Wednesday, May 6, 2020
Do Not Go Gently Into That Good Night Free Essays
Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night ââ¬Å"Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Nightâ⬠is a villanelle style poem written by Dylan Thomas, and is the poem he is best known for. It was left untitled by the poet therefore the first line of the poem became the title. The speaker in the poem begins by telling the reader to ââ¬Å"not go gentle into that good nightâ⬠line 1 using night as a metaphor for death. We will write a custom essay sample on Do Not Go Gently Into That Good Night or any similar topic only for you Order Now The theme of death is repeated at the end of line 2 with ââ¬Å"close of dayâ⬠and in line 3 with ââ¬Å"dying of the light. By the end of the first stanza it is obvious this poem is speaking of death and stating that old men should not accept it peacefully but to should ââ¬Å"burnâ⬠and ââ¬Å"raveâ⬠against it with great intensity. In the second stanza of the poem the speaker tells us that ââ¬Å"wise men at their end know dark is right,â⬠line 4 the speaker is telling us that death is inevitable. To every beginning there is an end and we will all face death at some point, a wise man knows and accepts this fate. This stanza also tells us that as we are nearing the end of our lives we tend to reflect back to the impact we made on the world. Since ââ¬Å"there words had forked no lighteningâ⬠line 5 the speaker suggest that they had made little impact on the world in which they had lived and could not simply give into death without a fight. In the third stanza the speaker proposes that ââ¬Å"good menâ⬠fight the inevitable with all their might. Thomas uses the image of a wave ââ¬Å"last wave by, crying how brightâ⬠line 7 about to crash into the shore or, die. As men approach the shore of life they cry out how much more fulfilling life could have been if they had been allowed to live longer. Their lives would be so much richer if they were allowed to dance in the ââ¬Å"green bay. â⬠The green bay representing life because it is full of living things such as algae and seaweed. However their future actions ââ¬Å"frail deedsâ⬠will not be able to come to fruition because they must die. Stanza four speaks of ââ¬Å"wild menâ⬠those who grab life by the horns and live it to the fullest ââ¬Å"wild men who caught and sang the sun in flightâ⬠line 10 only to discover that the life they lived so charismatically is slowly oming to and end as they wither with age. The ââ¬Å"sunâ⬠in line 10 represents the beauty that exists in the world, and ââ¬Å"flightâ⬠as in across the sky symbolizes the life span that moves quickly to the sunset of our days. In opening with ââ¬Å"Grave men, near death, who see with blinding lightâ⬠line 13 in stanza five Thomas uses the pun ââ¬Å"graveâ⬠to speak of the seriousness of a dying man. As men grow olde r they begin to lose the sense of sight, however the speaker states they will ââ¬Å"see with blinding light. line 13 Even though they may be suffering from loss of physical sight they can see with perfect clarity that end is near and while they may not be in control of the timing of their death they certainly choose the manner in which they handle it. The speaker suggests they ââ¬Å"blaze like meteorsâ⬠line 14 and go out with a bang instead of giving into to death without a fight. Finally in the last stanza of the poem we get to the heart of the matter. The speaker is addressing his father who is on the verge of death. The fatherââ¬â¢s death is devastating and the speaker implores him to fight passionately against it and leave this life heroically. The poem ends with the two lines that were repeated throughout the entire poem ââ¬Å"Do not go gentle into that good night, Rage Rage against the dying of the lightâ⬠lines 18 and 19 the speaker is begging his father to not submit to death but to fight it every step of the way. Works Cited Dylan Thomas. ââ¬Å"Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Nightâ⬠Literature: An Introduction to Reading and Writing. Ed. Edgar V. Roberts and Robert Zweig. 10th Ed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2012. 959 ââ¬â 960. Print How to cite Do Not Go Gently Into That Good Night, Essay examples
Friday, May 1, 2020
After
After-School Care Essay Posner and Vandells article, Low-Income Childrens After-School Care:Are There Beneficial Effects of After-School Programs provides valuableresearch to support the need for quality after-school programs for low-incomechildren. Low-income children need after-school programs like UCLinks becausepoverty affects children directly because it limits the material resourcesavailable to them and indirectly because of the psychological distress itengenders in parents, which in turn negatively influences parentalbehavior.(1) The time a child spends after-school is also important totheir academic and social development. The quality and type of after-school carea child receives directly correlates to their performance in school and growthin academic abilities. The UCLinks program was created to offer low-incomechildren a quality, academic after-school program. In the UCLinks program, theyhave children develop their academic skills in language arts, readingcomprehension, off-computer activities, an d mathematics. The UCLinksafter-school program works on bringing the children up to grade level orfurthering their development. It does not serve as a homework center forchildren. Instead, the UCLinks program concentrates on fostering their academictalent in an organized environment. In Posner and Vandells article, theydocument research that promotes organized, academic after-school care,Childrens academic and conduct grades were positively related to timespent in one-to-one academic work, with an adult, whereas academic and conductgrades were negatively correlated with the amount of time spent in outdoorunorganized activities. (454) The children of the UCLinks program workwith a mentor in 1-1 or 1-2 setting, where mentors specifically focus onacademic areas they need to improve or help them develop their abilities to thefullest. 