Machiavelli Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Machiavelli - Essay Example For hundreds of years, guidebooks had been written for rulers about how to govern; these usually focused on the lives and practices of laudable rulers who lived moral lives and tried to teach other rulers how to follow their example. Machiavelli chooses to break strikingly with this long standing and honored tradition, and write a different kind of guidebook for rulers. His guidebook did not tell rulers how to lead in an enlightened, moral way, but rather how to hold on to power, regardless of morality. This mentality was enshrined in his famous â€Å"the ends justify the means† attitude. Machiavelli’s choice to preclude moral discussions from his political analysis was bold, and had many benefits and drawbacks. Removing moral and ethical judgments from political analysis allowed Machiavelli to give a clearer guide to how to retain leadership, and differentiate traits that are praiseworthy in an individual from traits that are praiseworthy in a prince, but simultaneousl y perverted discussions of what the role of the ruler should be, focusing on how a ruler can help himself retain power rather than how to do the best thing for his subjects, necessarily. The first major benefit of Machiavelli’s choice to remove moral and ethical considerations from his political analysis is that it allows him to ask questions previous thinkers had not really been able to; instead of asking â€Å"what makes a good ruler?† he was able to ask â€Å"what makes a successful ruler?† or, put another way â€Å"what allows a ruler to achieve and to hold onto power?† This kind of thinking pervades Machiavelli’s texts – he writes that he intends his book to be a â€Å"practical text† (chapter XV), which, rather than following a line of moral absolutes, attempts to write something of â€Å"practical use to the inquirer† based on what actually happened to rulers who acted in one way or another (chapter XV). He insists that every action will lead to either â€Å"self-preservation† or â€Å"self-destruction† and that the primary goal of any ruler most be for all of his actions to be consistent with the former rather than the latter. Machiavelli, by eschewing moral questions, is able to focus on a completely different aspect of rulership than previous thinkers were able to. Focusing solely on how to achieve and hold on to power sounds a bit – well, Machiavellian for lack of a better term, selfish and disinterested with other’s wellbeing. Machiavelli’s focus on the maintenance of power is not, however, solely beneficial to the prince that takes his advice, but can also be of great benefit to the entire population. A ruler who behaves in a â€Å"self-destructive† way will surely be weak to attacks, and eventually others will try to attack his position and gain his princedom for their own. Such weak rulers who constantly have to spend time and energy defending their position always have less resources to put towards the public good, and the population suffers. Furthermore, weak rulers often invite anarchy, which can be much more damaging to a society than a slightly tyrannical leader. So, depending on the situation, Machiavelli’s admittedly cold advice could benefit not only the prince but also his population. Being able to ask and answer very different types of questions than previous thinkers had been able to was only one of the many benefit of Machiavelli’s amoral political analysis. Another major one was the ability to differentiate between qualities that are admirable in an individual versus qualities that are admirable or desirable in a leader. One of the prime examples Machiavelli uses to demonstrate the differences is the quality of generosity versus miserliness. Though generosity is obviously an excellent and admirable quality to have as an individual, Machiavelli

A Picture in the 1800s Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

A Picture in the 1800s - Essay Example The image of the photo is taken with the medium of daguerreotype, which presented photos that are clear in the eyes of the viewers. The factors of the use of daguerreotype medium of presentation of the photo made it to have well balanced lighting so that it is not exaggerated with a lot of silver halides as seen in the calotype photos. This has made the image to look very unique and admirable when a person views it. Due to the daguerreotype medium of presentation, the photographer has been able to balance the coloration so that he can imply the difference in color of the clothes of the man in the photo and represent the direction of the source of light. The photo represent the time in which it was created because of the fact that it has many characteristics of the pictures of the time. These characteristic are the color, the environment and its decoration as well as the shape of the photo which are unique for it. These aspects of the photo make it to identify with the kind of photos that were represented in the times of its making because it was a conforming to almost all of them.

