]−1{P}   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   (2) The concept of interval numbers has been originally applied in the error analysis associated with digital computing.   Quantification of the uncertainties introduced by truncation of real numbers in numerical methods was the primary application of interval methods (Moore 1966). A real interval is a closed set defined by extreme values as (Figure 1): ~l ,zu ] ={z∈â„Å"| zl ≠¤ z ≠¤ zu} (3)   Z = [z ~ x = [a,b] Figure 1. An interval variable. In this work, the symbol (~) represents an interval quantity. One interpretation of an interval number is a random variable whose probability density function is unknown but non-zero only in the range of interval. Another interpretation of an interval number includes intervals of confidence for ÃŽ ±-cuts of fuzzy sets. The interval representation transforms the point values in the deterministic system to inclusive set values in the system with bounded uncertainty. Considering the presence of interval uncertainty in stiffness and force properties, the system of equilibrium equations, Eq.(1), is modified as an interval system of equilibrium equation as: ~~   [K]{U}={P}   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   (4) ~ where, [K]is the interval stiffness matrix, {U}is the vector of unknown nodal displacements, and {P} is the vector of interval nodal forces. In development of interval stiffness matrix, the physical and mathematical characteristics of the stiffness matrix must be preserves. This system of interval equations is mainly solved using computationally iterative procedures (Muhanna et al 2007) and (Neumaier and Pownuk 2007). The present method proposes a computationally efficient procedure with nearly sharp results using interval eigenvalue decomposition of stiffness matrix. While the external force can also have uncertainties, in this work only problems with interval stiffness properties are addressed. However, for functional independent variations for both stiffness matrix and external force vector, the extension of the proposed work is straightforward. 3.1. DETERMINISTIC EIGENVALUE DECOMPOSITION The deterministic symmetric stiffness matrix can be decomposed using matrix eigenvalue decomposition as:   [K] = [ÃŽ ¦][Λ][ÃŽ ¦]T   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   (5) where, [ÃŽ ¦] is the matrix of eigenvectors, and [Λ] is the diagonal matrix of eigenvalues. Equivalently, N   [K] =∑Î »i{à Ã¢â‚¬ ¢i}{à Ã¢â‚¬ ¢i}T   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   (6) i=1 where, the values of ÃŽ »i is the eigenvalues and the vectors{à Ã¢â‚¬ ¢i}are their corresponding  eigenvectors.   Therefore, the eigenvalue decomposition of the inverse of the stiffness matrix is: equivalently, [K]−1 =[ÃŽ ¦][Λ]−1[ÃŽ ¦]T   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   (7) −N 1T [K] 1 =∑ {à Ã¢â‚¬ ¢i}{à Ã¢â‚¬ ¢i}   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   (8) i=1 ÃŽ »i Substituting Eq.(8) in the solution for the deterministic linear system of equation, Eq.(2), the solution for response is shown as:   {U}= ( N 1 {à Ã¢â‚¬ ¢i}{à Ã¢â‚¬ ¢i}T ){P}   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   (9) 3.2. INTERVAL EIGENVALUE DECOMPOSITION Similarly, the solution to interval system of equilibrium equations, Eq.(4), is:   {U~}= (∑N ~1 {à Ã¢â‚¬ ¢~ }{à Ã¢â‚¬ ¢~i}T ){P}   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   (10) i i=1 ÃŽ »i ~~ } are their where, the values of ÃŽ »i is the interval eigenvalues and, the vectors {à Ã¢â‚¬ ¢i corresponding interval eigenvectors that are to be determined. 4.1. BACKGROUND The research in interval eigenvalue problem began to emerge as its applicability in science and engineering was realized. Hollot and Bartlett (1987) studied the spectra of eigenvalues of an interval matrix family which are found to depend on the spectrum of its extreme sets. Dief (1991) presented a method for computing interval eigenvalues of an interval matrix based on an assumption of invariance properties of eigenvectors. In structural dynamics, Modares and Mullen (2004) have introduced a method for the solution of the interval eigenvalue problem which determines the exact bounds of the natural frequencies of a system using Interval Finite Element formulation. 4.2. DEFINITION The eigenvalue problems for matrices containing interval values are known as the interval ~ ~ nn ) and [A] is a member of the eigenvalue problems. If [A] is an interval real matrix (A∈â„Å" ~ interval matrix ([A]∈[A]) , the interval eigenvalue problem is shown as: ~ 4.2.1. Solution for Eigenvalues The solution of interest to the real interval eigenvalue problem for bounds on each eigenvalue is ~ defined as an inclusive set of real values (ÃŽ ») such that for any member of the interval matrix, the eigenvalue solution to the problem is a member of the solution set. Therefore, the solution to the interval eigenvalue problem for each eigenvalue can be mathematically expressed as: ~l ,ÃŽ »u ]|∀[A]∈[A~]: ([A]−Î »[I]){x} = 0}   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   (12)   {ÃŽ »Ã¢Ë†Ë†ÃŽ »= [ÃŽ » 4.2.2. Solution for Eigenvectors: The solution of interest to the real interval eigenvalue problem for bounds on each eigenvector is defined as an inclusive set of real values of vector {~x} such that for any member of the interval matrix, the eigenvector solution to the problem is a member of the solution set. Thus, the solution to the interval eigenvalue problem for each eigenvector is: 4.3. INTERVAL STIFFNESS MATRIX The systems global stiffness can be viewed as a summation of the element contributions to the global stiffness matrix: n i=1 where [ Li ] is the element Boolean connectivity matrix and [Ki ] is the element stiffness matrix in the global coordinate system. Considering the presence of uncertainty in the stiffness properties, the non-deterministic element elastic stiffness matrix is expressed as: ~ in which, [li ,ui ] is an interval number that pre-multiplies the deterministic element stiffness matrix. This procedure preserves the physical and mathematical characteristics of the stiffness matrix. Therefore, the systems global stiffness matrix in the presence of any uncertainty is the linear summation of the contributions of non-deterministic interval element stiffness matrices: ,ui ])[Li ][Ki ][Li ] =∑ i=1i=1 in which, [Ki ] is the deterministic element elastic stiffness contribution to the global stiffness matrix. 4.4. INTERVAL EIGENVALUE PROBLEM FOR STATICS The interval eigenvalue problem for a structure with stiffness properties expressed as interval values is:   [K~]{à Ã¢â‚¬ ¢~} = (ÃŽ »~){à Ã¢â‚¬ ¢~} (17) Substituting Eq.(16) in Eq.