1B. The UCLinks program understands how important reading skills are tochildrens success in school. If children do not learn to read at grade level,they ha ve a greater risk of falling behind in class work and eventually droppingout. The UCLinks program uses a combined approach to reading instruction withwhole language and specific skills development. In each mentoring session of theUCLinks program, the mentors practice whole language instruction. Children havethe opportunity to read one on one with their mentor. Bill Honig advocates thisinteraction with the children, Teachers classroom routine should includereading good literature to students and discussing it with them, especially byasking questions that stretch childrens minds beyond the literal meaning ofthe text.(3) The active participation the children engage in while readingto their mentors is productive because the children are able to practicedecoding, automatic recognition of words, and improve their readingcomprehension. Mentors ask their students relevant questions about the book thatpertain to the plot, main points and theme of the story. The UCLinks programalso practices the specific skills development with their students. Specificskills development focuses on phonemic awareness, phonics, print awareness, wordstructure, and word-attack and self-monitoring skills. Honig recommends specificskills development, Students should be taught these skills in an active,problem-solving manner that offers plenty of opportunities to practice theskills in actual reading and writing situations.(13) Children work oncomputer software like Kid Phonics to develop these specific skills which willultimately help them read better. The children of the UCLinks program can alsospend off-computer time writing stories and poems which immerses them in printawareness and word structure. 1C. In Children, Mathematics, andComputers by D. H Clements, he writes It appears the dominant focusof school mathematics instruction in the last decade has been on computationalskills(which students are learning fairly well), but that the development ofproblem-solving skills and conceptual under standing has beeninadequate.(1) The focus on computational skills rather than theproblem-solving and conceptual understanding hinder the mathematical abilitiesof students. As math becomes more abstract, they do not have the required mindstate to solve problems with higher level concepts. The UCLinks program supportsthe teaching of relational mathematics, according to Skewer, knowing what to doand why, over rote learning with their students. The solid mental foundationrelational mathematics builds will increase the mathematical abilities of thechildren and help them problem-solve as math becomes more complex and abstract. .ubd6da30ea27383eb49aa201a11e1b06c , .ubd6da30ea27383eb49aa201a11e1b06c .postImageUrl , .ubd6da30ea27383eb49aa201a11e1b06c .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ubd6da30ea27383eb49aa201a11e1b06c , .ubd6da30ea27383eb49aa201a11e1b06c:hover , .ubd6da30ea27383eb49aa201a11e1b06c:visited , .ubd6da30ea27383eb49aa201a11e1b06c:active { border:0!important; } .ubd6da30ea27383eb49aa201a11e1b06c .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ubd6da30ea27383eb49aa201a11e1b06c { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ubd6da30ea27383eb49aa201a11e1b06c:active , .ubd6da30ea27383eb49aa201a11e1b06c:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ubd6da30ea27383eb49aa201a11e1b06c .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ubd6da30ea27383eb49aa201a11e1b06c .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ubd6da30ea27383eb49aa201a11e1b06c .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ubd6da30ea27383eb49aa201a11e1b06c .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ubd6da30ea27383eb49aa201a11e1b06c:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ubd6da30ea27383eb49aa201a11e1b06c .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ubd6da30ea27383eb49aa201a11e1b06c .ubd6da30ea27383eb49aa201a11e1b06c-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ubd6da30ea27383eb49aa201a11e1b06c:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Hotel Occupancy Rates Essay The teaching of relational mathematics in the UCLinks program can be observedwith the use of pencil and paper, manipulatives, and computers to help childrenunderstand mathematical concepts and problem-solving. These practices arefurther supported in Clements article, National Council of Teachers inMathematics recommends that students be actively involved in learning,experimenting with, exploring, and communicating about mathematics.(4) Thedevelopment of childrens mathematical abilities increases when they actuallylearn the concepts behind the math problems and how to solve them on their own. The interaction children have with pencil and
Saturday, March 21, 2020
Marijuana Effects on Human Forgetting Functions an Example of the Topic Health Essays by
