Another Computer Essay Essays - Hacker Culture, Computing

Another Computer Essay The Computer Underground. The beginning of the electronic communication revolution that started with the public use of telephones to the emergence of home computers has been accompanied by corresponding social problems involving the activities of so-called "computer hackers," or better referred to as the computer underground (CU). The CU is composed of computer aficionados who stay on the fringes of legality. The CU is composed of relatively intelligent people, in contrast to the media's description of the ultra intelligent and sophisticated teenage "hacker." The majority have in common the belief that information should be free and that they have "a right to know." They often have some amount of dislike for the government and the industries who try to control and commercialize information of any sort. This paper attempts to expose what the CU truly is and dispel some of the myths propagated by the media and other organizations. This paper also tries to show the processes and reasons behind the criminalization of the CU and how the CU is viewed by different organizations, as well as some of the processes by which it came into being. What the CU is has been addressed by the media, criminologists, secuity firms, and the CU themselves, they all have a different understanding or levels of comprehention, this paper attempts to show the differences between the views as well as attempt to correct misunderstandings that may have been propagated by misinformed sources. The differences between the parties of the CU such as, "hackers," "crackers," "phreaks," "pirates," and virus writers have rarely been recognized and some deny that there are differences thus this paper attempts to give a somewhat clearer view and define exactly what each party is and does as well as how they relate to one another.

Ile Ife (Nigeria) History and Archaeology

Ile Ife (Nigeria) History and Archaeology Ile-Ife (pronounced EE-lay EE-fay), and known as Ife or Ife-Lodun is an ancient urban center, a Yoruba city in Osun state in southwestern Nigeria, about 135 northeast of Lagos. First occupied at least as early as the 1st millennium CE, it was most populous and important to the Ife culture during the 14th and 15th centuries CE, and it is considered the traditional birthplace of the Yoruba civilization, of the latter part of the African Iron Age. Today it is a thriving metropolis, with a population of about 350,000 people. Key Takeaways: Ile-Ife Ile-Ife is a Medieval period site in Nigeria, occupied between the 11th and 15th centuries CE.  It is considered the ancestral home of the Yoruba people.  Residents made naturalistic Benin bronzes, terracotta and copper allow sculptures.  Evidence at the site shows local manufacture of  glass beads, adobe brick houses, and potsherd pavements.   Prehistoric Chronology Pre-Classical (also known as Pre-Pavement), ?–11th centuriesClassical (Pavement), 12th–15th centuriesPost-Classic (Post-Pavement), 15th–17th centuries During its heyday of the 12th–15th centuries CE, Ile-Ife experienced a fluorescence in bronze and iron arts. Beautiful naturalistic terracotta and copper alloy sculptures made during the early periods have been found at Ife; later sculptures are of the lost-wax brass technique known as Benin bronzes. The bronzes are thought to represent rulers, priests, and other notable people during the citys florescence as a regional power. It was also during Classic period Ile Ife that construction of decorative pavements, open-air courtyards paved with pottery sherds. The sherds were set on edge, sometimes in decorative patterns, such as herringbone with embedded ritual pots. The pavements are unique to the Yoruba and believed to have been first commissioned by Ile-Ifes only female king. The Ife period buildings at Ile-Ife were constructed primarily of sun-dried adobe brick and so only a few remnants have survived. During the medieval period, two earthen rampart walls were erected around the city center, making Ile-Ife what archaeologists call a fortified settlement. The royal center had a circumference of about 2.5 miles, and its inner-most wall encircles an area of some three square miles. A second medieval period wall encircles an area of some five sq mi; both medieval walls are ~15 feet tall and 6.5 ft thick. Glass Works In 2010, excavations were undertaken in the northeastern part of the site by Abidemi Babatunde Babalola and colleagues who identified evidence that Ile Ife was making glass beads for its own consumption and for trade. The city had long been associated with glass processing and glass beads, but the excavations recovered almost 13,000 glass beads and several pounds of glassworking debris. The beads here have a unique chemical makeup, of contrasting levels of soda and potassium and high levels of alumina. The beads were made by drawing a long tube of glass and cutting it into lengths, mostly under two-tenths of an inch. Most of the finished beads were cylinders or oblates, the rest are tubes. Bead colors are primarily blue or blue-green, with a smaller percentage of colorless, green, yellow, or multicolored. A few are opaque, in yellow, dark red or dark gray. Bead-making manufacturing is indicated by pounds of glass waste and cullet, 14,000 potsherds. and fragments of several pottery crucibles. The vitrified ceramic crucibles are between 6 and 13 inches tall, with a mouth diameter of between 3–4 inches, which would have held between 5-40 pounds of molten glass.   The production site was used between the 11th and 15th centuries and represents rare evidence of early West African crafts. Archaeology at Ile-Ife Excavations at Ile Ife have been conducted by F. Willett, E. Ekpo and P.S. Garlake. Historical records also exist and have been used to study migration patterns of the Yoruba civilization. Sources and Further Information Babalola, Abidemi Babatunde, et al. Chemical Analysis of Glass Beads from Igbo Olokun, Ile-Ife (Sw Nigeria): New Light on Raw Materials, Production, and Interregional Interactions. Journal of Archaeological Science 90 (2018): 92–105. Print.Babalola, Abidemi Babatunde, et al. Ile-Ife and Igbo Olokun in the History of Glass in West Africa. Antiquity 91.357 (2017): 732–50. Print.Ige, O.A., B.A. Ogunfolakana, and E.O.B.  Ajayi. Chemical Characterization of Some Potsherd Pavements from Parts of Yorubaland in Southwestern Nigeria. Journal of Archaeological Science 36.1 (2009): 90–99. Print.Ige, O.A., and Samuel E.  Swanson. Provenance Studies of Esie Sculptural Soapstone from Southwestern Nigeria. Journal of Archaeological Science 35.6 (2008): 1553–65. Print.Obayemi, Ade M. Between Nok, Ile-Ife and Benin: Progress Report and Prospects. Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria 10.3 (1980): 79–94. Print.Ogundiran, Akinwumi. Four Millennia of Cultura l History in Nigeria (Ca. 2000 B.C.–A.D. 1900): Archaeological Perspectives. Journal of World Prehistory 19.2 (2005): 133–68. Print. Olupona, Jacob K. City of 201 Gods: Ilà ©-Ife in Time, Space, and the Imagination. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2011. 223-241.Usman, Aribidesi A. On the Frontier of Empire: Understanding the Enclosed Walls in Northern Yoruba, Nigeria. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 23 (2004): 119–32. Print.

Discussion of a current marketing problem Essay

Discussion of a current marketing problem - Essay Example This gives them instant access to tangible video copies (not streaming video) that even Netflix could not provide without a day or two wait for the mail system to deliver videos. As such, subscribership began to drop as Netflix was not providing cost incentives to avoid brand defection by once loyal consumers. This led to media coverage that was very negative in which investor confidence began to fall, along with outlook for continuing subscribership and revenue growth, which plummeted the stock from $236 in September 2011 to only $66 in December 2011. Media coverage showing many negative factors about a business model has very substantial impact on consumer perceptions about a brand. While all of this negative publicity was occurring, Netflix was also realizing that its operational costs were steadily increasing, therefore the business would have to raise prices in order to offset these concerns. The operational cost increase factors included royalty fees paid to many different film production companies that hold intellectual property rights on many of the products offered by Netflix. With growth in streaming video online, the costs of operations increased from $180 million annually in 2010 to $1.98 billion in 2012 (Pepitone & Smith, 2011). The only way that Netflix could stay in business and regain investor confidence was to raise prices, taking the Netflix service subscription from a previous 2009 total of $5 per month, to over $10 per month in certain markets. Raising prices on this business model created significant consumer backlash and immediate defection to other brands offering similar services. To now be able to get hard copy discs delivered as well as streaming video capabilities under the service, it would now cost consumers $15.98 (Sanger, 2011). Netflix was essentially stating that the high costs of licensing the videos offered (hundreds of millions of dollars annually) and the costs of handling video returns and deliveries were justifying these sudden and significant price hikes. The major problem in this situation is that not only did the company anger its loyal customers with massive price increases, but the business did not realize the consumer loyalty

Managing High-Performance IP Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Managing High-Performance IP - Essay Example The essay "Managing High-Performance IP" talks about the reasons why the workers even though tested positive need to go through several steps of the company, paid treatment and company paid seminars is to ensure that the union’s demands are met, and this being among it is illegal to assume it. The CEO should go through the several steps of company-paid cessation seminars to be enlightened on the importance of the test being carried out. This will provide actual report since the supervisors are not sure of the existence of the problem in all departments. The drug testing activity should be carried out in a systematic way to avoid the cause of commotion amongst workers who do not use drugs. The fact that the CEO is convinced that several of the serious plant accidents had some under-the-influence element as their cause, and I agree with him. The company did incur expensive worker’s compensation settlements, in one case because of an amputation on a piece of machinery shou ld be not be included as an issue of concern in the upcoming negotiation. The criteria of my recommendations are â€Å"whether this a onetime individual issue or is the decision, in a way, establishing some new policy?† The compensation that was incurred by the company in one case because of and a piece of amputation on a piece of machinery was a onetime individual thing. The decision not to make it an issue in the upcoming negotiation is so that the matter is first looked at in depth to avoid making decisions that could affect the company negatively.