(17): ]){à Ã¢â‚¬ ¢} = (ÃŽ »){à Ã¢â‚¬ ¢ i=1 This interval eigenvalue problem can be transformed to a pseudo-deterministic eigenvalue problem subjected to a matrix perturbation. Introducing the central and radial (perturbation) stiffness matrices as: i 1 [K~R ] =∑i=n1 (ÃŽ µi )(ui 2−li )[Ki ]    ,  Ã‚  Ã‚   ÃŽ µi =[−1,1]  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   (20) Using Eqs. (19,20), the non-deterministic interval eigenpair problem, Eq.(18),   becomes: Hence, the determination of bounds on eigenvalues and bounds on eigenvectors of a stiffness matrix in the presence of uncertainty is mathematically interpreted as an eigenvalue problem on a ~ central stiffness matrix ([KC ]) that is subjected to a radial perturbation stiffness matrix ([KR ]). This perturbation is in fact, a linear summation of non-negative definite deterministic element stiffness contribution matrices that are scaled with bounded real numbers(ÃŽ µi ) . 5. Solution 5.1. BOUNDS ON EIGENVALUES The following concepts must be considered in order to bound the non-deterministic interval eigenvalue problem, Eq.(21). The classical linear eigenpair problem for a symmetric matrix is: with the solution of real eigenvalues (ÃŽ »1 ≠¤ÃŽ »2 ≠¤ ≠¤ÃŽ »n ) and corresponding eigenvectors ( x1, x2,, xn ). This equation can be transformed into a ratio of quadratics known as the Rayleigh quotient:   R(x) =  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   (23) The Rayleigh quotient for a symmetric matrix is bounded between the smallest and the largest eigenvalues (Bellman 1960 and Strang 1976).    (24) Thus, the first eigenvalue (ÃŽ »1) can be obtained by performing an unconstrained minimization on the scalar-valued function of Rayleigh quotient: ( (25) x∈ For finding the next eigenvalues, the concept of maximin characterization can be used. This concept obtains the kth eigenvalue by imposing (k-1) constraints on the minimization of the Rayleigh quotient (Bellman 1960 and Strang 1976): ÃŽ »k = max[minR(x)]   (subject to constrains(xT zi = 0),i =1,k −1,k ≠¥ 2 ) (26) 5.1.1. Bounding the Eigenvalues for Statics Using the concepts of minimum and maximin characterizations of eigenvalues for symmetric matrices, the solution to the interval eigenvalue problem for the eigenvalues of a system with uncertainty in the stiffness characteristics (Eq.(21)) for the first eigenvalue can be shown as: n x∈Rn{x}T {x} for the next eigenvalues: ~{x}T [K~]{x}{x}T ([K ]+[K~ ]){x} 5.1.2. Deterministic Eigenvalue Problems for Bounding Eigenvalues in Statics Substituting and expanding the right-hand side terms of Eqs. (27,28): ~T [K ]{x}~ui (li +u{x} (29) Since the matrix [Ki ] is non-negative definite, the term () is non-negative. Therefore, using the monotonic behavior of eigenvalues for symmetric matrices, the upper bounds on the eigenvalues in Eqs.(19,20) are obtained by considering maximum values of interval coefficients of uncertainty (ÃŽ µ~i = [−1,1]), ((ÃŽ µi )max = 1), for all elements in the radial perturbation matrix. Similarly, the lower bounds on the eigenvalues are obtained by considering minimum values of those coefficients, ((ÃŽ µi )min =−1) , for all elements in the radial perturbation matrix. Also, it can be observed that any other element stiffness selected from the interval set will yield eigenvalues between the upper and lower bounds. This imonotonic behavior of eigenvalues can also be used for parameterization purposes. Using these concepts, the deterministic eigenvalue problems corresponding to the maximum and minimum eigenvalues are obtained (Modares and Mullen 2004) as: n n 5.2. BOUNDS ON EIGENVECTORS 5.2.1. Invariant Subspace The subspace χ is defined to be an invariant subspace of matrix [A] if:   Aχ⊂χ (32) Equivalently,   if χ is an invariant subspace of [A]nn and also, columns of [X1]nm form a basis forχ, then there is a unique matrix [L1]mm such that: The matrix [L1 ] is the representation of [A] on χ with respect to the basis [X1] and the eigenvalues of [L1] are a subset of eigenvalues of [A]. Therefore, for the invariant subspace, ({v},ÃŽ ») is an eigenpair of [L1] if and only if ({[X1]{v}},ÃŽ ») is an eigenpair of [A]. 5.2.2. Theorem of Invariant Subspaces For a real symmetric matrix [A], considering the subspace χ with the linearly independent columns of [X1] forming a basis for χ and the linearly independent columns of [X2] spanning the complementary subspace χ⊠¥ , then,   χ is an invariant subspace of [A] iff: Therefore, invoking this condition and postulating the definition of invariant subspaces, the symmetric matrix [A] can be reduced to a diagonalized form using a unitary similarity transformation as:   [X1X2]T [A][X1X2] = à ¢Ã… ½Ã‚ ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã… ½Ã‚ ¡[X1]TT[[AA][][XX11]] à ¢Ã… ½Ã‚ £[X2] where [Li ] =[Xi ]T [A][Xi ], i =1,2. 5.2.3. Simple Invariant Subspace [X1]T [A][X2]à ¢Ã… ½Ã‚ ¤ à ¢Ã… ½Ã‚ ¡[L1] [X2]T [A][X2]à ¢Ã… ½Ã‚ ¥Ãƒ ¢Ã… ½Ã‚ ¦= à ¢Ã… ½Ã‚ ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã… ½Ã‚ £[0] [0] à ¢Ã… ½Ã‚ ¤ [L2]à ¢Ã… ½Ã‚ ¥Ãƒ ¢Ã… ½Ã‚ ¦ (35) An invariant subspace is simple if the eigenvalues of its representation [L1] are distinct from other eigenvalues of [A]. Thus, using the reduced form of [A] with respect to the unitary matrix [[X1][X2]], χ is a simple invariant subspace if the eigenvalues of [L1] and [L2] are distinct: 5.2.4. Perturbed Eigenvector Considering the column spaces of [X1] and [X2]   to span two complementary simple invariant subspaces, the perturbed orthogonal subspaces are defined as:   [Xˆ1] =[X1]+[X 2 ][P] (37)   [Xˆ 2 ] =[X 2]−[X1][P]T (38) in which [P] is a matrix to be determined. Thus, each perturbed subspace is defined as a summation of the exact subspace and the contribution of the complementary subspace. Considering a symmetric perturbation[E] , the perturbed matrix is defined as: Applying the theorem of invariant subspaces for perturbed matrix and perturbed subspaces, and linearizing due to a small perturbation compared to the unperturbed matrix, Eq.(34) is rewritten as: This perturbation problem is an equation for unknown [P] in the form of a Sylvesters equation in which, the uniqueness of the solution is guaranteed by the existence of simple perturbed invariant subspaces. Finally, specializing the result for one eigenvector and solving the above equation, the perturbed eigenvector is (Stewart and Sun 1990):   {xˆ1} = {x1}+[X 2 ](ÃŽ »1[I]−[L2 ])−1[X 2 ]T [E]{x1} 5.2.5 Bounding Eigenvectors for Statics For the perturbed eigenvalue problem for statics, Eq.(21),   the error matrix is: (41) ~nu [E] = [KR ] = (∑(ÃŽ µi )( i − li )[Ki ]) (42) i=12 Using the error matrix in eigenvector perturbation equation for the first eigenvector, Eq.(33) the perturbed eigenvector is: in which, {à Ã¢â‚¬ ¢1}is the first eigenvector, (ÃŽ »1) is the first eigenvalue, [ÃŽ ¦2 ] is the matrix of remaining eigenvectors and [Λ2 ] is the diagonal matrix of remaining eigenvalues obtained from the deterministic eigenvalue problem. Eq.(30,31 and 43) is used to calculate the bounds on interval eigenvalues and interval eigenvectors in the response equation, Eq.