Marijuana Effects on Human Forgetting Functions This study investigates and tries to determine which of the individual components of memory are altered by marijuana. It has long been established that acute marijuana use impairs working memory of humans and animals. The previous studies focused on how marijuana affected memory on global terms like word recall, digit recall and paired associate word memory. By employing the delayed matching-to-sample method, the researchers attempted to distinguish whether acute marijuana smoking altered the delay-dependent and delay-independent components of memory. The study is a first in this field and with the use of human subjects; a similar research was carried out using pigeons and a cholinergic drug. Need essay sample on "Marijuana Effects on Human Forgetting Functions" topic? We will write a custom essay sample specifically for you Proceed The experiment was carried out with seven subjects but two were dropped from the experiment as they did not meet the requirements of the study. The subjects were recruited thru newspaper advertisement and were adequately compensated for their participation in the study. The subjects were identified as occasional marijuana users and used one more drug in the past. They were required to not use any other drug during the duration of the experiment as checked by a daily urine analysis. This was necessary to rule out any potential interaction with the marijuana and other drug which may affect the results of the experiment. The apparatus and materials used in the study consisted of a chamber made of plexiglass for the smoking administration. Subjects were directed to smoke marijuana in predetermined sequence. The subject had an ashtray, a pair of tweezers for smoking and subjects were connected to an oscillometric blood pressure and pulse monitor and a carbon monoxide indicator. The subject was cued by a computer monitor as to the smoking protocol. For the experimental test sessions, the subject worked in a chamber alone with a VGA monitor and mouse. The experimental events and data collection was recorded by remote software. The subject had two sessions for the experiment, the smoking and the experimental testing with the DMTS tasks. For the behavioral testing procedure, subjects were seated in the designed chamber. A detailed instruction was read to them and they were to work with the VGA monitor and mouse. The software recorded all the responses of the subject in the delayed match-to-sample tasks as well as controlled the sequence and schedule of the tasks. For the marijuana smoking, subjects smoked a placebo, a low dose and a high dose cigarette. Subjects were instructed to smoke, hold their breath, inhale or exhale in different sequences and timing. The number of inhalation and dose was monitored till subjects reached the state of acute marijuana intoxication. Doses were given in ascending order with intervening placebo after each high and low dose. After smoking marijuana subjects were asked to answer a self-report cardiovascular measure that was composed of subjective effects of marijuana. The results of the experiment showed that the acute administration of smoked marijuana to adult humans produced changes in rates of forgetting but not in initial discriminability. The study found evidence that the impairments were due to the delay interval length of tasks. It was observed that the intoxication of marijuana increased the rate of forgetting functions in all subjects. With the DMTS procedure, the researcher was able to determine the mechanism at which marijuana affected memory performance. The findings of the study shed light on how marijuana affects the cannabinoid receptors in the hippocampus giving evidence that the hippocampus indeed play a major role in memory functions. Moreover, this study helped identify the different components of human memory that are affected by the drug, thus using marijuana in some medical conditions may not be the bets option as it compromises the memory functioning of the patient. Lastly, the study showed that biological and behavioral aspects interact in memory processes, thus cognitive abilities can be impaired by prolonged marijuana use. This study as an experiment using human subjects and using a potentially harmful substance has some ethical issues. Considering that subjects volunteered for the experiment but the advertisement as a behavioral research was misleading. Although subjects had prior experience in smoking marijuana, the potential hazard of exposing the subjects to acute marijuana smoking within the six week period carries far greater threat than the objectives of the study. The experiment though had sophisticated apparatus and materials and was innovative in using the delayed-dependent and delayed-independent measures but it is not clear on how they did this. Reference Lane, S., Cherek, D., Lieving, L. 1 pp 67-83
Thursday, March 5, 2020
The 7 Steps to Becoming a Doctor A Complete Guide