Introduction to britich politics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Introduction to britich politics - Essay Example The beginning of conservatism dated back in the Great War in Britain. During this time, powerful debates about the soul and the thoughts of conservatism were widely spread. The participants were mainly the prominent historians who were the great thinkers in the society. The historians had many arguments in common about the nature of the human beings. However, their areas of specialization differed in terms of the interpretation of issues. They were always aligned to particular political classes. The prominent historians often had chances to address huge multitudes that eventually purchased their works thereby promoting their doctrines further. Many people also read their works in print media as well as in television and radio. They were a great inspiration to the people. The conservatism that exists in the current day in Britain can be traced back in the mid 1750s to early 1800. This came as a reaction to the swift changes and a series of prospects that faced the nation as well as other neighboring European nations. During this period, the Torry party was transformed in to the conservative party. This mainly came as a result of the electoral reforms in 1832 that was aimed at educating the conservatives on ways in which they could become productive and self reliant in the society. This came as a result of the common believe that personal initiatives are usually more effective in bringing the desired results than those that are done communally. Conservatism in the Britain is somehow interrelated with that of other Western Nations (Daunton 1995 pp.27-31). However, it is unique in a way that distinguishes it from the others. Conservatism in Britain established in under the patronage of renowned historians. The torry party was the first to establish the original characteristics of conservatism. It was later transformed in to the conservative party. The

Canada: A contemporary biligual country

Canada: A contemporary biligual country Canada is one of the few countries in the world that is bilingual and is trying to stay that way. The government and its people have tried to give both languages equal status, but hardships ensue. The countrys bilingualism has historical roots, but creates several problems in the society today. The first official government action to help support bilingualism was in 1867 with the British North America Act. This provided the use of English and French in the legislative and judicial branches of the government. It also made a provision for denominational schools, for the Protestant anglophones and Catholic francophones were harboring unrest between each other. The next step was the Manitoba Act in 1870, which made French the official language in Quebec and Manitoba, but left out the French-speaking populations of Ontario and New Brunswick. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries legislation restricted French language education in the country and virtually eliminated it in the provinces and outside of Quebec. This created major unrest between the anglophone and francophone communities and further bipolarized the issue. The unrest continued until 1963 when the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism was established, whose official duty was to settle the language dis putes. The main recommendations were to offer public services in both languages in places where the minority language communities were large. Also, the Commission advocated that French become a language of work in the federal administration and that government documents should be provided in both languages. In 1969 the Official Languages Act was passed that became the cornerstone of institutional bilingualism. It stated that in Parliament and public service both languages had to be equally used. This also included all federal departments. In 1982 the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms was passed which included further constitutional rights for both official languages. It also provided for the provinces and territories to set up schools for official language minorities. The Official Languages Act was passed again in 1988 when it was revised to include encouragement and financial aid to provincial governments from Ottawa. The success of bilingualism in the country depended largely on the provinces and how willing they were to implement these rules. In 1969 New Brunswick enacted its own Official Languages Act and became the first truly bilingual province. Ontario has been expanding its use of French in the local government where the majority of Franco-Ontarians live. Manitoba is moving to translate its statutes into French for the benefit of its francophone population. Quebec has recognized French as its official language since 1974. It is bilingual at the constitutional and federal level, but gives greater status to French at the provincial level[1].   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The 20th and 21st centuries have brought many changes to the bilingual policies in Canada. Legislation was passed to ensure official-language minority communities the rights to set-up and run their own schools and education programs. Also, the government has provided funds for second language instruction in both official languages in all the provinces and territories, giving large minority groups the chance to learn their official mother-tongue in schools. Another education program to support bilingualism is the French immersion program. This is provided for anglophone students mostly. The majority of classes the students take are taught in French starting from kindergarten or the first grade (early immersion) or junior high school (late immersion).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Bilingualism has been the nest of much unrest between the anglophone and francophone communities for a long time. These two groups of peoples have a long history of struggle for territories and human rights. The anglophone community had always been in the majority and tended to dominate over the francophone community. This caused the French-speaking people to rebel against all English government policies and political ideas. Unfortunately there wasnt a very strong resistance because they lacked strong leaders and the Catholic Church in that area was not strong enough to unite the people. In the 1860s the francophone community started to gain strength by gathering to form a strong political party, the Conservative Party. This helped them gain grounds for social and cultural gains. When the province of Quebec was created they gained even greater strength. There the francophone community took steps to ensure that the English-speaking community would not be able to cr eate a British Canadian national state. Quebec and the central government clashed on all major political issues in the 20th century. This led to the Quiet Revolution in the 1960s. A strong nationalist movement swept through Quebec and helped reshape the francophone communities place in Canadas government. It was then that the idea of secession first rose. Although the government took steps to settle with Quebec over this issue and to better integrate French into the whole countrys federal system, this remains a highly controversial topic[2].   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Today several issues have risen in connection with the governments bilingual policy. Although Canada has two official languages, English and French, there are still struggles to implement the equal use of them within the country. This is primarily because of unequal use of the languages among the population. According to the 2006 census, 67% of the population claims English as its mother-tongue while only 21% claims French as their mother-tongue. The remaining 12% claims a third language to be their mother-tongue, suggesting a large community of immigrants within the country (this includes the Aboriginal languages. Even so, this census has shown Chinese to be the third largest language in Canada, reported by 3% of the population claiming it as their mother-tongue.) Both anglophone and francophone populations have decreased over a 10 year period, 2% for the former and 1.4% for the latter. Within Quebec the francophone population still has a majority, 82%. The anglo phone community is at about 10.6% in the province with the remaining 7.4% being immigrants[3].   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  These statistics create hardships for the government to uphold bilingual policies. Although politicians would like to enforce the idea of a common bilingual community, the reality looks more like the creation of two separate linguistic communities one based in Quebec, the other in the rest of Canada. While the first vision considers Canada as one country, the second sees the center of the Canadian heartland in Quebec. This latter is the main political drive of the politics of Quebec. The politicians of Quebec would like to create a unique French community within the province to uphold the rights and culture of the French-speaking community. This belief has its extreme version, the Parti Quà ©bà ©cois, who believe that Quebec should seek political independence from Canada to be able to wholly focus on the French language and culture. This idea of secession today is in peril. One reason is that the young generation of Quebec does not feel the prejudice of the ang lophone population and has reached equal status within Quebec. This has quenched the sense of anger that fueled this idea up until now. The second reason is that Montreal had been the hotbed for the separatists, but it has become very multiethnic and bilingual. The separatist political parties, the Parti Quà ©bà ©cois and the Bloc Quà ©bà ©cois, were beaten in elections showing a decline in interest in the question of secession. In all cases, the debate of the secession of Quebec is not yet over and is still a much talked about issue today[4].   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Another major issue that concerns bilingualism in Canada is not the governments policies but the realization of them. Since the beginning of the 20th century there has been an increase in French Canadian participation in public services. In the 1970s all public service positions were redefined as English-speaking, French-speaking or bilingual. This helped French Canadians find employment in public services because most of them were already bilingual[5]. However there are still problems with the use of the French language in the government. Not all of the Supreme Court judges actually know French and this caused a problem recently in a case where the lawyer was francophone and made all his arguments in French. The judges were listening through interpreters, a practice that has since been banned. An extremely heated debate has recently emerged over the question of whether Supreme Court Justices should be bilingual and how much bilingualism adds to their competence[6 ].   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Although Canada is considered an officially bilingual country historically, there are several issues that cause heated debates within the society. Hopefully one day both official languages will have an equal status in the lives of all Canadians. Works Cited Bilingualism (n.d.) In The Canadian Encyclopedia online. Retrieved from http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCEParams=A1ARTA0000740 Francophone-Anglophone Relations (n.d.) In The Canadian Encyclopedia online. Retrieved from http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCEParams=A1ARTA0003025 The Evolving Linguistic Portrait, 2006 Census, Statistics Canada online http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/english/census06/analysis/language/pdf/97-555-XIE2006001.pdf Quebec Separatism (n.d.) Globalsecurity.org; Military. Retrieved from http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/quebec.htm Makarenko, Jay (2007) Official Bilingualism in Canada: History and Debate. Retrieved fromv http://www.mapleleafweb.com/features/official-bilingualism-canada-history-and-debates Tibbetts, Janice (2010, May 2) Merits of making Supreme Court bilingual could be lost in translation. Camwest News Service. Retrieved from http://www.canada.com/life/Merits+making+Supreme+Court+bilingual+could+lost+translation/2977805/story.html