(9). In order to attain sharper results, the functional dependency of intervals in direct interval multiplications in Eq.(9) is considered. Also, input intervals are subdivided and the union of responses of subset results is obtained. 6. Numerical Example Problem The bounds on the static response for a 2-D statically indeterminate truss with interval uncertainty present in the modulus of elasticity of each element are determined (Figure 2). The crosssectional area A, the length for horizontal and vertical members L , the Youngs moduli E for all ~ elements are E = ([0.99,1.01])E . Figure 2.   The structure of 2-D truss The problem is solved using the method presented in this work. The functional dependency of intervals in the response equation is considered. A hundred-segment subdivision of input intervals is performed and the union of responses is obtained. For comparison, an exact combinatorial analysis has performed which considers lower and upper values of uncertainty for each element i.e. solving (2n = 210 =1024 ) deterministic problems. The static analysis results obtained by the present method and the brute force combination solution for the vertical displacement of the top nodes in are summarized Table (1). Lower Bound Present Method Lower Bound Combination Method Upper Bound Combination Method Upper Bound Present Method Error % U à ¢Ã… ½Ã¢â‚¬ º PL à ¢Ã… ½Ã… ¾ à ¢Ã… ½Ã…“à ¢Ã… ½Ã… ¸ à ¢Ã… ½Ã‚  AE à ¢Ã… ½Ã‚   -1.6265 -1.6244 -1.5859 -1.5838 % 0.12 Table1. Bounds on Vertical Displacement of Top Nodes The results show that the proposed robust method yields nearly sharp results in a computationally efficient manner as well as preserving the systems physics. 4.Conclusions A finite-element based method for static analysis of structural systems with interval uncertainty in mechanical properties is presented. This method proposes an interval eigenvalue decomposition of stiffness matrix. By obtaining the exact bounds on the eigenvalues and nearly sharp bounds on the eigenvectors, the proposed method is capable to obtain the nearly sharp bounds on the structures static response. Some conservative overestimation in response occurs that can be attributed to the linearization in formation of bounds of eigenvectors and also, the functional dependency of intervals in the dynamic response formulation. This method is computationally feasible and it shows that the bounds on the static response can be obtained without combinatorial or Monte-Carlo simulation procedures. This computational efficiency of the proposed method makes it attractive to introduce uncertainty into structural static analysis and design. While this methodology is shown for structural systems, its extension to various mechanics problems is straightforward. References Bellman, R. Introduction to Matrix Analysis, McGraw-Hill, New York 1960. Dief, A., Advanced Matrix theory for Scientists and Engineers, pp.262-281. Abacus Press 1991. Hollot, C. and A. Bartlett. On the eigenvalues of interval matrices, Technical Report, Department   of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 1987. Modares, M. and R. L. Mullen. Free Vibration of Structures with Interval Uncertainty. 9th ASCE Specialty Conference on Probabilistic Mechanics and Structural Reliability 2004. Moore, R. E. Interval Analysis. Prentice Hall, Englewood, NJ 1966. Muhanna, R. L. and R. L. Mullen. Uncertainty in Mechanics Problems-Interval-Based Approach. Journal of Engineering Mechanics June-2001,   pp.557-566 2001. Muhanna, R. L., Zhang H. and R. L. Mullen. Interval Finite Element as a Basis for Generalized Models of Uncertainty in Engineering Mechanics, Reliable Computing, Vol. 13, pp. 173-194, 2007. Neumaier, A. Interval Methods for Systems of Equations. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1990. Neumaier, A. and A. Pownuk. Linear Systems with Large Uncertainties, with Applications to Truss Structures, Reliable Computing, Vol. 13, pp. 149-172, 2007. Strang, G. Linear Algebra and its Applications, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1976. Stewart, G.W. and J. Sun. Matrix perturbation theory, Chapter 5. Academic Press, Boston, MA   1990.

The Impact of ISPs on the Architecture of the Internet :: Internet Cause Effect Papers

The Impact of ISPs on the Architecture of the Internet The Internet was started over three decades ago as a US government sponsored project. The Internet originally connected several universities and the government; it eventually grew to include some private companies/research labs. As such, the initial users of the Internet were scientists/technologists who were well versed in the workings of the network (and who did not have the malicious intents of modern hackers). The motivation of the Internet at this time was to provide a robust nationwide communication network and to allow for the sharing of scientific research/resources around the nation1. The original architecture of the Internet is often described as an end-to-end architecture. The end-to-end architecture is a decentralized one in which a â€Å"mechanism should not be placed in the network if it can be placed at the end node† 2. This type of design keeps the core of the network simple and generic. Since that time, however, the scale of the Internet has grown exponentially. It became increasingly difficult for a government-sponsored network to scale to such sizes, so the government gradually turned the network over to the private sector. Since the government is no longer responsible for access to the Internet, private companies – Internet Service Providers (ISPs) – have emerged to provide access to this vast network. These ISPs, of course, are private companies whose principal goal is to make a profit – a radical contrast to the goal of the original ISP, the US government. The rise of ISPs as dominant players in today’s Internet has been a catalyst for a more centralized network that is shifting away from the original end to end design; this change has been a negative one for it has hurt the most important group associated with the Internet – the end users. One of the most fundamental changes from the early days of the Internet to today has been the shift to privatization. It is the profit-making end of ISPs that drives their actions and it is in this interest that ISPs are attempting to move the Internet away from its end-to-end beginnings. In order to make a profit, ISPs must first attract a sizeable number of customers to buy their service and then obtain a significant profit for the services they provide. In the free market economy, ISPs must compete with one another for customers; to be competitive in this market, ISPs must have some attractive feature to offer customers: low prices, unlimited connection hours, high speed access, or some other attractive service that is unique to that particular ISP.