The 7 Steps to Becoming a Doctor A Complete Guide SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Medicine is one of the most challenging, yet rewarding fields a student can enter. Before deciding whether becoming a doctor is right for you, itââ¬â¢s important that youââ¬â¢re well-informed about every step youââ¬â¢ll have to take along the way. Here, Iââ¬â¢ll walk you through exactly how to become a doctor, starting with high school. This career is definitely not for everyone- it requires huge investments of time, money, and effort- but if this career path is right for you, this post will help you start preparing now for a successful career. Career Outlook Medicine is a super competitive and rigorous field- doctors have a lot of responsibility, and have to spend a lot of time and money on their training. Healthcare is also a growing field, which means that the demand for good doctors will continue to increase over the coming years. This means that if you pass all of the necessary steps, you probably wonââ¬â¢t have an issue finding a good job. Letââ¬â¢s take a look at the career outlook for physicians and surgeons (Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics): 2015 Median Pay: $187,200 per year Job Outlook, 2014-2024 (percent change in employment): 14%, which is much faster than the average % change of 7%. This means that there will likely be an increase in demand for doctors. Pay and job outlook can vary depending on what type of doctor you want to be, so if you have a particular specialty in mind (e.g. dermatology, rheumatology), I encourage you to do your own research on projected career outlook. How to Become a Doctor: Career Path Overview Becoming a doctor is a pretty complex, multi-step process. Here are all the major steps Iââ¬â¢ll cover in more detail in this post: Do well in high school Get into a great college Take the MCAT (and get a good score) Apply and get into medical school Become a licensed doctor by passing your boards Choose your specialty and complete your residency Take and pass your final boards to practice independently Still interested in how to become a doctor? Letââ¬â¢s get into the nitty gritty details of each major step. High School If youââ¬â¢re serious about becoming a doctor, youââ¬â¢ll do yourself a big favor by getting focused in high school. Like I mentioned, this is a pretty competitive field- the earlier you start distinguishing yourself as a great student, the easier the process will be. Hereââ¬â¢s what you can do in high school to help prepare for later steps: Focus on Science and Math To fulfill all pre-med requirements in college (Iââ¬â¢ll get to that in a bit), youââ¬â¢ll have to take quite a few science and math classes. Lay a solid foundation by taking a science and math course every year, and make it a priority to take advanced and/or AP courses. Youââ¬â¢ll also want to keep your GPA (in these classes and all others) as high as possible. This is an important step because it also gives you a tiny glimpse into what college and medical school will be like. If you donââ¬â¢t enjoy science and math courses in high school, itââ¬â¢s unlikely youââ¬â¢ll enjoy them later on. Use this as an opportunity to think critically about whether youââ¬â¢d like to pursue this career. Do Plenty of Community Service Being a good doctor isnââ¬â¢t just about being a science and math whiz- itââ¬â¢s about being invested in caring for other people. Show how you care about helping others by volunteering consistently in high school. Itââ¬â¢s best if you can do volunteer work thatââ¬â¢s at least somewhat related to healthcare. You might see if there are any opportunities at a nearby hospital or clinic (I had friends in high school who helped escort people who were visiting family members in the hospital, for example). These volunteer opportunities can also help you decide fairly early whether a career in medicine is something youââ¬â¢re interested in pursuing. Of course, you donââ¬â¢t have to volunteer exclusively in healthcare environments- any community service opportunity where youââ¬â¢re helping other people is a good fit. Read more about the benefits of community service, and then check out our list of the nine best places to volunteer. Is working in healthcare a good fit for you? Volunteering in the field is a great way to find out. Get a Great Score on the ACT or SAT To get into a great medical school, it helps to go to a great college. To get into a great college, it helps to get a high score on the SAT or ACT. Plan on taking your first test by the end of your junior year- this gives you time to take your test of choice again if you want to try to raise your scores. Read these guides for more info on how to get a great score: What counts as a good, bad or average ACT or SAT score? How to get a perfect score on the ACT or SAT How long should you study for the ACT or SAT? Submit Stellar College Applications Your senior fall will be all about researching and applying to colleges. You donââ¬â¢t necessarily need to go to a school with a dedicated pre-med program, but it helps if your college or university has strong science and math programs- theyââ¬â¢ll help prepare you for the MCAT and med school. If you want to go to a top-tier private school, youââ¬â¢ll have to submit applications with: High GPA High SAT/ACT scores Great letters of recommendation Polished and thoughtful personal essays Some great public schools may not require letters of rec or applications essays- nevertheless, itââ¬â¢s wise to start preparing these materials early in the college application process if you think youââ¬â¢ll apply to any colleges that require them. If youââ¬â¢re still working on college research, read more about: The best rankings lists and whether you should trust them Whether it matters where you go to college How to decide where to go to college College College is where you really start focusing your studies and preparing for a career in medicine. Hereââ¬â¢s everything you should do as an undergraduate to prepare yourself for the next major step: medical school. Meet All Pre-Med Requirements Most medical schools require students to have taken a series of courses as undergraduates. This ensures that they have strong foundational knowledge in math and science, and will be well-prepared for the more advanced courses theyââ¬â¢ll take as med students. Here are the core