Would Principles of Scientific Management

Scientific Management as proposed by F. W. Taylor is a method based on a time and motion technique which have actually been divided into steps which helps in determining how fast a particular job can be performed and to the identification and elimination of all practices which leads to the wastages of time. The basic ingredients of time and motion technique begin with a stop watch as an input while the output consisting of an instruction sheet containing exact sequence of operations necessary for the work with exact time the same has to be completed (Klaw, 1979). The management theory suggests for every man in an organization is like one of a train of gear wheels (Haber, 1964:24) and it is these workers who are responsible for the production of a part of the complete product. The development process has to be subdivided into various sections with each section responsible for a part of the whole product rather than the whole product and at the same time various automation techniques are being introduced so that workers can be assigned to single task while external supervisors were meant for the purpose of control. (Miller, 2002). Now we take up the case of Timbuk2. The company headed by Rob Honeycutt followed the way through which Toyota used to produce cars after implementing the use of Toyota Sewing System. The procedure gets unfolded with the product development process has been subdivided into various phases with output of each phase being the input of next phase. A particular operator has the responsibility of a portion of the complete product and once he or she finishes its job, the output is being moved on to the next operator who performs the next operation. Hence in principle this product development process of bags for bike messenger services in Timbuk2 represents a very ideal case for possible implementation of Scientific Management Principle. Since the management policy targets starts with the grass root level with workers doing repetitive jobs. In Timbak2 similar policies are being followed. The company has been very active in obtaining new technology and modifying production techniques. Now looking into what Scientific Management suggest the states that a worker in a repetitive job is more interested in just achieving the minimum required target. He is not at all concerned with the term productivity and growth of the firm and is more of less involves itself just to the domain he or she is actually. To get over these problems, Taylor proposed many concepts of which some were accepted at the time of proposal only like the case of Ford while others were appreciated later. But still there are a large number of managers or trade unionists who is actually not a believer of Taylor’s Theory. Their point of contention is that it is rarely or better to say not at possible to have identical economic interest for both management and workers. There is mistrust between workers and managers. Managers are more interested in improving efficiency and overall performance of the firm and consider this as their own responsibility while the worker views every attempt of training and improvement of technology or modernization process as a tactics by the management to reduce work force and extract more work by the reduced number. Workers’ concerns are not baseless. Taylor’s method has automation as the culminating point. By automation, we mean more and more work is to be done by machines and company’s reliance on workforce will considerably get reduced. This will again undermine the interest of the employees and the point from where Taylor’s theory of total prosperity starts, gets lost. Taylor had suggested for regular training of employees to improve productivity. He also made a point that a worker should be given rest breaks to get over fatigue (Taylor, 1911). This will help to get more output with long er duration of inventory utilization. His idea of training and work arrangement has the motive that a worker should be made to think that more work will result more output and finally more payment. But despite having so much novelties and goodness and loads of appreciation from great people like Henry Ford, from the beginning itself the theory was under fire and its applicability has always been a matter of discussion. The theory which was actually meant for improving efficiency and production later faltered and the same became reason of absenteeism and lack of commitment among workers. Moving on to employee’s contribution in improving the and The company has been able to successfully maintain a very harmonic relationship with According to Backer, in his paper of 1998, implementation of scientific management gave immediate result with drastic fall in the over all cost of production with more and more product being produced at a much lower price thereby causing great change in the way it was consumed by the masses. But it was on the part of management to implement this concept fully. They lacked in this regard thereby causing unrest among workers causing emergence of trade unionism which Taylor used to hate and workers started going to strikes. Their causes were genuine because despite having 33% increases in overall production, workers were not given a considerable portion of the additional profit the companies made. The management started comparing their work force with machines and hence the era of low wages despite high performance started. This causes some of the great strikes in American history with one being suffered by US Steel Industry (Baker, 1998). Again it was Taylor’s Principles which received the blame both from the management as well as labor unions. Later the same principles were accepted by labor unions and were widely respected once better deciphered as beneficial for organized work force because of its clause of maximum prosperity and regular training to meet different production and efficiency targets (Backer, 1998). So finally Taylorism changed the relationship between the management and the workers. But still it was not considered as the perfect concept. Unorganized and unskilled had to face much of the heat caused by its implementation. They had to go with least of wages. This started making effect on organized sector. The skilled labor can now easily be replaced by easily trainable but unorganized and cheap workforce. And again the method and its goal were criticized in every quarter (Baker, 1998). Solution given by Taylor through his principles will always be called as a solution with a motive of complete removal of all supposed problems but had to face its share of failures. Spender in a very recent paper made a very good explanation on Taylor’s Solution, its successes and its failures (2006). He stated that new model factory based system of mass production of things through machines with the help of unskilled labor who are no more than operator of those machines was developed by engineers not by capitalists. These engineers analyzed the whole production process while taking the smallest detail into account. They applied time and motion techniques widely promoted by F. W. Taylor and made steep change in overall efficiency of the whole production process. Though the main motive was to produce more, earn more and give more to the workers but things got awry and because of different goals of management and that of workers, the most critical factor of human resource and social responsibility got subordinated (Rose, 1975:32). The workers were technically compared with machines and were more in an ox-cart cart situation. The engineers on the basis of Taylor’s method gave prominence to science for research and developed and inventory management so that complete and full fledged prosperity can be achieved. But the workers were just not ready to accept the so called independent stand of those engineers. Their past experience were good enough to believe that these engineers are proxy agents of the owners and the concept they are applying are nothing but an attempt to maximize the profit of the capitalists and in return the laborers will be awarded with something very meager . Though Taylor repeatedly stated that what ever change is going to happen will be done with nine-tenth in the management while only a very small change is going to b subjected among workers section, but his contention was hardly viewed by Unionist with enough faith. In his principles, Taylor made a deep explanation of the role of foreman. He used to be most important figure very much equivalent to that of king with power stretching beyond workplace to places outside the factory (Taylor, 1911:51). Top management was very much reliant on these foremen to organize production and was more or less focused on external issues like market share and overall profitability. The addition of new technology and automation restricted the overall status of that of foremen and this was widely appreciated. But with this, Taylor inadvertently provided owners with new means to defeat labor’s interests. The Scientific Management caused shifting planning from execution. The workers or craftsman had no longer authorized to take any decision and were reduced to the position from where they can only execute rather taking any part in decision making. This again made a felling that the labor are no more than a machine which are only supposed to work and must not utter a single word since all these principles have been implemented after looking into all aspects of their welfare. But what actually they would get was obscure (Spender, 2006). All this started giving rise to many labor problems which were strong enough to make changes both at the factory level as well as national politics. On giving deep thought it was concluded that the reason were not just the economic backwardness the laborers were facing but also an impression that they will be left behind in this extra fast economic and technological growth. Again looking with the eyes of Taylor, his principles were not intended to be either labor centric or management centric. His actual wish was to develop a completely new system which would open a new era of adjustment and common objectives for both the parties. But the return of implementing Scientific Management would vary and will get diminished when the firm will take the route of total control through the use of technology but the same will give desirable result in case of un availability of the same (Edwards, 1970:20). The main reason behind the difference was the wide difference between different industries (Chandler, 1977). The role of foreman got different definition in different industries. Factories with the purpose of mass production were now with foremen with lesser control while the opposite was seen in metallurgical trade (Nelson, 1975:36). The ideology of resolving the conflict between owners and workers by changing the whole concept of work and ownership took a backseat. His method was acclaimed and well adopted and very few implemented or incorporated it as a whole. And the management who was supposed to be the intelligent part of the system and were considered as the one to enforce Taylor’s principle, failed in proper application of the concept. And another way of creating harmony among workers and the administration got lost. And the reason remained the same i.e. working class and the management cannot have the same objective. Link – Belt case is a very good example where Taylor’s concept received applause for sorting out the problems between the management and the workers (Nelson, 1992:130). The firm was controlled by some of the ardent supporters of Taylor and his principles of scientific management. The company grew from being a Chicago enterprise manufacturing detachable link-chain for agricultural equipments to an important player in elevating and conveying machinery market (Nelson, 1992:131). The Principles of Scientific Management was implemented for the first time in the Philadelphia Plant of Link – Belt. It was later adopted in its Chicago Plant. But its implementation also exposed the weaknesses of this principle. The principle was actually implemented during period of recession. The economy was going downswing. So the implementation process was completed without any hassle. But the same workforce, who was nothing more than a silent spectator during the period of recession, started demanding when the firm was under pressure of maintaining its position in the recovered and competitive market. When deeply examined, in the period 1900 to 1940, it was found that the Link – Belt management actually never made any decision which were fully in accordance with the Taylor’s principle (Nelson, 1992:130). The solution they found involved espionage and then finding the weak link and causing defection in the opposite camp. All these techniques had been denounced by Taylor in his Principle of Scientific management. Actually Link – Belt management never ever tried to achieve industrial peace but insisted on techniques which showed their own lack of faith on this very Principle. And finally the company which was actually showcased as excellent example of Scientific Management could not find a suitable point in the Taylor’s Principle to tackle rising labour related issues. And thus with the whole purpose of achieving industrial harmony got lost (Nelson, 1992:151). Â  