The Erotic in Joyces A Painful Case Essay -- Painful

The Erotic in Joyce's A Painful Case      Ã‚  Ã‚   The characters whom inhabit Joyce's world in "Dubliners," often have, as Harvard Literature Professor Fischer stated in lecture, a "limited way" of thinking about and understanding themselves and the world around them. Such "determinism," however, operates not on a broad cultural scale, but works in smaller, more local, more interior and more idiosyncratic ways. That is, the forces which govern Joyce's characters are not necessarily cultural or socioeconomic in nature, but rather, as Prof. Fischer stated, are "tiny," and work on a more intimate level. In any case, as a result of such "forces", these stories often tend to be about something, as Prof. Fischer said, that doesn't happen, about the "romance of yearning and self-disappointment." Joyce's story "A Painful Case" is a perfect example of a story about something that doesn't happen, and more specifically, about "the romance of yearning." It is through such yearning, however, and the various "erotic" for ms that such yearning takes, that Joyce's characters are able to transcend the "forces" which govern their lives. In "A Painful Case" the erotic takes on three separate forms: mental, physical, and what I call, "auditory." Although all three play a role in the story, it is only through "auditory" eroticism that Joyce's protagonist, Mr. Duffy, comes to experience a moment of "self-transcendence."    While "auditory" eroticism may serve, in the end, as the conduit for Duffy's self-transformation, initially it is "mental" eroticism that brings together Mr. Duffy and Mrs. Sinico. Joyce writes, "Little by little he (Duffy) entangled his thoughts with hers. He lent her books, provided her with ideas, shared... ...llowed to shine in full poetic fervor and "reality," although Joyce attempts to escape it, seeps back in through his words and metaphors.    Works Cited and Consulted Bidwell, Bruce and Linda Heffer. The Joycean Way: A Topographic Guide to Dubliners and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Johns Hopkins: Baltimore, 1981. Gifford, Don. Joyce Annotated: Notes for Dubliners and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. University of California: Berkeley, 1982. Joyce, James. Dubliners. Penguin Books: New York, 1975. Peake, C.H. James Joyce: The Citizen and the Artist. Stanford University: Stanford, 1977. Tindall, William York. A Reader's Guide to James Joyce. Noonday Press: New York, 1959. Walzl, Florence L. "Dubliners." A Companion Study to James Joyce. Ed. Zack Bowen and James F. Carens. Greenwood Press: London, 1984   

1900-1910 Essay -- American History World History

1900-1910 At the beginning of the 20th century a New York editorialist wrote that the 20th century began in the United States with "a sense of euphoria and self-satisfaction, a sure feeling that America is the envy of the world"(World History Timeline "1900-1901"). The president was Teddy Roosevelt, who enjoyed enormous popularity due to the general happiness of the American people. A thriving industry created many jobs for immigrants and others. A monumental event took place in 1901 when the New York Stock Exchange exceeded 2 million shares for the first time ever (World History Timeline "1900-1901"). The tycoon J.P. Morgan created the U.S. Steel Co. in 1901, which became the first billion-dollar corporation in the world (Historical Daily Almanac). The Ford Motor Co. was established in 1903, and Henry Ford developed the first Model T automobile that sold for $850. All of this led to an extremely low unemployment rate of 4%(Historical Daily Almanac "1904"). In 1902, the Wright Brothers made aviation history with their first flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. This was the first step for air travel as a means of traveling great distances in a relatively short period of time (Historical Daily Almanac "1902"). Music was also becoming more and more popular. The roots of jazz started to form during this decade, and ballroom dancing began to gain popularity at the end of the decade (American Popular Music "1910"). Even though times were good, problems did still exist. Race riots occurred often as blacks pushed for more freedom. When Booker T. Washington was invited to the White House in 1901, a riot broke out in which 34 people were killed (World History Timeline "1900-1901"). Whites were not quite ready to accept the fact that ... ...r instinct, and during this decade people did just that in the fields of art, literature, business and sports. All of these different areas flourished during the first decade of the 20th century. Works Cited World History Timeline: 1900-1910." 5 Feb 2001. <http://members.theglobe.com/algis/20thcent>. "Historical Daily Almanac." 5 Feb 2001. <http://infoplease.lycos.com> Keyword: World History 1900. Pioch, Nicolas. "Fauvism." 31 Dec 1995. WebMuseum, Paris. 5 Feb 2001 <http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/tl/20th/fauvism.html>. "American Popular Music 1900 to 1950." 5 Feb 2001 <http://www.nhmced.edu/contracts/Irc/kc/music-2.html>. Magill, Frank. Great Events In World History Volume III. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Salem Press, 1973. Wehrle, William O. History of the University of Dayton. Albert Emanuel Hall, University of Dayton, 1937.

Environmental Protection

Many centuries ago people lived in harmony with nature because industry was not much developed. There was no ecological problem until people built lots of plants and factories which sent wastes into the air, water and land where they didn't disappear but lasted forever in one form or another. Nowadays people live only according to their wants and requirements, they ignore the laws of nature. That's why today the contradictions between man and nature are dramatic. People are slowly destroying the nature environment around them. Today we are anxious about the state of the air we breathe because every year world industry throws out into atmosphere about 1 000 million tons of dust, smoke and other harmful substances and people of many cities suffer from smog. | Another reason why there is such high level of air pollution in large cities is because of car exhaust fumes from very intensive transport. A great number of plants get used to dump poisonous chemical wastes in rivers, lakes and seas that has led to polluting water and killing fish life. At present time pollution from sinking ships and tankers with oil is increasing and there is a strong destruction of sea life. We face the fresh water supply problem today because of the depletion of water resources and the disruption of water cycle. Speaking about atmosphere we should mention ozone holes which are result of air pollution and their increase can lead to the destruction of the whole great chain of life of our planet. The pollution of the air, oceans, seas, rivers and lakes and the destruction of the ozone layer could lead our planet to a global catastrophe. But the most terrible catastrophe of our age is the Chernobyl disaster which has resulted not only in atomic explosion but has brought death to 300 thousands hectares of farm lands and has affected the lives of millions of people. The radiation doses have affected and will continue to affect the health of people living in contaminated areas. The Earth is our home that's why we must take measures to fight land pollution and keep our environment clean; we must plant trees and flowers and take care of animals, we must not throw our wastes into the rivers. In many countries environmental protection organizations such as â€Å"Green Peace†, â€Å"Friend of the Earth†, â€Å"World Wild Life Fund† are set up which try to put pressure upon the governments that don't care for ecology in their countries. The humankind will be able to survive only if we all realize that environmental protection is our universal concern.