Current Ethical Issues Essay Example for Free

Current Ethical Issues Essay The Baderman Island Resort first opened in 2004 and is managed by the Boardman Management Group. Baderman Island features three different hotels and caters to both business and pleasure. The food is amazing and the 24 hour room service is even better. Along with housing and dinning Baderman Island offers plenty of activities to keep families busy having fun or to help the stressed businessman relax. On the Baderman Island Resort you will get to choose from three different hotels that are need specific. The first would be the Baderman Main Hotel. Here you can find good food and great lodging for you and your family. The Tenney hotel caters to more grown up tastes and is suited for romantic get-a-ways for you and your special someone. The last hotel is the Melancon Convention Center and Hotel which is more business orientated with a conference room that can hold up to 300 people. You can find packaging rates and catering options on the website. Each of the hotels feature large luxurious rooms and beds along with internet hookups, a wall safe, 24 hour room service, a mini-bar, and on- site managers available to help you with any of your needs. Along with great lodging Baderman Island Resort has five restaurants for you to choose from. If you are in the mood for something light you can check out the Baderman Island Cafà © or the Beverly Cafà ©. For something more filling check out the Morgan Bistro, the Kayfe, and the Tenney @ Night. All of the dinning at Baderman Island is freshly prepared and reasonably priced. Baderman Island is managed by the Boardman Management Group which has been in operation since 1994. The mission of the Boardman Management Group is â€Å"Founded in 1994, Boardman Management Group is dedicated to managing leisure and convention focused resorts that provide a unique and quality experience to guests and visitors. The Board of Directors and operational leaders in the organization, empowers its staff to offer unsurpassed quality of customer service, through individual acts of random kindness and specialty  services.† (Boardman Management Group, 2012). The responsibilities of the Boardman Management Group within the Baderman Island Resort are regulatory, finance and accounting, legal, marketing, IT services, and the entire human resources department. The organizational flow of Baderman Island is rather simple and easy to follow. You have your board of directors, chairperson of the board, your CEO, and your director of human resources management. Under the CEO is the Boardman Management Group and the vice president of guest services. The Boardman Management Group is responsible for regulatory, finance and accounting, legal, marketing, IT services. The vice president of guest services is responsible for the GM hotel, GM convention, GM food services, GM merchandise, and GM recreational. Under the GM support services there is security, logistics, engineering, emergency services, and guest relations. The employee services of the Baderman Island Resort feature an employee log in section of the website where employees can view memos and policy updates regarding the resort. Employees also have access to an employee only blog where they can post comments and suggest ideas; any HR issues should not be posted on the blog. Employees also have access to the different organization management charts for each division of the hotel. By having access to these charts employees can look up who their boss is and also follow up the management chain. One of the biggest moral and ethical issues facing the Baderman Island Resort is their destruction of the local forests and wildlife. Baderman Island Resort spans out over 1800 acres with 750 acres being fully developed. Baderman Island also has plans to develop the remaining acres by building a casino and expanding their botanical garden. If Baderman Island Resort wasn’t an island the destruction of habitats wouldn’t be such an ethical issue. Baderman is pushing wildlife out of the way to make room for the resort and eventually the wildlife will have nowhere to go. Another moral and ethical issue surrounding Baderman Island Resort is that of these customer service and well-being. There is the constant worry of  guests wandering off the trails and getting lost and hurt. Also there doesn’t seem to be any emergency health care located on the island. What is the plan if a guest is critically injured and needs medical help? Along with health and safety Baderman needs to work on their customer service for their international customers. Baderman has made mention that they are in the process of hiring more employees that can speak different languages in order to lessen the language barrier. Does this mean that Baderman will be laying off employees that don’t speak multiple languages to keep payroll from going over budget? Baderman Island Resort is a true paradise and a wonderful place to go to relax. There are a few issues that need to be addressed if Baderman is to be 100% successful in their industry. References * Baderman Island. (2012). Retrieved from https://ecampus.phoenix.edu/secure/aapd/CIST/VOP/Business/BadermanIsland/internet/index.asp * Boardman Management Group. (2012). Retrieved from https://ecampus.phoenix.edu/secure/aapd/cist/vop/Business/BoardmanManagementGroup/internet/index.asp * Trevino, L., Nelson, K. (2011). Managing business ethics: Straight talk about how to do it right (5th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Sociological Theories Of Crime And Youth Criminals Criminology Essay