What Was the Role of the First World War on Mussolini’s Transition

What was the role of the First World War in Mussolini’s transition from Socialism to Fascism? Mussolini’s controversial transition from his Socialist roots to leader of the Fascist Party has been bewildering to many, particularly those who perceive it as a sudden and random change. However, many historians, such as O’Brien, have suggested this transition was not so random; Mussolini’s political shift from the Left to the Right was the result of World War One. Italy’s entry into the war in 1915 divided the Italian Socialist Party (PSI), which led to Mussolini’s expulsion and his rapid political evolution.On the other hand, Gregor argues that Mussolini’s underlying revolutionary nature was the main reason for his change, as it directed his beliefs to adopt various ideologies that conformed with his desire for revolution. Conversely, Payne argues that Nationalism completed the establishment of Fascism. This essay will explore these three arguments in order to understand whether Mussolini’s transition from Socialism to Fascism was the result of the war, his revolutionary nature, or the influence of Nationalism. O’Brien has argued that the developments in the First World War guided Mussolini’s political transition from Socialism to Fascism.Italy’s intervention into the war, to Mussolini’s personal experience in the trenches and the disastrous Battle of Caporetto all contributed to Mussolini’s political evolution. Italy’s intervention into World War One in 1915 signified a pivotal point in Mussolini’s political career. As a Socialist, Mussolini was expected to promote the neutrality of Italy in the war, which he initially did. In the Socialist paper, Avanti, Mussolini declared that Italy should remain neutral, as Italy had not started the war, and it would sacrifice many working class lives.However, Mussolini’s view on intervention soon changed (at least pu blically), as he began to express pro-interventionist writings in Avanti. In October 1914, Mussolini argued that the PSI had always supported the allies, therefore intervention would not be altering their beliefs and that war could be seen as an opportunity for revolution. Furthermore, he argued that neutrality was risky and it would have consequences, particularly for Italian expansionism if the Allies or Central Powers annexed territory Italy desired, such as the Balkans. However, the Socialists did not agree and 20 October 1914, Mussolini was expelled from the PSI.Thus, the issue of intervention demonstrated how Mussolini’s beliefs evolved from the start of World War One. On the other hand, Mussolini’s apparent change of heart from neutralist to interventionist was not really a change. Not only was interventionism consistent with his revolutionary Socialism, he had already published and agreed with the syndicalist, Panunzio’s, pro-intervention articles in his personal paper, Utopia in November 1913. Nevertheless, although the intervention issue may not have altered Mussolini’s views significantly, he was expelled from the PSI as a result, which had a considerable impact on his beliefs afterwards.Thus, intervention could be seen as the architect of his political evolution. Similarly, Mussolini’s personal experience in the trenches contributed to the development of his political beliefs. Mussolini joined the war in August 1915, which awakened his patriotism. He also became less anti-military. However, Mussolini’s patriotism has been identified from as early as 1909. During his time in Trentino, Mussolini became associated with Battisti; his strong patriotism for Italy inspired Mussolini.Furthermore, as a socialist, Mussolini had always stressed that Socialism was against Nationalism, not the nation. Nevertheless, his sense of national unity and tolerance of the military were expressed during his time in the trenches a nd represented a fundamental change in his political thought. It also demonstrated his tendency to adapt his views in response to changing circumstances. The Battle of Caporetto in October 1917 had a huge impact on the development of Mussolini’s political attitude; for the first time he identified with the Nationalist movement.Indeed, De Felice believes that this disaster was largely responsible for Mussolini’s transition to Fascism. The Battle was a surprise German and Austrian offensive on the Italian Army, which resulted in the collapse of the Italian Front and many deaths. This was worsened by the Italian General Cadorna; he blamed the soldiers and destroyed their morale. Mussolini defended the soldiers and wanted justice. The Nationalist movement had a similar attitude. The Battle of Caporetto enhanced Mussolini’s attitude towards the military and brought him closer to the Nationalist movement and right-wing politics.Thus, the developments in World War One created huge political unrest at home, which altered Mussolini’s political thinking and attitudes towards socialism, the military and the nation. These changes were significant in Mussolini’s transition to Fascism, therefore the war did play a central role in Mussolini’s political evolution. Alternatively, Gregor has argued that Mussolini’s transition to Fascism was the result of his revolutionary nature, as he only adopted beliefs that were congruent with his desire for revolution.This has been supported by the idea that Mussolini never truly belonged to any political Party. Indeed, Mussolini’s political beliefs from his Socialist days appear to be a culmination of borrowed ideologies from Marxism, Socialism and revolutionary Syndicalism. Although by fifteen years of age Mussolini called himself a socialist, he rejected moderate socialist ideas of reform on the grounds that it was conforming to bourgeois society and was passive. Thus, he was more influenced by Marxism.He despised the bourgeoisie and traditional institutions, such as the Catholic Church and the military, as they apparently repressed the proletariat. Consequently, he believed that class confrontation and revolution by the proletariat would resolve this repression. Mussolini opposed Parliament, as he believed they were too self-involved to transform Italy from a backward State. He also despised Nationalism as it apparently endorsed the vested interests of the bourgeoisie, church, military and monarchy.Thus, Mussolini’s political attitude was a combination of the radical aspects of Marxism, Socialism and revolutionary Syndicalism, whilst disregarding moderate aspects, such as reform. This supports the idea that Mussolini was simply a revolutionary, not committed to any one Party or ideology and that this is the reason he was able to adopt Fascism. On the other hand, it may have been Mussolini’s influences (particularly in his youth) that led to thi s mixture of beliefs, rather than his lack of loyalty to any one ideology.Mack Smith believes that Mussolini’s father had the greatest influence on his political attitude. His father was a radical socialist, often in prison, and Mussolini spent a lot of time with him and his socialist associates. However, as a young man, Mussolini became more influenced by Marx than Socialism. Furthermore, during his time in Switzerland in 1902, Mussolini became familiar with revolutionary syndicalists, such as Michels and LeBon(who wrote about crowd psychology; crowds apparently needed myths to motivate them ) and Panunzio (who was against reforms).Thus, Mussolini was surrounded by politics from a young age, which may explain why he was inspired by so many different ideologies. However, it is more likely that these influences reinforced his natural revolutionary instincts. Indeed, some of these ideas that influenced Mussolini were later seen in the Fascist regime, such as myths around the Du ce. This therefore reiterates Gregor’s argument that Mussolini’s revolutionary nature led him to adopt views that complemented his desire for revolution and was therefore open to any Party that would provide this, including Fascism.On the contrary, Payne has argued that Mussolini’s Fascism was the result of the Nationalist movement. Whilst Mussolini’s ideas evolved from Socialism, through revolutionary Syndicalism, Nationalism completed the transition. Indeed, once Mussolini was expelled from the PSI, he needed to support someone new; and so turned to the revolutionary Syndicalists who were also pro-intervention. This demonstrated Mussolini’s tendency to change according to political situations, and the importance of the ideologies he turned to.Indeed, the revolutionary Syndicalists were significant, as they had parallels with the Nationalist Party (ANI). These included violence that would lead to a revolution of the classes, imperialism and class hierarchy. They both believed that intervention into the war would create revolution, thus demonstrating unity of the Left and Right. Furthermore, syndicalists, such as Michels, stressed the importance of uniting the classes to protect the Italian nation. This highlights the element of national consciousness in Syndicalism.These overlaps demonstrate the influence of the National movement on Mussolini’s development. By adopting revolutionary Syndicalism, Mussolini was essentially adopting elements of Nationalism, which thus influenced his journey to Fascism. On the other hand, the disaster at Caporetto had a major impact on Italy’s political situation and created more support for the Nationalists. It was the reaction of the Nationalists after Caporetto that influenced Mussolini. Caporetto signified intense disillusionment with the current government and created national unity amongst the Italians.Cadorna’s blaming of the soldiers created anger and Corradini (a le ad figure in Nationalism) believed soldiers should be rewarded. This aligned with Mussolini’s view; he believed the government should boost the morale of the soldiers by uniting the nation and promoting revolution. Thus, Mussolini identified with the Nationalists for the first time after Caporetto, which may have increased his willingness to adopt Nationalist ideas in the following years. The Red years, beginning in 1919, completed this and symbolised Mussolini’s complete abandonment of Socialism.These years were characterised by strikes and national unrest. They not only brought a decline in the support for the PSI (due to fear of communism), but also created a state of confusion, particularly amongst the bourgeoisie, as to which Party to support. Mussolini recognised this situation as an opportunity to create a revolution, and thus appealed to the bourgeoisie to support him, as he knew the Proletariat were loyal to the Left. He thus concentrated on motivating the bou rgeoisie into revolution against the Socialists and Liberal Government (Nationalist element).This is another example of a fundamental change in belief. As a socialist, Mussolini had empahsised the importance of a proletariat revolutuion, but now he empahsised a revolution induced by the bourgeoise. The Red years are thus an example of how Mussolini adapted his views in response to a situation and manipulated them to achieve his aims of revolution. In this sense, Nationalism was the final factor that drove Mussolini to adopt Fascism; particularly due to the lack of a political doctrine on the Fascist part.Indeed, in 1923, the Pact of Fusion incorporated the Corradini and Rocco’s National Doctrine into Fascism. Thus, Payne’s argument that Fascism was the ultimate result of the Nationalist movement is demonstrated by the parallels of Nationalism in Mussolini’s revolutionary syndicalist thought and the growing similarities between Mussolini’s and nationalist attitudes during the failures of the war. The Red Years completed Mussolini’s gradual attraction to Nationalism, his abandonment of Socialism and led to him embrace right-wing politics. Overall, Mussolini’s transition from Socialism to Fascism was not random.The war certainly transformed Mussolini’s political career forever and made him sympathetic to the politics and institutes he had always hated; the military and Nationalism. Furthermore, World War One intensified his national consciousness, particularly his experiences in the trenches and the disaster of Caporetto. Indeed, it was essentially his patriotism that connected him to the Nationalist movement. In this sense the war did play the central role in Mussolini’s transition; in the end it was the Nationalist doctrine that defined Fascist ideology.However, Mussolini’s revolutionary nature no doubt drove all his political decisions. From a young age, he was a radical and greatly inspired by his radical father. This meant that he was open to any political Party that promoted radical ideas and can explain why he was so willing to abandon ideologies that did not conform to this, such as Socialism. Indeed, his revolutionary instinct seems to be the only thing that was consistent throughout Mussolini’s political development; from the very beginning of the Fascist movement he promoted violence and revolution which lasted until 1943.Payne’s argument, therefore, connects O’Brien and Gregor’s approaches to Mussolini’s adoption of Fascism. Whilst the war changed his political career and made him more aware of Nationalism, and his revolutionary instincts made him open to radical change, Nationalism completed it. Without the war, Mussolini may still have been in the PSI, therefore would have avoided Nationalism, and without his revolutionary instincts, he would not have been open to adopt right-wing politics, even if it was radical.Furthermore, with out the Nationalist Party, there would not have been Fascism, as it was national unity that gained the Nationalist movement support and it was Corradini and Rocco’s Nationalist doctrine that formed the basis of Fascist ideology. Thus, although the First World War transformed Mussolini’s political career, and led to the evolution of his beliefs as a result, and although the Nationalist movement completed his transition to Fascism, Mussolini’s revolutionary nature seems to be the central reason for his abandonment of Socialism and adoption of Fascism.It was this that prevented his full commitment to any Party and made him open to other political ideologies. From Marxism and Socialism, to revolutionary Syndicalism and Fascism, Mussolini’s revolutionary instincts determined the political decisions he made, which resulted in his changing views. Even if the war had never have occured, Mussolini’s desire for revolution would have motivated him to respond to alternative events and political crises that would have developed his beliefs.The war just speeded up this process due to the failures of war and incompetent government to resolve the situation. Furthermore, without the war, Nationalism would still have had the same ideology and alternative political events would have led Mussolini to join this movement. Thus, his revolutionary nature maintained one consistent idea throughout Mussolini’s transition; the desire for revolution, and he would not have rested until the opportunity occurred.