Event management

Event management is the part of project management, including festivals, event and conference. Event develop be come our central of culture. Nowadays industry of event has including Olympics Game, company annual meeting, festival celebrations, personal and organization celebration. Allen, Tooled, McDonnell and Harris (2008) have point out that ‘governments now support promote event as part of their strategies for economic development, nation building and destination marking.Event industry is an important part for regional development, impact public and personal behavior which involves several profits. This essay will discuss about how the event industry has impact and benefits regional development, should consider to cultural, social, economic, environmental and political. Present oneself festivals and event are part of culture, the artistic and music activities is key factor of cultural impart. It is cultural sector signals a productive branch which is growing in importance.Se veral valuations and more in depth researcher have found that large scale events have a variety of potential impacts (Lange and Garcia 2009). According to the Australia performing arts market has chive from company and private support more than $30 million in 2012. Australia major performing arts group executive director Sorrow has said that, the nongovernmental investment is the key to the operations of the performing arts institutions in Australia.The Nongovernmental investment enable us to do thing that previously could not afford, for example, held in communities and schools to better cultivate talents, free of low cost performance, with the artists to training programs. ‘ Company and private is a important part of Australia performing art marking porter, but performing art marking development can not without government support. Australia government will invest $2. 6 million for paratactic the native language and culture (People. CNN 2014).To protective the native language and culture can let the next generation to learn and develop the culture, and has a profound significance to the country. For the festival celebration also is the way to propagate the culture, such as Byron Bay Bluffest, it is a popular festival in Australia, they are play the blues music, every year have over 17500 people to Join this festival. As a DOD festival can encourage people participate and communication, showing people things they may not have seen before, reinforcing pride in the community, improving the community, to learn different culture.The culture impact may be as simple exchange entertainment experience, as created by a sports or concert (Allen, Tooled, McDonnell and Harris 2008). Relative to social impact, Davie (2009) has say it the social benefit is derived from the fact that many employed in there industries are part time, casuals or tertiary students, with the overwhelming majority of employment being in the 18 to 25 year GE range'. Every event or festival ha s deeper impact. Firstly, bring more Job opportunities for the host place, show them how event industry works.Secondly, and some event like charity event, the eventual profit will all give back to social, such as nursing home, organization for the disabled, and develop education level of school, to help those people needs to help. According to the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games is the increase in interest and active participation in sport and physical activity by its residents. An event is the most important impacts of tourism revenue. In addition to aorist are external visitors potentially spending money on travel, accommodation, goods and service in the host region at the event (Allen, Tooled, McDonnell and Harris 2008).The city, region or country to host a major event is the potential positive impact of the event on the local economy. According to CRAMPON (1994), the economic impact of an event can be defined as the ‘net economic change in the host community that results from sp ending attributed to the event'. The economic contribution of mega- sporting events is primarily thought of in terms of the possibilities they provide of increasing the awareness of the city or region as a tourism destination and the knowledge concerning the potential for investment and commercial activity in the region.Therefore, they can attract more investment and visitors, and consequently create new Jobs and contribute to the economic growth of the city or region. Connect to the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, Australia have invest around $6. 5 billion for Olympic Games, it is long-term benefits for encouraging the whole of Australia and significant in international tourist arrivals. ‘Between 1997 and 2004 an extra 1. 6 lion international visitors are expected to come to Australia as a result of the Games, generating an additional A$6. 1 billion in tourism earnings and creating 150000 new Jobs', Haynes has point out that (2001).Event also part of tourism industry, host Olympic Games effective tourism industry, significant result achieved, increase speed of Brand Australia by 10 years, media relation and publicly programs generating SIS$2. 1 billion, Olympic sponsors spending SIS$170 million promoting Australia. The Olympic Games developed the construction of a series of world-class sporting facilities. After the Olympic Games the sporting facilities can be reuse for host other international sporting and major event. Therefore, the economic in Australia has developed and the employment has increased.The Australia government achieved taxes and benefits from the development of event tourism. The event industry is the most fast growing sector of the whole tourism system. Environment impact is important element of the event industry. An event is an excellent way in which to showcase the unique characteristics of the host environment. According to Professional Convention Management Association (PCMCIA) Annual Meeting 2013, the host city was Orlando, Florida, w hich is one of the best Leisure City in the world. Environment impact is the first element for event organizer consider about.It must have enough accommodation, restaurant and convenience transportation system provided. Physical infrastructure provision is often mentioned as a key benefit of major events. This typically encompasses transport infrastructure, stadium construction and other new buildings, landscape improvements and housing development. Environmental impacts have already come to the fore in cent years, especially in relation to major events. For instance, the Sydney Olympic Games were heralded as ‘The Green Games'. Much less is shown on both physical infrastructure and environmental impacts in relation to smaller scale events.Events are highly resource-intensive, and can have negative environmental consequences for the host city. When host the event or festive, People, equipment and goods must be transported, electricity and water are used in the preparation and e xecution stages, and the location itself is strained by the influx of visitors, and the waste they leave behind. Event planners and attendees are becoming increasingly aware of their impact on the environment; creating green events has now become both desirable and practical. The key is sustainability, using and enjoying the environment without causing permanent damage. The decision to hold an event, especially a large scale event, is essentially a political decision', Dickinson has present it (2012). For example, hold the Olympic Games and the Football World Cup decided by central government. The main reason for that is that management of such events produces difficulties in covering the cost for the opportune infrastructure of the event or even of operating costs from tickets sales, sponsorship, and television right. For example, the cost of development infrastructure of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games was almost covered by the Government of New South Wales.For instance, which was h eavily involved in the organization of the Sydney 2000 Olympics, has adopted more entrepreneurial-driven forms of governance, since a broad range of non-government, often private, organizations were incorporated into the NEWS Government's decision making and policy formulation process. Therefore, under the new urban politics imperatives, decision to bid for mega-events, such as the Olympics, is not solely made by local or regional governments but often involves business corporations.But government to hold the major event because other reason, promote international communication, show strength of the country, to built image of tourism industry for encourage traveler to visit. In that sense, mega-sporting events are often credited with embroiling corporate elites and local politicians in profitable alliances that not only can boost local construction and retail and tourist industries but can also generate absentia infrastructure funding from higher levels of government. In conclusion, this essay review the event industry has impact region development.Culture, social, economic, environment and political is element of event industry for impact region development. Local performing art make has impacts are develop culture, encourage culture communicate and protect culture. For impact of social, provide more Job opportunity, improve education level and bring in new technology. Economic impact is most important part of event industry, attract investment and visitor, help region develop the infrastructure and sporting facility. Sustainable development is an irresistible trend of event industry.