classes that most medical schools require: Two semesters of biology with laboratory Two semesters of inorganic chemistry with laboratory Two semesters of organic chemistry with laboratory Two semesters of math, at least one in calculus Two semesters of physics with laboratory Two semesters of English and/or writing This comes to 12 course requirements at minimum, which doesnââ¬â¢t give you a ton of wiggle room if you also have to meet requirements for a major without much pre-med overlap (say, romance languages or studio art). Because of this, many pre-med students choose majors like biology or chemistry- this makes it much easier to meet both pre-med requirements and the requirements for your major. If you decide later in college that youââ¬â¢d like to apply to medical school but you know you donââ¬â¢t have time to fit in all these requirements, donââ¬â¢t panic just yet. Itââ¬â¢s fairly common for people to wrap up pre-med requirements by taking an extra semester or two at college (some schools call these students ââ¬Å"super seniorsâ⬠). You may also look into full-time post-bac programs if you have more than a few requirements left to fulfill. These options mean extra time and extra expenses, but theyââ¬â¢re helpful (and sometimes necessary) steps before applying to med school. Keep Your Grades Up Your transcript will be a very important part of your med school applications, so your academic performance should really be your #1 priority as you work your way through college. Build Relationships With Professors and Mentors Youââ¬â¢ll need a few strong letters of recommendation from respected faculty members when you submit your med school applications- use this to motivate you to network with as many people as possible. Develop relationships with professors and mentors by going to office hours, participating in class, and taking opportunities to work on research projects. Your nerdy professors will prove to be invaluable resources when youââ¬â¢re applying to med school, but only if you have relationships with them! Get Some Research Experience Having research experience under your belt is a big plus for med school applications, especially if you can squeeze in a publication or two. Working in a biology or chemistry lab would probably be most helpful for medical school. There are a couple ways you can get research experience as an undergraduate: Work as a research assistant (paid or unpaid) in an on-campus lab or an off-campus research institute. Look at campus job postings, or approach specific professors in your department about potential lab openings. If you donââ¬â¢t have time during the semester to take on extra work, consider summer opportunities. Complete an undergraduate thesis, which involves research work. This usually requires a professor to officially take you on as his/her student. Each school (and each department within a school) will have its own procedures and policies for undergraduate theses, so educate yourself early on (i.e. freshman year) if youââ¬â¢re interested in this track. Continue With Community Service Medical schools are going to look at your community service record as an important part of your application. You should make time for volunteer work in college just as you did in high school. The good news is that it should be easier to find relevant advocacy and community service clubs and organizations in college. Here are a few example activities you may be interested in (although this list is by no means exhaustive): Volunteering at a homeless shelter Joining a public health advocacy society or organization Volunteering at a nursing home, or engaging in other forms of elder care (e.g. Meals on Wheels) Joining a peer counseling organization Itââ¬â¢s better to stick with a few clubs or activities over the long term (as opposed to jumping around between activities year after year). This demonstrates that youââ¬â¢re consistent and reliable- it also opens up opportunities for leadership roles, which is a big plus for your applications. Ace The MCAT The MCAT (or Medical College Admissions Test) is used as a predictor of your success in med school, and as such is weighted pretty heavily when compared to other parts of your application. Most students take the MCAT their junior year- this is arguably the most optimal time to take the test. You will have gone through many of your pre-med courses at this point, which makes studying for the MCAT a lot easier. Test Scoring and Logistics In total, it takes 7.5 hours to complete the MCAT. The sections on the test include: Physical Sciences Verbal Reasoning Biological Sciences Psychological, Social and Biological Foundations of Behavior Each section is scored on a range from 118 to 132, with a median score of 125. Youââ¬â¢ll receive an individual score for each section in addition to an overall score. Total (overall) scores range from 472 to 578, with the average score sitting at about 500. This scoring system is relatively new, so there isnââ¬â¢t any historical data available to predict what a good or ââ¬Å"safeâ⬠MCAT score will be for med school admissions. Hypothetical percentile ranks state that the 85th percentile score will sit at 508-509. This coincides with a score of 30 on the old MCAT, which was thought to be a good score to aim for. The new MCAT encourages admissions officers to look favorably upon students who score around 500 or above. The MCAT is administered 15 times per year, so you have quite a bit of flexibility when it comes to scheduling the test. Be prepared for some hefty expenses - it costs $305-$355 to register for the test depending on