Sociological Theories Of Crime And Youth Criminals Criminology Essay Sociology, along with certain other multidisciplinary focuses, provides a number of reasons for why young people commit crimes. Chief amongst these is a lack of employment, the breakdown of the family, urban decay, social disenchantment, social alienation, drug abuse, and a host of others. For example, it had been proposed that integration be viewed through patterns of role relationships  [1]  however on the other hand it had been argued that new legal powers essentially comprise an extension of punitiveness underpinned by stigmatising and pathologies constructions of working class families.  [2]  In both cases, separated by a number of years, a number of factors are to blame the state, parents, and so on but little if any answers are proposed. Sociology in its broadest forms offers a prescriptive view of the world and this can leave it lacking when tasked with answering questions that arise out of its interests but which its interests cannot qualify. As a 2006 study on you th crime in nova Scotia put it, youth crime is multifaceted. On the one hand, most youth commit crime, and most typically grow out of crime as they age. Longitudinal studies further suggest there are several risk factors that place certain youth at increased risk of offending. At the same time, there are youth with many risk factors who never participate in offending behaviour while there are youth with few risk factors who have established criminal careers.  [3]  It is here that sociology comes unstuck, unable to handle the sheer multi affectedness of youth crime with an academic outlook that seeks to place youth into easily identifiable boxes. It is here That criminology, psychology, psychiatry, and social policy step in to try and make sense of this multiplicity and advise on policies which can both decrease the number of youths committing crimes, whilst encouraging those already in such a position to leave it behind. According to most commentators, growing out of crime is on the increase. Furthermore, a lot of youth crime is to a certain extent, to be expected, quite aside for reasons of social delinquency. The establishment of the new youth justices system was a reaction to this fact. As sociologists noted that certain levels of delinquency were normal, a new policy entered in the UK that sought to treat all crimes as punishable by a formal criminal justice sanction. The effects of this have been to label a young offender as an offender from an early age. On youths, this has a number of effects. The first is to further entrench criminality into the culprit, whilst the other aims to encourage the youth of the pointlessness of crime , providing punishments that equal the crime, but that also aim to dissuade against further criminal acts. Questions also arise about how to differentiate between males and females. Goldson and Muncie  [4]  note that women tend to grow out of crime earlier than boys. Whilst a sociological approach to this seeks to question why this may be, the criminological approach must make do with knowing that after the age of 18, youth offending begins to fall, particularly self-reported offending. As youths mature, they tend to swap certain crimes for others. Thus shoplifting and burglary decrease whilst fraud and workplace theft increase as they enter the labour market. These are questions best answered by the statistician than the sociologist. Theories that rely on concepts of individual pathology are redundant in the light of sociological developments in criminology. In recent years, there has been a wholesale turning away from concepts of individual pathology in sociology, necessitated by advancements in criminology which place a greater social burden on the reasons for crime. Haines draws a contrast between individualised explanations of criminal behaviour and approaches which seek to place crime in its situational and social context.  [5]  However, the positivist view that Darwinian notions of physiognomy may in some way be responsible for defining characteristics of a criminal are by now very outdated. More modern theories of criminality, derived in part from sociological studies, but also from the dismantling of the Darwinian myth of universal positivism, have led researchers to take the view that criminals are made, rather than born. That means that they are socialized in a society that views criminal behaviour as entirely rational and in keeping with the social and cultural norms of that milieu. Whilst exceptions still abound, particul arly in the case of the clinically, ill, this view informs much policy thinking and policies aimed at reducing youth crime. There are of course exceptions to this, but they remain very much the exception. Individual pathology is so closely linked with the notion of pathology that it is too universal, cutting across all classes, as to be specific enough to the rigours of criminological profiling. Criminology in its current incarnation looks at why crime exists in society and in order to do that, it needs to look at the ills of society. Taking their cues from Marx and Engels, the modern idea of criminology seeks to give answers that look at social questions as much as pathological ones. Accordingly, the individual pathology model is a control oriented ideology which serves to locate the causes of problems in specific individuals and which supplies the relevant knowledge and understanding to develop the appropriate technologies and social policies for controlling deviant members. Crimi nological theorizing thereby becomes a means of providingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦a means of legitimating current policies which become justified as forms of treatment rather than punishment.  [6]  In this argument, the archaic individual pathology view becomes not only outdated, but also unfairly punitive, prescribing a series of judgments upon a larger, unclassifiable group. It strips the moral imperative from those enlisted to uphold it, and takes an awkwardly narrow view of society as a whole.

The Defender of the Faith Essay examples -- Essays Papers

The Defender of the Faith In Philip Roth’s, â€Å"Defender of the Faith†, Sergeant Nathan Marx is the â€Å"Defender† of whom the title speaks. Reluctant at first, Marx defended his faith on two fronts, one across the sea in Europe and the second in the United States. The battle in the states was of a different type. Marx learned what it was like to defend his and the faith of his fellow Jews against prejudice and abuse by those who waged the war. Marx is not an orthodox Jew. He does not follow the doctrine as most of those in his religion would and did not realize until asked by Grossbart that he was still religious. Though Grossbart showed him he was not like others, Grossbart was not the central antagonism, The war was. It was not that Marx was religious anymore, the religion was sentimental to him. Marx a battle-tested soldier in the U.S. Army did not even recognize that he had already defeated an enemy set to wipe his heritage. PFC Grossbart and Captain Barrett were Marx’s next opponents. Grossbart first introduced himself as â€Å"Sheldon,†(p.117) to try to get on a first name basis with Marx, for a familiarity that Marx did not want. Grossbart suspected Marx was Jewish by the spelling of his last name, which he spelled out as â€Å"M-a-r-x.†(p.117) Grossbart led Marx into believing he was interested in going to church instead of cleaning the barracks. Marx knowing it was unfair that they were denied the chance to attend service told Grossbart he could â€Å"attend shul†(p.118). By call...