Native American Spiritualism

Native American Spiritualism By definition, Spiritualism can be defined as a belief in the possibility of a way of communication between human beings and the spirits of the living dead and the mechanisms through which this is achieved in practice.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Native American Spiritualism specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In its doctrine, Spiritualism argues that all that is within the universe can not only exhibit the material characteristics but also exhibit other properties far much beyond the natural human understanding, otherwise known as metaphysics. As such, it is the exact opposite of Materialism, which explains the occurrence, and properties of matter as found in the theories of physical sciences. In addition, it can be thought of as a belief that what exists is either a spirit or soul. An important distinguishing feature of spiritualism as a kind of religion is that here the spirits of the living dead can be communica ted to and a medium exists that can convey to the living the information concerning life after death. Various spiritualists have different belief but there exists beliefs that are common to all. They all believe in the existence of God and that the soul continues to exist in the world of the living dead, that every one will carry his own cross and that even after death the soul can change. Having come out of Christian religion and being a religion kind of, Spiritualism has some relationships with those other religions namely Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Spiritism, and other indigenous religions but receive strong opposition from religions like Judaism. Both Christians and spiritualists believe in the existence of God, death of Jesus Christ on the cross as well as conducting church services on Sundays. However, spiritualists believe that the death of Jesus on the cross was not to save humankind as per the Christians and that every soul shall be individually responsible for the deed s or sins committed. They also believe that even after death one can still change and that there is no particular hell or heaven but a series of such depending on the performance of the individuals. Both Islam and Spiritualism share the concept of spirits existing between man and God. Hindus, who believe that if one dies before the right time then the spirit hangs around in form of a ghost until the right time of his death after which he is reincarnated, share the same concept of existence of soul after death. However, Judaism differs with the spiritualists and argues that God forbids any form of worship connected to the spirits and that such people shall be permanently cut off from His people.Advertising Looking for essay on religion theology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In the native America, there exists various religious cultures among them Christianity, and Islam, alongside many others. One important and in teresting effect off having a wide diversity in religious culture in the Native America is the impact of such beliefs and culture on the way people relate with one another. The coming of the European missionaries into America back to the 16th century and the sticking of the Native Americans to their traditions blended to give rise to other religions that are partly traditional and partly Christian. Native American attached a lot of value to their tradition and culture more so in an attempt resist the oppression of Europeans who conquered their land. There was also the desire to have one common Indian religion. (Neuser 23) In fact, the whole concept of religion changed meaning to Native Americans and to them it simply denoted Christianity. Therefore, the love for this Indian religion led to emergence of spiritualist religion. One of these people who are closely attached to this religion is an Indian known as Don Juan Matus who had various teaching on the understanding of mankind and the universe in general. His teachings have since been written by different authors some of whom had personal interviews with him. Juan was mystical and always had strong belief in signs coming to him from an unnatural source. Specifically, Juan believed that the universe consists of two worlds namely: tonal: the world of material and the first in hierarchy and naugal, the non-material world (Antonov 5). He said that communication in the world of materials was through the senses of our physical body, which he referred to as first-attention. However, to be able to sense anything in the second world one is required to develop a second-attention, which he termed as clairvoyance. There was also the third-attention through which one would communicate to God and his signs. Before and during the times of Don Juan, the concept God was taken to be a universal Eagle that was the sole controller of the universe. The Eagle fed on the souls of human beings leaving the body and that was the caus e of death.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Native American Spiritualism specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Besides, it would allow the soul of one to move on to the next stage if the person had gained the required power during their lifetime. This belief was frightening and Juan had to come out strongly to oppose it. He argued that approaching God only required one to manifest love, just as the teachings of most other religions. Spiritualism was also characterized by other beliefs like those that were referred to as The Sacred Tree. This Sacred Tree had a lot of symbolic meaning and thus had a variety of functions. This holy place was believed to be the dwelling place of the Supreme Being. According to Bopp, the Sacred Tree was a symbol that had a great importance to the traditionalists as it represented life, cycle of time, the earth, and the universe (20). In the ordinary context, the shade of a tree can provide pr otection from strong heat or rainfall. Similarly, the Sacred Tree is believed to be a source of protection. The Sacred Tree connotes a place where people come together for certain purposes; it can also be thought of as a â€Å"womb that gives birth to our values and potentiality as human beings† (Bopp 22). Besides, the fruits of the sacred Tree can be view in the perspective of the food needed for human growth; that is it represents the â€Å"nurturing that human beings receive in interacting with other human, physical, and spiritual environment† (Bopp 22). Finally, the leaves of the Sacred Tree are a representation of man; ordinarily, the leaves fall off a tree to the ground to form manure, which later helps other trees to come up, a phenomenon that depicts people who pass the teaching to the generation that will succeed them. The need to explain the origin of mankind, the concept God and Life after death that led to the emergence of such beliefs and doctrines as seen in Spiritualism is still a point of concern to many philosophers and other scholars to date and will continue giving birth to more religions Antonov, Vladimir. Native American Spirituality: Path of Heart (Don Juan Matus, Eagle and Others). Ontario: CreateSpace. 2008. Bopp, Judie. The Sacred Tree. WI: Lotus Press. 1984.Advertising Looking for essay on religion theology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Neuser, Jacob. World Religions in America: An Introduction. Fourth Edition. Westminister: John Knox Press. 2009.