how far in advance you sign up. There are Fee Assistance Programs available for students who may not be able to shoulder these expenses. After your scores are calculated, theyââ¬â¢re automatically released to AMCAS (American Medical College Application Service) - you wonââ¬â¢t have to submit them separately to any schools unless they donââ¬â¢t use the AMCAS. Get more information on test dates and registration. If youââ¬â¢re adequately prepared the first time you take the test, you could save yourself the cost of an extra registration fee. Studying for the MCAT Plan on studying 200-300 hours if you want to do well on the test. Since itââ¬â¢s a 7.5 hour exam, you really donââ¬â¢t want to have to take it twice. There are a few different ways to prep for the MCAT exam: Independent study. This may work for students at a school with strong pre-med support who are also performing well in their classes. Strong foundational knowledge is the most important factor that affects performance on the MCAT, but students would still, of course, need to spend significant time preparing. An MCAT Prep Course. Pre-med students commonly take prep courses when they want a solid review schedule that will keep them on track. Thereââ¬â¢s a lot of material to cover, and a good course helps you make sure there arenââ¬â¢t any major gaps in your knowledge of content or strategy. They can be very expensive most are several thousand dollars. Kaplan and Princeton Review are a couple of the most popular options. Online Prep- Online resources can offer a great combination of structure and flexibility when youââ¬â¢re working to cover a lot of material. Khan Academy offers some free study material if youââ¬â¢re looking for a place to start, although it wonââ¬â¢t suffice if youââ¬â¢re putting together a full online study plan. Dr. Flowers Test Prep is another, more comprehensive, resource for online studying. A private tutor. Students whose grades arenââ¬â¢t up to par or who have poorly on the MCAT before may want to consider this option. If you choose to seek out a tutor, choose someone with glowing recommendations and years of tutoring experience- they wonââ¬â¢t come cheap, but theyââ¬â¢re also less likely to waste your time and money. You can buy an official practice test through the AAMC for $25, in addition to other official study guides and prep materials. Applying to Medical School The medical school application process is extremely long. If you want to start med school the fall after you graduate from college, youââ¬â¢ll have to start your applications your junior year. Researching Medical Schools The average student applies to about 13 schools to optimize their chances of getting in- I wouldnââ¬â¢t recommend that you put together a list much smaller than that. The MSAR (or Medical School Admissions Requirements) website is one of the best tools for looking into important medical school information. For a $25 year-long subscription, you can easily access: Acceptance rates Average MCAT and GPA of applicants and accepted students Numbers of out-of-state students Application requirements Application deadlines Like with any school or program, there are med school rankings lists. Because US medical schoolsââ¬â¢ admissions criteria and curricula are so stringent and rigorous, however, keep in mind that admission to any school in the country should be considered an accomplishment. If you end up in a school in the country, and you follow through with a residency at a good hospital, youââ¬â¢ll have no trouble finding work. Types of Medical Schools There are two types of physicians in the US: allopathic physicians (MDs) and osteopathic physicians (DOs). Both types are fully licensed physicians, and are often very similar in the way they practice medicine- they just receive degrees from slightly different types of programs. Weââ¬â¢re most used to hearing about doctors with MDs, so if youââ¬â¢re not familiar with DOs then I encourage you to do more research on these types of programs. DOs receive additional specialty training in certain areas, including using the hands to diagnose/treat illnesses and injuries. Read more about osteopathic medicine. Allopathic or osteopathic: which type of med school is right for you? The Application There are three steps to the application process: Step 1: Primary Application You send in your primary application by June the year before your first year of med school. Most med schools use the American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS), which is like a Common App for med schools. This application includes official transcripts, a personal statement, your resume/CV, and your MCAT scores. Start preparing these materials a few months before submission. Step 2: Secondary Application This usually happens in July-August on a typical application timeline (i.e. one where you submit the primary application in June). At this point, a school will either reject your primary application OR ask you to complete its secondary application. The secondary application will differ for each school you apply to. Sometimes, schools just ask you to submit an application fee to continue with the application process. Other times, schools send fairly extensive lists of essay prompts (e.g. ââ¬Å"Why are you interested in attending this medical school?