Lawmakers who Skipped Trip to Manhattan Insulted Constituents :: Letter to the Editor Essays

Lawmakers who Skipped Trip to Manhattan Insulted Constituents The visit to K-State by the Kansas Legislature last Thursday quite uplifting in a way, knowing that even though legislators face perhaps the toughest year of their careers, they still take time to get out of the chambers and listen to the people of Kansas. And then I read the article in Friday’s paper. Hopefully our elected officials have read the article I am referring to, and may they also take notice of this response. For readers who are unfamiliar with the story, although many of the leaders actually traveled to Manhattan to hear presentations about proposed research facilities, approximately 60 legislators chose not to attend. Some of them skipped simply out of protest, claiming the trip catered to lobbyists. To those few who made such a misguided choice, listen up. We’re going to review some basic concepts of government you may have forgotten. Your paycheck comes from the State of Kansas, which receives funds from Kansas taxpayers, who put you into office. Essentially, Kansans who pay taxes, myself included, are collectively your bosses. I’d love to be able to stand in front of the person who hired me and declare that I will not do my job today. Unfortunately, there is a high probability that I would not have a job the following morning. To those legislators who chose simply out of spite not to join your fellow leaders in the trip to K-State, you sent the wrong message to your approximately 22,000 constituents, telling them that you refuse to live up to the obligations placed upon you when you took office. It should be noted that some legislators had legitimate reasons for skipping the trip. But for those who did not have prior commitments or pressing matters, the blunt refusal of a request to be heard by the people of Kansas is utterly unacceptable. Public leaders should not be allowed to â€Å"protest† Kansans, even if they do consider it a â€Å"snow day.† Was the presentation in Manhattan a lobbying pitch? Perhaps, but what does it matter? Lobbyists or not, they’re still Kansas taxpayers who contribute toward your salaries, and you have an obligation to listen to them. The mindset, â€Å"we make them take off work and come see us,† is not how government should work. To our legislators who like to hide behind their desks rather than face their bosses, allow me to make a suggestion: The next time you receive an offer to visit with the public about public issues, take it.

French Rev

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION PAST YEAR ESSAY QUESTIONS No. | PAPER| ESSAY QUESTION| 1| O/N 2001| Why did Louis XVI fail to satisfy the demands of the revolutionaries in France during the period 1789-1793? | 2| M/J 2002| Why did the French revolution become increasingly radical during the years 1789-94? | 3| O/N 2003| Which of the grievances of the Third Estate in France in 1789 were the most important? Explain your answer. | 4| O/N 2004| How far and why did the aims of revolutionaries in France change during the period from 1789 to 1793? 5| O/N 2005| Why during the period 1789 to 1793 did Louis XVI fail to satisfy the demands of the French revolutionaries? | 6| M/J 2006| From 1789 to 1799, who posed the more dangerous threats to the French Revolution: its internal or its external enemies? | 7| M/J 2007| Why did Louis XVI’s policies from 1789 fail to prevent his execution in 1793? | 8| O/N 2008| Why did the French ancien regime collapse in 1789? | 9| 0/N 2009/(11)| ‘The economic difficulties of France in 1789 were more serious than the political problems. How far do you agree with this judgement? | 10| O/N 2009/(12)| How far, and why, did the aims of the revolutionaries in France change during the period from 1789 to the execution of Louis XVI in 1793? | 11| M/J 2010/ (13)| ‘The most important problem of the French ancient regime was poor quality leadership. ’ How far do you agree with this judgement? | 12| O/N 2010/ (11)| Why did the rulers of France from 1789 to 1799 fail to hold on power? 13| O/N 2010/ (13)| Why did the summoning of the Estate-General in 1789 not solve the problems of the ancient regime? | 14| M/J 2011/(11)| Why was Louis XVI executed in 1793? | 15| M/J 2011/ (13)| Did Robespierre and the Jacobins do more to save or to endanger the French Revolution? | 16| O/N 2011/ (12)| Explain the rise and fall of the Jacobins in France during the period from 1789 to 1794. | 17| O/N 2011/ (13)| Why were the attempts to reform the ancient regime in France up to 1789 unsuccessful? |