Pre-Socratic Philosophers Essay Essays

Pre-Socratic Philosophers Essay Essays Pre-Socratic Philosophers Essay Paper Pre-Socratic Philosophers Essay Paper Essay Topic: Burial Rites Poes Short Stories â€Å"Pre-Socratic† is the look normally used to depict those Grecian minds who lived and wrote between 600 and 400 B. C. It was the Pre-Socratics who attempted to happen cosmopolitan rules which would explicate the natural universe from its beginnings to man’s topographic point in it. Although Socrates died in 399 B. C. . the term â€Å"Pre-Socratic† indicates non so much a chronological bound. but instead an mentality or scope of involvements. an mentality attacked by both Protagoras ( a Sophist ) and Socrates. because natural doctrine was worthless when compared with the hunt for the â€Å"good life. †To give the Presocratic minds their full due would necessitate an article of encyclopaedic range. Given that. I have decided to name a figure of sites on single Presocratic minds. Anaximander1. Life and SourcesThe history of written Greek doctrine starts with Anaximander of Miletus in Asia Minor. a fellow-citizen of Thales. He was the first who dared to compose a treatise in prose. which has been called traditionally On Nature. This book has been lost. although it likely was available in the library of the Lyceum at the times of Aristotle and his replacement Theophrastus. It is said that Apollodorus. in the 2nd century BCE. stumbled upon a transcript of it. possibly in the celebrated library of Alexandria. Recently. grounds has appeared that it was portion of the aggregation of the library of Taormina in Sicily. where a fragment of a catalogue has been found. on which Anaximander’s name can be read. Merely one fragment of the book has come down to us. quoted by Simplicius ( after Theophrastus ) . in the 6th century AD. It is possibly the most celebrated and most discussed phrase in the history of doctrine. We besides know really small of Anaximander’s life. He is said to hold led a mission that founded a settlement called Apollonia on the seashore of the Black Sea. He besides likely introduced the gnomon ( a perpendicular sun-dial ) into Greece and erected one in Sparta. So he seems to hold been a much-traveled adult male. which is non amazing. as the Milesians were known to be brave crewmans. It is besides reported that he displayed grave manners and wore grandiloquent garments. Most of the information on Anaximander comes from Aristotle and his student Theophrastus. whose book on the history of doctrine was used. excerpted. and quoted by many other writers. the alleged doxographers. before it was lost. Sometimes. in these texts words or looks appear that can with some certainty be ascribed to Anaximander himself. Relatively many testimonies. about one tierce of them. hold to make with astronomical and cosmogonic inquiries. Hermann Diels and Walter Kranz have edited the doxography ( A ) and the bing texts ( B ) of the Presocratic philosophers in Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker. Berlin 1951-19526. ( A citation like â€Å"DK 12A17? agencies: â€Å"Diels/Kranz. Anaximander. doxographical study no. 17? ) . | 2. The â€Å"Boundless† as Principle Harmonizing to Aristotle and Theophrastus. the first Grecian philosophers were looking for the â€Å"origin† or â€Å"principle† ( the Greek word â€Å"arche† has both significances ) of all things. Anaximander is said to hold identified it with â€Å"the Boundless† or â€Å"the Unlimited† ( Grecian: â€Å"apeiron. † that is. â€Å"that which has no boundaries† ) . Already in ancient times. it is complained that Anaximander did non explicate what he meant by â€Å"the Boundless. † More late. writers have disputed whether the Boundless should be interpreted as spatially or temporarily without bounds. or possibly as that which has no makings. or as that which is unlimited. Some bookmans have even defended the significance â€Å"that which is non experienced. † by associating the Grecian word â€Å"apeiron† non to â€Å"peras† ( â€Å"boundary. † â€Å"limit† ) . but to â€Å"perao† ( †Å"to experience. † â€Å"to apperceive† ) . The suggestion. nevertheless. is about resistless that Grecian doctrine. by doing the Boundless into the rule of all things. has started on a high degree of abstraction. On the other manus. some have pointed out that this usage of â€Å"apeiron† is untypical for Grecian idea. which was occupied with bound. symmetricalness and harmoniousness. The Pythagoreans placed the boundless ( the â€Å"apeiron† ) on the list of negative things. and for Aristotle. excessively. flawlessness became aligned with bound ( Grecian: â€Å"peras† ) . and therefore â€Å"apeiron† with imperfectness. Therefore. some writers suspect eastern ( Persian ) influence on Anaximander’s thoughts. Anaximenes ( d. 528 BCE ) Harmonizing to the lasting beginnings on his life. Anaximenes flourished in the mid sixth century BCE and died around 528. He is the 3rd philosopher of the Milesian School of doctrine. so named because like Thales and Anaximander. Anaximenes was an dweller of Miletus. in Ionia ( ancient Greece ) . Theophrastus notes that Anaximenes was an associate. and perchance a pupil. of Anaximander’s. Anaximenes is best known for his philosophy that air is the beginning of all things. In this manner. he differed with his predecessors like Thales. who held that H2O is the beginning of all things. and Anaximander. who thought that all things came from an unspecified boundless material. 2. Doctrine of Change Given his philosophy that all things are composed of air. Anaximenes suggested an interesting qualitative history of natural alteration: [ Air ] differs in kernel in conformity with its rareness or denseness. When it is thinned it becomes fire. while when it is condensed it becomes air current. so cloud. when still more condensed it becomes H2O. so Earth. so stones. Everything else comes from these. ( DK13A5 ) Influence on later Doctrine Anaximenes’ theory of consecutive alteration of affair by rarefaction and condensation was influential in ulterior theories. It is developed by Heraclitus ( DK22B31 ) . and criticized by Parmenides ( DK28B8. 23-24. 47-48 ) . Anaximenes’ general theory of how the stuffs of the universe arise is adopted by Anaxagoras ( DK59B16 ) . even though the latter has a really different theory of affair. Both Melissus ( DK30B8. 3 ) and Plato ( Timaeus 49b-c ) see Anaximenes’ theory as supplying a common-sense account of alteration. Diogenes of Apollonia makes air the footing of his explicitly monistic theory. The Hippocratic treatise On Breaths uses air as the cardinal construct in a theory of diseases. By supplying cosmogonic histories with a theory of alteration. Anaximenes separated them from the kingdom of mere guess and made them. at least in construct. scientific theories capable of proving. Thales of Miletus ( c. 620 BCE – c. 546 BCE ) The ancient Greek philosopher Thales was born in Miletus in Greek Ionia. Aristotle. the major beginning for Thales’s doctrine and scientific discipline. identified Thales as the first individual to look into the basic rules. the inquiry of the arising substances of affair and. hence. as the laminitis of the school of natural doctrine. Thales was interested in about everything. look intoing about all countries of cognition. doctrine. history. scientific discipline. mathematics. technology. geographics. and political relations. He proposed theories to explicate many of the events of nature. the primary substance. the support of the Earth. and the cause of alteration. Thales was much involved in the jobs of uranology and provided a figure of accounts of cosmogonic events which traditionally involved supernatural entities. His oppugning attack to the apprehension of celestial phenomena was the beginning of Grecian uranology. Thales’ hypotheses were new and bold. and in liberating phenomena from reverent intercession. he paved the manner towards scientific enterprise. He founded the Milesian school of natural doctrine. developed the scientific method. and initiated the first western enlightenment. A figure of anecdotes is closely connected to Thales’ probes of the universe. When considered in association with his hypotheses they take on added significance and are most informative. Thales was extremely esteemed in ancient times. and a missive cited by Diogenes Laertius. and purporting to be from Anaximenes to Pythagoras. advised that all our discourse should get down with a mention to Thales ( D. L. II. 4 ) . 1. The Hagiographas of Thales Doubts have ever existed about whether Thales wrote anything. but a figure of ancient studies recognition him with Hagiographas. Simplicius ( Diels. Dox. p. 475 ) specifically attributed to Thales writing of the alleged Nautical Star-guide. Diogenes Laertius raised uncertainties about genuineness. but wrote that ‘according to others [ Thales ] wrote nil but two treatises. one On the Solstice and one On the Equinox‘ ( D. L. I. 23 ) . Lobon of Argus asserted that the Hagiographas of Thales amounted to two hundred lines ( D. L. I. 34 ) . and Plutarch associated Thales with sentiments and histories expressed in poetry ( Plutarch. De Pyth. or. 18. 402 Tocopherol ) . Hesychius. recorded that ‘ [ Thales ] wrote on heavenly affairs in heroic poetry. on the equinox. and much else’ ( DK. 11A2 ) . Callimachus credited Thales with the sage advice that sailing masters should voyage by Ursa Minor ( D. L. I. 23 ) . advice which may hold been in authorship. Diogenes references a poet. Choerilus. who declared that ‘ [ Thales ] was the first to keep the immortality of the soul’ ( D. L. I. 24 ) . and in De Anima. Aristotle’s words ‘from what is recorded about [ Thales ] ‘ . indicate that Aristotle was working from a written beginning. Diogenes recorded that ‘ [ Thales ] seems by some histories to hold been the first to analyze uranology. the first to foretell occultations of the Sun and to repair the solstices ; so Eudemus in his History of Astronomy. It was this which gained for him the esteem of Xenophanes and Herodotus and the notice of Heraclitus and Democritus’ ( D. L. I. 23 ) . Eudemus who wrote a History of Astronomy. and besides on geometry and divinity. must be considered as a possible beginning for the hypotheses of Thales. The information provided by Diogenes is the kind of stuff which he would hold included in his History of Astronomy. and it is possible that the rubrics On the Solst ice. and On the Equinox were available to Eudemus. Xenophanes. Herodotus. Heraclitus and Democritus were familiar with the work of Thales. and may hold had a work by Thales available to them. A solstice is an astronomical event that happens twice each twelvemonth when the Sun reaches its highest place in the sky as seen from the North or South Pole. The word solstice is derived from the Latin colloidal suspension ( Sun ) and sistere ( to stand still ) . because at the solstices. the Sun bases still in decline ; that is. the seasonal motion of the Sun’s way ( as seen from Earth ) comes to a halt before change by reversaling way. The solstices. together with the equinoxes. are connected with the seasons. In many civilizations the solstices grade either the beginning or the center of winter and summer. The term solstice can besides be used in a broader sense. as the day of the month ( twenty-four hours ) when this occurs. The twenty-four hours of the solstice is either the â€Å"longest twenty-four hours of the year† ( in summer ) or the â€Å"shortest twenty-four hours of the year† ( in winter ) for any topographic point on Earth. because the length of clip between dawn and sunset on that twenty-four hours is the annual upper limit or lower limit for that topographic point. Proclus recorded that Thales was followed by a great wealth of geometricians. most of whom remain as honoured names. They commence with Mamercus. who was a student of Thales. and include Hippias of Elis. Pythagoras. Anaxagoras. Eudoxus of Cnidus. Philippus of Mende. Euclid. and Eudemus. a friend of Aristotle. who wrote histories of arithmetic. of uranology. and of geometry. and many lesser known name s. It is possible that Hagiographas of Thales were available to some of these work forces. Any records which Thales may hold kept would hold been an advantage in his ain work. This is particularly true of mathematics. of the day of the months and times determined when repairing the solstices. the places of stars. and in fiscal minutess. It is hard to believe that Thales would non hold written down the information he had gathered in his travels. peculiarly the geometry he investigated in Egypt and his measurement of the tallness of the pyramid. his hypotheses about nature. and the cause of alteration. Proclus acknowledged Thales as the inventor of a figure of specific theorems ( A Commentary on the First Book of Euclid’s Elements 65. 8-9 ; 250. 