The Malaysian Issues of Teens and Sexuality

The Malaysian issues of teens and sexuality. Teen pregnancies have been a virus that recently sprung out in Malaysia; it is only more recently that we have seen the growth and its severity affecting the youth. Are Malaysian teen not receiving enough sex education causing the statistic to rise even further? This question how teen pregnancy has evolved and how times have changed bringing upon a serious social issue. To begin, the statistic provided by Ministry of Health (MOH) published by The STAR newspaper (22th September 2012), there are 18,532 pregnant teens age ranged from 10-19 years old in the year 2011.There are 4222 that were unmarried. It is more than 30 % pregnant teens that were unmarried. The statistics also show a drastic rise between the number of pregnancies and unwed teenagers. As teenager become more sexually active, doctors and the MOH are sounding over the increase in the rate; we often ask is having â€Å"it† worth it? Most sexual activity that happens to tee nagers below 20 years old, leads not only to unwanted pregnancies but also cases like baby dumping and also illegal abortion. Getting pregnant is only the beginning; there would be more decision to make and choices to choose from further down the road.Pregnancies among teenager mostly begin with the talk of sexual activity. According to the article â€Å"Porn story service a teen bestseller† complied by Winnie Yeoh of The Star Online, the Malaysian teenager get erotic contents on their phones. as the world moves to a modern era, the youngsters were subscribing to an Indonesian pornographic story on their smart phones for RM 17 a week. They would gather and talk about it while feasting on the dirty pictures. This is one of the reason why more and more of them would fall into the teenage pregnancy trap.When interviewed, Rosli (not his real name) states that they were unaware of the consequences of free sex and not using contraception. The social change that leads to this is mos t of the time related to a change in the nature of adolescence. At the age of 10-19, most of the teenager reaches the level of puberty and curiosity to try out sex rages. Some violated the use of the internet to search and research on the term â€Å"sex†. Others may find alternative to satisfy their need thru pirated cd and magazines. Many problems arise from the curiosity of teenager towards the topic of sex. They

Individual, State and Society

This essay shall critically comment on two quotations. The first quote is by Margaret Thatcher who said: â€Å"There is no such thing as society, only individuals and their families† and the second quote is by David Cameron who said: â€Å"There is such thing as society: it’s just not the same as the state† To critically comment on these quotes that were stated in a political setting, references shall be made to the political ideologies the subjects held and the context they appeared in will be analyzed.Additionally different political basic ideologies will be named and outlined to give a broader understanding and contrast in the analysis. Furthermore, Plato’s The Republic (360BC) and existentialist Jose Ortega’s Man and People, (1957), shall attempt to lend their wisdom from their philosophical works, to shed some light and give meaning on the complexity of these two quotes. For clarity British conservatism’s history will be looked at closel y. Terms Individual, Society and State are briefly defined now. An individual is generally speaking a person separate from others, with his/her own needs, values and desires.The word originates from Latin in-dividuus, meaning indivisible, referring to a single human being, separate from a group. A society is made up by a collection of individuals. The etymology of the word originates in Latin societas, derived from socius which translates as comrade, friend or ally, indicating relations. It can for instance be such as a group of people, subject to law and political authority, or a group of like-minded people, sharing the same norms and values. Often, therefore, societies are formed, such as medical-, esoteric- or literary- for example.The word society always refers to relations between people – they may share a certain culture, territory, economic, political or social structure. The state can be called an organized, a political community under government: a sovereign state is a public, political entity, recognized in national law. Other words associated with state are machinery, a system, imposition/obligation and polity. Named and outlined below are various different political and social philosophies and ideologies: Communism Is a Latin word derived from communis and means -shared or -belonging to all.The terms communism and socialism are somewhat inter-changeable. These political ideologies followed communist philosopher Karl Marx’s 10-point communist Manifesto from 1845, he was quoted in saying; â€Å"Workers of the world, unite, you have nothing to loose, but your chains. † Marx was interested in building a free society without division or alienation. He believed this could only be achieved by a revolution seeking to overthrow capitalism and to have state ownership by the means of production –this in short meant the dictatorship of the proletariat.The aim in mind was for the working class to replace the exploiter class and to cr eate equality, a no-class system, abolishing privatization, with re-distribution of land and production. A good example of the workings of Communism, as efforts in co-operation, would be a Kibbutz, mirroring a microcosm of this ideology. Well known communist leaders and dictators of a serious nature and totalitarians, were Mao Zedong and Stalin for instance. Socialism Latin in origin, sociare translates as -to share.The older view of communism and socialism was built on 5 tenets: Stress on community, cooperation, equality, social class and common ownership. Marx had ideas about balancing the material and the moral and also said: â€Å"From each according to his ability to each according to his need. † Socialists are reformers and believe if the structure of society changes, things will change, similar to the beliefs held by Marxist Terry Eaglton. Socialism is about the group, having a collective, a solidarity and brotherhood, with no individual advantage.An evil in society to a socialist goes back to the structure of the society, rather than an individual. Socialists’ ideologies are concerned with outcome and what we can become, a somewhat utopian idea. Socialism and communism collapsed between 1989 and 1991. Nowadays socialism is democratic labourism; often associated with trade unions – seen defending workers’ rights. Liberalism Etymologically speaking the term derives from Latin liber- translating as -free. Liberals, next to favoring free market trade, also believe in government action to achieve equal opportunity and equality for all.As an enlightenment movement it started in Europe with Gladstone in 1868 (first lib. PM) leading the revolution, seeking to reform and change, arguing we can all get to the top, by basing your conviction on your own reason. Liberals challenged the Monarchy holding all powers and money and this time became known as the age of reason, associated with the slogan â€Å" Don’t behold to class. â €  On the political ideology’s spectrum liberalism is somewhere in the middle between left, communism, and right, fascism.This ideology grew out of the collapse of communism and socialism, belonging to the post-modern (industrialist) era and is also known as Anarcho–Capitalism, marking middle ground between authority and liberty. Thereafter the middle-class was born. Democratic liberals stand for government action to achieve equal opportunity and support democracy. They maintain it is the government’s duty to alleviate social dysfunction and to protect civil liberties including individual and human rights.The