â⬠). If the school is happy with your primary + secondary application, you will move on to the next step. Step 3: Interview If a school definitely does (or definitely does not) want to interview you, youââ¬â¢ll hear back from them pretty quickly. Some students are left in limbo for a while as schools deliberate about what to do with them. Interviews are the final decision-making phase. Your interview will either make or break your application. Preparing for interviews is tough because each school (and each interviewer) will have its own priorities and questions. Overall, you want to come off as (1) committed to the medical track (2) confident about your abilities (3) eager to learn (4) warm and empathetic (5) grateful for the opportunity to be there. Medical School After fulfilling all those pre-med requirements and submitting all those applications, you finally arrive here: med school. Youââ¬â¢ll spend four years here, but that doesnââ¬â¢t mean the experience will be very similar to that of your undergraduate education- there are more decisions to be made, more opportunities for hands-on experiences, and more professional licensing requirements to worry about. Hereââ¬â¢s an overview of what these four years will look like: First two years- Primarily classroom-based courses Third year- Training in each major medical specialty (also known as rotations) Fourth year- Primarily elective courses based on preferred specialty There are some other important steps along the way- like board exams- that Iââ¬â¢ll address here as well. Years 1-2: Classroom Work You wonââ¬â¢t have much say in what courses youââ¬â¢ll take during your first two years of med school. Your education during this time will be an extension of your pre-med requirements- youââ¬â¢ll take many advanced courses that will give you the important biological, anatomical, and chemical foundations youââ¬â¢ll need to work as a physician. These courses will obviously have an important impact on your GPA, which will affect how competitive you are when youââ¬â¢re matched for your residency/internship (weââ¬â¢ll get to that shortly). As such, itââ¬â¢s important to keep your grades up- your future self will thank you. At the end of your second year youââ¬â¢ll take the United States Medical Licensing Examination, or the USMLE-1. This test assesses your medical competency to see if you should continue with your education and medical licensure (another name for the USMLE exams is ââ¬Å"Boardsâ⬠). At most medical schools, you need to pass this exam in order to progress to your third year of school. Read more about the test and access exam practice materials. Year 3: Rotations In your third year, youââ¬â¢ll start working with patients in a medical setting (under a supervisor) within different medical specialties. This helps you gain hands-on experience as a physician, but perhaps more importantly, youââ¬â¢ll learn more about what sort of specialty you may be interested in. After the bulk of your rotations experiences in your third year, youââ¬â¢ll have to decide what sort of medicine youââ¬â¢d like to pursue. This decision will dictate what sort of elective courses youââ¬â¢ll take in your fourth and final year of med school, as well as how long youââ¬â¢ll spend in your residency (get more information on this in the Residency section). Med school rotations are a bit more productive than the one the hamsterââ¬â¢s doing on this wheel. Year 4: Pursuing Your Specialty As you now know, your fourth year is dedicated primarily to taking elective courses to prepare for your preferred specialty and continuing gaining hands-on experience. Youââ¬â¢ll also take the USMLE Level 2 (itââ¬â¢s similar to the first examination, only testing more advanced knowledge)- it includes a clinical knowledge and clinical skills portion. Residency Residencies (also known as internships) are supervised positions at teaching hospitals. Youââ¬â¢ll be matched to an available residency position through the National Resident Matching Program, also known as the NRMP. Youââ¬â¢ll be able to note your preferences, but you wonââ¬â¢t have ultimate decision-making power over your matches. Once the NRMP sets you up, you sort of have to take what youââ¬â¢re given. Youââ¬â¢ll spend at least three years in your residency program, but may spend more there depending on your specialty. During your first year, youââ¬â¢ll be known as an intern- youââ¬â¢ll be at the bottom of the totem pole, but not for long. During your residency youââ¬â¢ll also need to pass your final licensing exam (USMLE-3). The third and final licensing exam is taken during the first year of your residency. It tests your ability to utilize your medical knowledge and provide care in an unsupervised setting, which is what youââ¬â¢d have to do as a licensed physician. You will receive a salary as a resident, but it wonââ¬â¢t be much. The average resident gets about $48,000/year, which will cover living expenses and your minimum medical school loan payments. Here are some example specialties and their respective residency requirements: Anesthesiology- 4 years Dermatology- 4 years Emergency Medicine- 3-4 years General Surgery- 5 years Internal Medicine- 3 years Neurology- 4 years Obstetrics and Gynecology- 4 years Pathology- 4 years Pediatrics- 3 years Psychiatry- 4 years Radiology- 4-5 years Beyond the Residency Once youââ¬â¢ve finished with your residency and passed all your boards, you can officially practice independently as a licensed physician! It probably wonââ¬â¢t take you long to find work. You may want to practice in a hospital, a clinic, or private practice. Youââ¬â¢ll have to keep up with Continuing Medical Education in order to practice as a physician, no matter specialty. This ensures that you stay educated and up-to-date on the latest research and best medical practices. Your education doesnââ¬â¢t end here- youââ¬â¢ll be working to keep up with new