16-17 ) . This suggests that Eudemus. Proclus’s beginning had before him the written records of Thales’s finds. How did Thales ‘prove’ his theorems if non in written words and studies? The plants On the Solstice. On the Equinox. which were attributed to Thales ( D. L. I. 23 ) . and the ‘Nautical Star usher. to which Simplicius referred. may hold been beginnings for the History of Astronomy of Eudemus ( D. L. I. 23 ) . Pythagoras ( c. 570- c. 495 BCE ) The presocratic Greek philosopher Pythagoras must hold been one of the world’s greatest individuals. but he wrote nil. and it is difficult to state how much of the philosophy we know as Pythagorean is due to the laminitis of the society and how much is subsequently development. It is besides difficult to state how much of what we are told about the life of Pythagoras is trusty ; for a mass of fable gathered around his name at an early day of the month. Sometimes he is represented as a adult male of scientific discipline. and sometimes as a sermonizer of mysterious philosophies. and we might be tempted to see one or other of those characters as entirely historical. The truth is that there is no demand to reject either of the traditional positions. The brotherhood of mathematical mastermind and mysticism is common plenty. Originally from Samos. Pythagoras founded at Kroton ( in southern Italy ) a society which was at one time a spiritual community and a scientific school. Such a organic structure was bound to excite green-eyed monster and misgiving. and we hear of many battles. Pythagoras himself had to fly from Kroton to Metapontion. where he died. It is stated that he was a adherent of Anaximander. his uranology was the natural development of Anaximander’s. Besides. the manner in which the Pythagorean geometry developed besides bears informant to its descent from that of Miletos. The great job at this day of the month was the duplicate of the square. a job which gave rise to the theorem of the square on the hypotenuse. normally known still as the Pythagorean proposition ( Euclid. I. 47 ) . If we were right in presuming that Thales worked with the old 3:4:5 trigon. the connexion is obvious. Pythagoras argued that there are three sorts of work forces. merely as there are three categories of aliens who come to the Olympic Games. The lowest consists of those who come to purchase and sell. and following above them are those who come to vie. Best of all are those who merely come to look on. Work force may be classified consequently as lovers of wisdom. lovers of award. and lovers of addition. That seems to connote the philosophy of the three-party psyche. which is besides attributed to the early Pythagoreans on good authorization. though it is common now to impute it to Plato. There are. nevertheless. clear mentions to it before his clip. and it agrees much better with the general mentality of the Pythagoreans. The comparing of human life to a assemblage like the Games was frequently repeated in ulterior yearss. Pythagoras besides taught the philosophy of Rebirth or transmigration. which we may hold learned from the modern-day Orphics. Xenophanes made merriment of him for feigning to acknowledge the voice of a bygone friend in the ululation of a beaten Canis familiaris. Empedocles seems to be mentioning to him when he speaks of a adult male who could retrieve what happened ten or 20 coevalss before. It was on this that the philosophy of Recollection. which plays so great a portion in Plato. was based. The things we perceive with the senses. Plato argues. remind us of things we knew when the psyche was out of the organic structure and could comprehend world straight. There is more trouble about the cosmology of Pythagoras. Barely any school of all time professed such fear for its founder’s authorization as the Pythagoreans. ‘The Master said so’ was their war cry. On the other manus. few schools have shown so much capacity for advancement and for accommodating themselves to new conditions. Pythagoras started from the cosmical system of Anaximenes. Aristotle tells us that the Pythagoreans represented the universe as inhaling ‘air’ signifier the boundless mass outside it. and this ‘air’ is identified with ‘the unlimited’ . When. nevertheless. we come to the procedure by which things are developed out of the ‘unlimited’ . we observe a great alteration. We hear nil more of ‘separating out’ or even of rarefaction and condensation. Alternatively of that we have the theory that what gives signifier to the Unlimited is the Limit. That is the great part of Pythagoras to philosophy. and we must seek to understand it. Now the map of the Limit is normally illustrated from the humanistic disciplines of music and medical specialty. and we have seen how of import these two humanistic disciplines were for Pythagoreans. so it is natural to deduce that the key to its significance is to be found in them. It may be taken as certain that Pythagoras himself discovered the numerical ratios which determine the accordant intervals of the musical graduated table. Similar to musical intervals. in medical specialty there are antonyms. such as the hot and the cold. the moisture and the prohibitionist. and it is the concern of the doctor to bring forth a proper ‘blend’ of these in the human organic structure. In a well-known transition of Plato’s Phaedo ( 86 B ) we are told by Simmias that the Pythagoreans held the organic structure to be strung like an instrument to a certain pitch. hot and cold. moisture and dry taking the topographic point of high and low in music. Musical tuning and wellness are likewise agencies originating from the application of Limit to the Unlimited. It was natural for Pythagoras to look for something of the same sort in the universe at big. Briefly stated. the philosophy of Pythagoras was that all things are Numberss. In certain cardinal instances. the early Pythagoreans represented Numberss and explained their belongingss by agencies of points arranged in certain ‘figures’ or forms. Zeno’s Paradoxes In the 5th century B. C. E. . Zeno of Elea offered statements that led to decisions beliing what we all know from our physical experience–that smugglers run. that arrows fly. and that there are many different things in the universe. The statements were paradoxes for the ancient Grecian philosophers. Because most of the statements turn crucially on the impression that infinite and clip are boundlessly divisible- for illustration. that for any distance there is such a thing as half that distance. and so on- Zeno was the first individual in history to demo that the construct of eternity is debatable. In his Achilles Paradox. Achilles races to catch a slower runner–for illustration. a tortoise that is creeping off from him. The tortoise has a head start. so if Achilles hopes to catch it. he must run at least to the topographic point where the tortoise soon is. but by the clip he arrives at that place. it will hold crawled to a new topographic point. so so Achilles must run to this new topographic point. but the tortoise interim will hold crawled on. and so forth. Achilles will neer catch the tortoise. says Zeno. Therefore. good logical thinking shows that fast smugglers neer can catch slow 1s. So much the worse for the claim that gesture truly occurs. Zeno says in defence of his wise man Parmenides who had argued that gesture is an semblance. Although practically no bookmans today would hold with Zeno’s decision. we can non get away the paradox by leaping up from our place and trailing down a tortoise. nor by stating Achilles should run to some other mark topographic point in front of where the tortoise is at the minute. What is required is an analysis of Zeno’s ain statement that does non acquire us embroiled in new paradoxes nor impoverish our mathematics and scientific discipline. This article explains his 10 known paradoxes and considers the interventions that have been offered. Zeno assumed distances and continuances can be divided into an existent eternity ( what we now call a transfinite eternity ) of indivisible parts. and he assumed these are excessively many for the smuggler to finish. Aristotle‘s intervention said Zeno should hold assumed there are merely possible eternities. and that neither topographic points nor times divide into indivisible parts. His intervention became the by and large recognized solution until the late nineteenth century. The current criterion intervention says Zeno was right to reason that a runner’s way contains an existent eternity of parts. but he was mistaken to presume this is excessively many. This intervention employs the setup of concretion which has proved its indispensableness for the development of modern scientific discipline. In the 20th century it eventually became clear that forbiding existent eternities. as Aristotle wanted. shackles the growing of set theory and finally of mathematics and natural philosophies. This standard intervention took 100s of old ages to hone and was due to the flexibleness of intellectuals who were willing to replace old theories and their constructs with more fruitful 1s. despite the harm done to common sense and our naif intuitions. The article ends by researching newer interventions of the paradoxes- and related paradoxes such as Thomson’s Lamp Paradox- that were developed since the 1950s. Parmenides ( B. 510 BCE ) Parmenides was a Grecian philosopher and poet. Born of an celebrated household about BCE. 510. at Elea in Lower Italy. and is is the main representative of the Eleatic doctrine. He was held in high regard by his fellow-citizens for his first-class statute law. to which they ascribed the prosperity and wealth of the town. He was besides admired for his model life. A â€Å"Parmenidean life† was proverbial among the Greeks. He is normally represented as a adherent of Xenophanes. Parmenides wrote after Heraclitus. and in witting resistance to him. given the apparent allusion to Hericlitus: â€Å"for whom it is and is non. the same and non the same. and all things travel in opposite directions† ( Fr. 6. 8 ) . Little more is known of his life than that he stopped at Athens on a journey in his 65th twelvemonth. and there became acquainted with the vernal Socrates. That must hold been in the center of the 5th century BCE. . or shortly after it. Parmenides broke with the older Ionic prose tradition by composing in hexameter poetry. His didactic verse form. called On Nature. survives in fragments. although the Proem ( or introductory discourse ) of the work has been preserved. Parmenides was a immature adult male when he wrote it. for the goddess who reveals the truth to him addresses him as â€Å"youth. † The work is considered unartistic. Its Hesiodic manner was appropriate for the cosmology he describes in the 2nd portion. but is ill-sorted to the waterless dialectic of the first. Parmenides was no born poet. and we must inquire what led him to take this new going. The illustration of Xenophanes’ poetic Hagiographas is non a complete account ; for the poesy of Parmenides is as unlike that of Xenophanes as it good can be. and his manner is more similar Hesiod and the Orphics. In the Proem Parmenides describes his acclivity to the place of the goddess who is supposed to talk the balance of the poetries ; this i s a reflection of the conventional acclivities into Eden which were about every bit common as descents into snake pit in the revelatory literature of those yearss. The Proem opens with Parmenides stand foring himself as borne on a chariot and attended by the Sunmaidens who have quitted the Halls of Night to steer him on his journey. They pass along the main road till they come to the Gate of Night and Day. which is locked and barred. The key is in the maintaining of Dike ( Right ) . the Avenger. who is persuaded to unlock it by the Sunmaidens. They pass in through the gate and are now. of class. in the kingdoms of Day. The end of the journey is the castle of a goddess who welcomes Parmenides and instructs him in the two ways. that of Truth and the delusory manner of Belief. in which is no truth at all. All this is described without inspiration and in a purely conventional mode. so it must be interpreted by the canons of the revelatory manner. It is clearly meant to bespeak that Parmenides had been converted. that he had passed from mistake ( dark ) to truth ( twenty-four hours ) . and the Two Wayss must stand for his former mistake and the trut h which is now revealed to him. There is ground to believe that the Way of Belief is an history of Pythagorean cosmology. In any instance. it is certainly impossible to see it as anything else than a description of some mistake. The goddess says so in words that can non be explained off. Further. this erroneous belief is non the ordinary man’s position of the universe. but an luxuriant system. which seems to be a natural development the Ionian cosmology on certain lines. and there is no other system but the Pythagorean that fulfils this demand. To this it has