liberal government’s policy should ideally ensure that no individual is in need and also if problems arise theirs is the duty to solve problems. Somewhat opposing this concept is their own policy that the state should not interfere in personal lives, as it needs to be a policy of individualism. Justice for a liberal means equal opportunity, like h ealth-care for instance. Additionally liberals are also committed to pluralism and multi-culturalism. Ideally tolerant, a liberal’s motto is; â€Å" I detest what you’re saying, but I will defend to the death your right to say it. Liberals prime motivator is the pleasure of profit and the gathering of one’s own self-interest. Unlike Socialist, liberals see themselves separate from the state and are not primarily concerned with the common good or society. F. F. Y. said: â€Å"You can’t be a liberalist without being a capitalist. † John Locke defined 3 fundamental rights of Liberalism which are: Life, liberty and property and Stuart Mill remarked that this idea can become a license and that it can only be restrained if someone’s liberty is threatened.Hence Liberalism can easily dissolve into Egoism and severe greed, on a positive note, it may encourage the flourishing of an individual, though. Negative liberty, as reflected in European auster ity measures presently or Ireland’s Budget 2012 for example, would be freedom from the constraints of freedom. Here a list close to the values of a liberalism’s vision: Capitalism, no intervention/regulation in economy, anti-racism, anti-capital punishment, anti-weapon bearing, pro-environment, pro-euthanasia, pro- abortion, pro-immigration, pro U.N. , pro-War on Terror, pro-welfare. Fascism (is here listed before Conservatism, but follows Conservatism on the political spectrum from extreme left to extreme right) facses derives from Latin and means -bundle of rods, and symbolically speaking it depicts strengths of unity. Fascism is an anti-democratic, political system with a supreme leader exercising dictatorship. Hitler and Mussolini are examples of fascist leadership. Their ideologies are radical, authoritarian and nationalist in nature.The community is viewed as an organic entity and bonded by nationality, ancestry, culture and blood. As a state it is totalitarian, with only one party ruling. The leader holds sole power and oversees the fascist movement, government and other state institutions. Opposition is not tolerated and always suppressed. Fascists, in order to keep their ideologies running, anything out of their norm, such as ideas, people and systems undermining the norm or become, as they view it, the cause of decadence or degeneration, are purged and gotten rid off.Fascism promotes violence and war to overthrow other political systems, thus is militarism in nature. It’s almost anti everything, it opposes class based identity and society, is anti-bourgeois, anti-proletarian and anti- individualist based identity and society. In Nazi Germany, for instance, this system became known as â€Å"The Third Way†. Economically speaking, it therefore contests capitalism and socialism and is in policy a state directed-regulated economy against the power of money. Social welfare is not tolerated, as it would support â€Å" the weakâ € , as Hitler believed.Generally fascism holds dark, radical ideas on culture, sex and sexuality, also concerning abortion, eugenics and euthanasia. Virtues valued by fascists are action, discipline, hierarchy, spirit and will. It claims to seek positive transformation in society believes in education, spiritual renovation (anti-clerical) and fosters the will to dominate in a united national identity. (*Although a general outline of fascism was given, fascism’s ideology can be hard to define, as it mixes doctrines of left and right) Conservatism The term originates from the Latin word conservare, meaning -to preserve.Conservatism is a political and social philosophy with a belief that it is generally considered best practice in keeping traditional institutions and advocates changes in society in a gradual and slow manner. As Conservatives value stability and continuity by preserving things as they are, they tend to oppose modernism. Conservatism, though, can differ in poli cies depending which country or continent it is practiced in or on. Largely speaking, Conservatives support personal responsibility, limited government, free markets, and empowerment of the individual to solve problems to pursue their own goals.A list of their general policies looks like this: Anti-abortion, education according to ability, anti-racism, pro capital punishment, free market economy, privatization, school vouchers, support nuclear power and oil-drilling, prohibit euthanasia, non-belief in climate changes, pro-arm bearers, private healthcare, pro-homeland security screening, anti-immigration (only legal), pro-private property rights, oppose long-term welfare. For simplicity and relevance this essay shall stick with, and outline British Conservatism, as our quoted subjects in this essay, Margaret Thatcher and David Cameron, both belong to this party.Development of British Conservatism was as follows: Irishman Edmund Burke, a Wig at source (opposed to Monarchism) became kn own as the father of Conservatism (Tory Party – a hierarchal society/ ruling by divine right). The British Conservatives of the early 19th century were rural landowners of Anglican confession; they were royals by association, possessed property and adhered to their beliefs that were to follow an established social order and the existing conventions.However, a little time later the aristocracy’s belief-system was challenged, as the industrial elite, consisting of rich businessmen, called for revolution, sought power and thereby threatened the established social order. Negotiations followed and Robert Peel reconciled the two opposing parties in 1846 with the â€Å"Corn-law† repeal. The aristocrats, longing to return to their medieval ideas and the business class, favoring laissez-faire capitalism, managed to form a coalition, meaning the prior kept their status quo and the latter got their free trade policies.Now the Conservative party was made up of Royals, tradi tional landowners and industrialists. Prime, Benjamin Disraeli, a medieval romantic at heart, foresaw an alienated industrial proletariat with this new coalition and formed a new political ideology in form of the â€Å"One Nation† policy, which is still in practice today and supported numerous social reforms since. The idea behind the new policy was to return to an organic society whereby each and everyone should have duties towards other people or groups.Remarkably, Disraeli, who was a conservative, not a Marxist, aimed to unite the aristocracy, the middle and the working class, the latter he tried to shield from being exploited. The 1920’s saw the liberal movement collapse, as labour ascended. During WW2 the conservatives aligned with labour, however, it was more a pragmatic move to fight the war, than a love affair. From the 1950s to the mid 1970s in usage were progressive broadly pro-labour and semi- socialistic policies by successive British governments, including conservative ones.Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister of the Conservative Party in 1979 and remained in office until 1990. With her leading the party, a dramatic shift occurred in British conservatism with a big movement towards free market economic policies. Privatization of state owned industries became commonplace during her time. She was described as a classical- radical- liberalist, inconsistent with the concept of conservatism in the U. K. – it is often believed her policies challenged and confronted traditional institutions and rocked philosophies of the elite and the old British, established social order in general.Her politics became known as Thatcherism, termed by Stuart Mill. Thatcher’s policies largely remained as they are until today and anti-trade union legalization is still in place. After various Prime Minister’s in the U. K. , David Cameron, known to be a neo-liberalist, heading the Conservative Party, is now Prime Minister and his party is in coalition with liberal-democrat’s Nick Clegg. Looking back, in terms of supply-side economics and many countries copying Thatcher’s then successful model of free market policies, Margaret Thatcher’s Thatcherism has its critics.On another note, some disagree strongly with the idea that she was a radical neo-liberalist, opposing the established, for they argued that she didn’t challenge the monarchy, but only recent additions to British politics instead, which were the trade unions. The mentioning of her name nowadays still remains in people’s minds with strong associations of this bit, â€Å"standing up to the trade unions. † Her opponents would comment she was a monetarist, controlling inflation, not unemployment – the latter doubled during her first 2 years in office.A possibly strong argument, as, during her term as prime minister, she ran a stern government/state, restraining labour movement, local authorities and trade unions. Thatcher also joined the House of Lords and was rather conservative regarding morality, as an anti-gay supporter, she was also known to have defended capitalism and free market policies by saying that we all had a choice and was once heard to have given a rather unsympathetic theological address at a religious ceremony where she cited St Paul by saying, ‘if a man will not work, he shall not eat’.At the end of her term, 30% of children were regarded as living below the poverty line. As prime Minister of Britain, Margaret Thatcher received many labels during her time but of all, she was never labeled something as sweet as â€Å"Queen of Hearts†, the title people loving, tragic Diana received for instance, and this following quote may explain why, as Mrs. Thatcher said: â€Å"There is no such thing as society, only individuals and their families† Unemployment in the U. K. post Thatcher had minimized for a while and more han 20 years later with David Cameron leading the conservatives as their Prime Minister nothing much has changed in political ideologies of the conservative party. While it was trade-union issues then, it’s become the middle-class issues now. Britain presently faces various issues it tries to tackle, such as stronger tax increases on the middle-class, over-dependency on the public sector, mass-unemployment and welfare concerns, budget deficits and the European crisis.However their likeable, observant new leader David Cameron, a Tory, is reputed to be much more of a people’s person than Thatcher was, delivering rhetorically fine and caring speeches for all. During the recent riots in London, Mr. Cameron commented in a news report that society was in trouble, by saying there were pockets of society not only broken, but sick and he further elaborated and explained that causes for the riots, as he saw it, were a complete lack of responsibility in our society and that he felt, people felt they are owed somethin g.Some are impressed by and praise Mr. Cameron’s passionate and determined involvement, despite being a Tory leader, on social issues, such as his recent project Big Society bank and others feel his recent proposal to privatize and save the NHS, by opening it up for private scientific investors to carry out patient research within, doesn’t add up, regarding his general display of sensitivity, warmth and care for pressing societal issues.This apparent division in policy and inconsistency in his actions, is also reflected in his speech when he said: â€Å"There is such thing as society: it’s just not the same as the state. † 20th century liberalist, existentialist philosopher and journalist Ortega might have had a minute of sympathy for Margaret Thatcher’s somewhat heartless, â€Å"-individuals-† remark and also for receiving such public criticism regarding the trade union issues, as he said in his Man and People, (1957): ‘There is striv e and struggle at the heart of all social relationships. Aristotle would have argued this and would have accused Mrs. Thatcher of acting unjust and unfairly regarding her single-minded political ideology, by trying to reason and appeal to her higher, contemplative nature, he might have attempted to convince her that man is a social animal and needs others. Ortega partly agreeing on contemplation, would have possibly come to Mrs. Thatcher’s defense by saying: â€Å"Man is naturally unsociable, man wants to leave, flee from it. † Plato would have grilled Mr. Cameron on the danger of having charitable Big Society ideas.Plato might have attempted to curb big-hearted, spirited Mr. Cameron a little, by indicating that heroism and self-sacrifice are dual and could lead to tyranny and anger at the sight of injustice. Ortega, regarding the incident with the rioters, which had upset Mr. Cameron in terms of lack of responsibility people nowadays have, would have maybe offered ano ther existentialist interpretation concerning irresponsible rioters, by suggesting that we all lived in our own world and wanted freedom from responsibility.Plato, the philosopher king and Socrates’s friend and pupil, wrote his own intellectual autobiography The Republic 2025 years ago. The booklet, written by Plato in disillusionment, after Athenian democracy failed, was to be the ideal blueprint for society, in the text Plato holds dialogues in form of Socrates with the sophists. The aim of Plato’s dialogues was to harmonize individual and city. The main themes occupying the dialogues are the questions: What is justice and how can we achieve happiness (eudaimonia) in the city.Plato was the first person in history to set up an academy in 386BC, as he was passionate teaching philosophy to statesmen, educating them. Surely Plato would not have been happy with Mrs. Thatcher’s and Mr. Cameron’s quotes. Had he been around, he might have helped them descend fr om their Toryian thrones and lead them down, down, down to the the low, low, low and mean streets of East London, to face their own daemons, in order to order their souls!As Plato in his dialogues argued that in order to give a transcendent vision, and he gave an analogy for this in The Republic symbolically speaking -from the Acropolis (heaven) to Piraeus (seedy harbor district of Athens’s), one needs to go down and descend into their dark, murky waters of the psyche to face and confront their own inner hell first and remove shackles of the past, as it is only then that one can ascend with a transcended vision to lead a polis (society). According to Plato, and psychoanalyst Freud (descend) and Franklin (ascend) would have agreed with him, only souls (individuals) that had gone through this particular ransformation process first, would make up a well functioning society – based on good mental health, consisting of truth, goodness and beauty. Regarding Mr. Cameron and M rs. Thatcher’s quotes then, instead of rhetoric (sophistry) Plato would have expected wisdom (sophia) and an ability to articulate a transcendent vision from the rulers of Britain’s Conservative party, as he may have otherwise suspected their political system to fail, just like the sophists Athenian democracy did, 2025 years ago.In The Republic, which he wrote in homage to Socrates, who died for truth and justice, Plato maintained that there is no justice to be expected, unless rulers become philosophers and philosophers become statesman. This essay attempted to critically comment on two quotes made by two of Britain’s Prime Ministers. An analysis of British conservatism’s ideology and their party’s history was drawn up and explained, and possible views to the meaning and interpretations of these two quotes, in the light of philosophy and politics, were offered. Terms and different political ideologies in general were also outlined. .