been objected that Parmenides would non hold taken the problem to elaborate in item a system he had wholly rejected. but that is to misidentify the character of the revelatory convention. It is non Parmenides. but the goddess. that expounds the system. and it is for this ground that the beliefs described are said to be those of ‘mortals’ . Now a description of the acclivity of the psyche would be rather uncomplete without a image of the part from which it had escaped. The goddess must uncover the two ways at the farewell of which Parmenides stands. and bid him take the better. The rise of mathematics in the Pythagorean school had revealed for the first clip the power of idea. To the mathematician of all work forces it is the same thing that can be thought and that can be. and this is the rule from which Parmenides starts. It is impossible to believe what is non. and it is impossible for what can non be thought to be. The great inquiry. Is it or is it non? is hence tantamount to the inquiry. Can it be thought or non? In any instance. the work therefore has two divisions. The first discusses the truth. and the 2nd the universe of semblance - that is. the universe of the senses and the erroneous sentiments of world founded upon them. In his sentiment truth lies in the perceptual experience that being is. and mistake in the thought that non-existence besides can be. Nothing can hold existent being but what is imaginable ; therefore to be imagined and to be able to be are the same thing. and there is no development. The kernel of what is imaginable is incapable of development. imperishable. changeless. boundless. and indivisible. What is assorted and changeable. all development. is a false apparition. Perception is thought directed to the pure kernel of being ; the phenomenal universe is a psychotic belief. and the sentiments formed refering it can merely be unlikely. Parmenides goes on to see in the visible radiation of this rule the effects of stating that anything is. In the first topographic point. it can non hold come into being. If it had. it must hold arisen from nil or from something. It can non hold arisen from nil ; for there is no nil. It can non hold arisen from something ; for here is nil else than what is. Nor can anything else besides itself come into being ; for there can be no empty infinite in which it could make so. Is it or is it non? If it is. so it is now. all at one time. In this manner Parmenides refutes all histories of the beginning of the universe. Ex nihilo nihil tantrum. Further. if it is. it merely is. and it can non be more or less. There is. hence. as much of it in one topographic point as in another. ( That makes rarefaction and condensation impossible. ) it is uninterrupted and indivisible ; for there is nil but itself which could forestall its parts being in contact with one another. It is hence full. a uninterrupted indivisible plenum. ( That is directed against the Pythagorean theory of a discontinuous reality. ) Further. it is immoveable. If it moved. it must travel into empty infinite. and empty infinite is nil. and there is no nil. Besides it is finite and spherical ; for it can non be in one way any more than in another. and the domain is the lone figure of which this can be said. What is. therefore a finite. spherical. motionless. uninterrupted plenum. and there is nil beyond it. Coming into being and discontinuing to be are mere ‘names’ . and so is gesture. and still more colour and the similar. They are non even ideas ; for a idea must be a idea of something that is. and none of these can be. Such is the decision to which the position of the existent as a individual organic structure necessarily leads. and there is no flight from it. The ‘matter’ of our physical text-books is merely the existent of Parmenides ; and. unless we can happen room for something else than affair. we are shut up into his history of world. No subsequent system could afford to disregard this. but of class it was impossible to assent for good in a philosophy like that of Parmenides. It deprives the universe we know of all claim to existence. and reduces it to something which is barely even an semblance. If we are to give an apprehensible history of the universe. we must surely present gesture once more someway. That can neer be taken for granted any more. as it was by the early cosmologists ; we must try to explicate it if we are to get away from the decisions of Parmenides. Heraclitus ( Florida. c. 500 BCE ) A Grecian philosopher of the late sixth century BCE. Heraclitus criticizes his predecessors and coevalss for their failure to see the integrity in experience. He claims to denote an everlasting Word ( Logos ) harmonizing to which all things are one. in some sense. Antonyms are necessary for life. but they are unified in a system of balanced exchanges. The universe itself consists of a law-like interchange of elements. symbolized by fire. Thus the universe is non to be identified with any peculiar substance. but instead with an on-going procedure governed by a jurisprudence of alteration. The implicit in jurisprudence of nature besides manifests itself as a moral jurisprudence for human existences. Heraclitus is the first Western philosopher to travel beyond physical theory in hunt of metaphysical foundations and moral applications. Anaxagoras ( c. 500- 428 BCE ) Anaxagoras of Clazomenae was an of import Presocratic natural philosopher and scientist who lived and taught in Athens for about 30 old ages. He gained ill fame for his mercenary positions. peculiarly his contention that the Sun was a fiery stone. This led to charges of impiousness. and he was sentenced to decease by the Athenian tribunal. He avoided this punishment by go forthing Athens. and he spent his staying old ages in expatriate. While Anaxagoras proposed theories on a assortment of topics. he is most celebrated for two theories. First. he speculated that in the physical universe everything contains a part of everything else. His observation of how nutrition works in animate beings led him to reason that in order for the nutrient an animate being chows to turn into bone. hair. flesh. and so away. it must already incorporate all of those components within it. The 2nd theory of significance is Anaxagoras’ predication of Mind ( Nous ) as the initiating and regulating rule of the universe. Democritus ( 460- 370 BCE ) Democritus was born at Abdera. about 460 BCE. although harmonizing to some 490. His male parent was from a baronial household and of great wealth. and contributed mostly towards the amusement of the ground forces of Xerxes on his return to Asia. As a wages for this service the Iranian sovereign gave and other Abderites nowadayss and left among them several Magi. Democritus. harmonizing to Diogenes Laertius. was instructed by these Magi in uranology and divinity. After the decease of his male parent he traveled in hunt of wisdom. and devoted his heritage to this intent. amounting to one hundred endowments. He is said to hold visited Egypt. Ethiopia. Persia. and India. Whether. in the class of his travels. he visited Athens or studied under Anaxagoras is unsure. During some portion of his life he was instructed in Pythagoreanism. and was a adherent of Leucippus. After several old ages of going. Democritus returned to Abdera. with no agencies of subsistence. His brother Damosis. nevertheless. took him in. Harmonizing to the jurisprudence of Abdera. whoever wasted his patrimony would be deprived of the rites of entombment. Democritus. trusting to avoid this shame. gave public talks. Petronius relates that he was acquainted with the virtuousnesss of herbs. workss. and rocks. and that he spent his life in doing experiments upon natural organic structures. He acquired celebrity with his cognition of natural phenomena. and predicted alterations in the conditions. He used this ability to do people believe that he could foretell future events. They non merely viewed him as something more than person. but even proposed to set him in control of their public personal businesss. He preferred a contemplative to an active life. and hence declined these public awards and passed the balance of his yearss in purdah. Recognition can non be given to the narrative that Democritus spent his leisure hours in chemical researches after the philosopher’s rock - the dream of a ulterior age ; or to the narrative of his conversation with Hippocrates refering Democritus’s supposed lunacy. as based on specious letters. Democritus has been normally known as â€Å"The Laughing Philosopher. † and it is soberly related by Seneca that he neer appeared in public with out showing his disdain of human follies while express joying. Consequently. we find that among his fellow-citizens he had the name of â€Å"the mocker† . He died at more than a 100 old ages of age. It is said that from so on he spent his yearss and darks in caverns and burial chambers. and that. in order to get the hang his rational modules. he blinded himself with firing glass. This narrative. nevertheless. is discredited by the authors who mention it insofar as they say he wrote books and cleft animate beings. neither o f which could be done good without eyes. Democritus expanded the atomic theory of Leucippus. He maintained the impossibleness of spliting things ad infinitum. From the trouble of delegating a beginning of clip. he argued the infinity of bing nature. of null infinite. and of gesture. He supposed the atoms. which are originally similar. to be impenetrable and have a denseness proportionate to their volume. All gestures are the consequence of active and inactive fondness. He drew a differentiation between primary gesture and its secondary effects. that is. impulse and reaction. This is the footing of the jurisprudence of necessity. by which all things in nature are ruled. The universes which we see - with all their belongingss of enormousness. resemblance. and dissimilitude - consequence from the eternal multiplicity of falling atoms. The human psyche consists of ball-shaped atoms of fire. which impart motion to the organic structure. Keeping his atomic theory throughout. Democritus introduced the hypothesis of images or graven images ( eidola ) . a sort of emanation from external objects. which make an feeling on our senses. and from the influence of which he deduced esthesis ( sensation ) and thought ( cognition ) . He distinguished between a rude. progressive. and hence false perceptual experience and a true one. In the same mode. consistent with this theory. he accounted for the popular impressions of Deity ; partially through our incapacity to understand to the full the phenomena of which we are informants. and partially from the feelings communicated by certain existences ( eidola ) of tremendous stature and resembling the human figure which inhabit the air. We know these from dreams and the causes of divination. He carried his theory into practical doctrine besides. puting down that felicity consisted in an even disposition. From this he deduced his moral rules and prudential axioms. It was from Democritus that Epicurus borrowed the chief characteristics of his doctrine. Empedocles ( c. 492- 432 BCE ) Empedocles ( of Acagras in Sicily ) was a philosopher and poet: one of the most of import of the philosophers working before Socrates ( the Presocratics ) . and a poet of outstanding ability and of great influence upon later poets such as Lucretius. His plant On Nature and Purifications ( whether they are two verse forms or merely one – see below ) exist in more than 150 fragments. He has been regarded diversely as a materialist physicist. a shamanic prestidigitator. a mystical theologist. a therapist. a democratic politician. a life God. and a fraud. To him is attributed the innovation of the four-element theory of affair ( Earth. air. fire. and H2O ) . one of the earliest theories of atom natural philosophies. set frontward apparently to deliver the phenomenal universe from the inactive monism of Parmenides. Empedocles’ world-view is of a cosmic rhythm of ageless alteration. growing and decay. in which two personified cosmic forces. Love and Strife. engage in an ageless conflict for domination. In psychological science and moralss Empedocles was a follower of Pythagoras. hence a truster in the transmigration of psyches. and therefore besides a vegetarian. He claims to be a daimon. a Godhead or potentially godly being. who. holding been banished from the immortals Gods for ‘three times infinite years’ for perpetrating the wickedness of meat-eating and forced to endure consecutive reincarnations in an purificatory journey through the different orders of nature and elements of the universe. has now achieved the most perfect of human provinces and will be reborn as an immortal. He besides claims apparently charming powers including the ability to resuscitate the dead and to command the air currents and rains.