information and best practices for the rest of your career. Summary This is a ton of information to take on at once, especially if youââ¬â¢re at the beginning of this process (or even if youââ¬â¢re still unsure about becoming a doctor). There are a few good things you should take away from this, though: You donââ¬â¢t have to decide at the beginning of college that you want to become a doctor (although it does make it easier to fulfill pre-med requirements). The path to becoming a physician isnââ¬â¢t completely rigid, especially if youââ¬â¢re interested in other biological and physical science careers. You donââ¬â¢t have to think about all of these steps at the same time. Once youââ¬â¢re in med school, your peers will be thinking about (and worrying about) the same things- thereââ¬â¢s no way youââ¬â¢ll forget any important steps. Becoming a doctor is definitely not for everyone- getting into medical school is really tough, and you still have a lot of training to complete after you graduate. But if you decide you want to enter the medical profession, you now have the info you need to start off on the right foot. Whatââ¬â¢s Next? If you want more information on what to do to prepare for med school while youââ¬â¢re in high school, youââ¬â¢re in the right place. Check out our guide on 59 great medical programs for high school students and our list of the 7 books every pre-med student should read. Starting to research different college or med school options? Start off with this complete list of BA/MD and BS/MD programs in the US. You may also be interested in our step-by-step guide on how to get into a BS/MD program. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points? We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:
Tuesday, February 18, 2020
Organizational Behavior - How a successful Iranian based company like Research Paper
Organizational Behavior - How a successful Iranian based company like Hirbodan is surviving in tough times of sanctions against Iran - Research Paper Example Research will be taken to identify the measures taken by Hirbodan Company to succeed despite the difficult situation in the country (Griffin et al, 54). Hirbodan has an organization pattern that is well structured. The board of Directors are always at the top, middle level management, and then lower management (Griffin et al, 70). Due to this organizational structure, decision making and coordination of members within the organization is facilitated. Hirbodan Company mainly encourages its employees by using the theory Y used in management. The theory enables the employees to show commitment to the set goals and accept their responsibilities (Griffin et al, 75). International community especially the U.S has imposed sanctions on Iranian making the economy to suffer greatly (Owens et al, 92). Sanction imposed on the government of president Ahmedinejhad, include ban on Iranian oil, which is the backbone of Iranian economy. This affected several industries Hirbodan included. To worsen the situation President Amedinajhadââ¬â¢s plan on reforms on subsidy of 2010 removed subsidies on electricity and water affected industries (Griffin et al, 54). Iranian currency depreciated much making the cost of living rise and inflation skyrocketed (Colquitt et al, 128). The cost of running of a company turned high due to high cost of importing raw materials. The effects on Iran are adverse that companies are hoping for the best to have an enabling environment for investment. Hirbodan Rose against all odds and wage the storm, due to its strong foundation and the expertise offered by the founding professional (Colquitt et al, 253). It coordinated with companies in Engineering, procurement& construction to have its operations outside Iran. According to the research that was carried out in the company, the chairperson of the Hirbodan Company explained that the success of the company was mainly based on the definitive strategies and logical solutions to the firm problems (Owens
Monday, February 3, 2020
An Argument for the Conviction of the West Memphis Three Essay
An Argument for the Conviction of the West Memphis Three - Essay Example There were other pieces of evidence but they stood out either because there was nothing to counter them or that they were indeed logical. The main reason why the West Memphis Three should be convicted is that Jessie Misskelley pointed out in his detailed statement that the three of them were the ones who brutally tortured and murdered the three young boys. Based on the recorded statement of Jessie Misskelley for the police, he saw Damien Echols hit Christopher Byers, and Jason Baldwin hit Stevie Branch, and that he was the one who captured Michael Moore while the latter was running (Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills 41:43). The details of the interrogation are a proof that the interrogation and Misskelleyââ¬â¢s answers to the questions could not have been merely set up by the police beforehand. Besides, the police would not have been that lazy as to set up three young men just to have the case closed early. The aforementioned statement of Misskelley was hardly n ullified by any of the defense lawyers. Another strong evidence against the West Memphis Three, particularly against Jessie Misskelley is that he was able to identify the boys in the pictures shown by the police. Although he made a mistake with the identification of Christopher Byers, mistaking him for Michael Moore, still he was able to identify them by face. The mere fact that he could identify the victims is actually a strong proof that he had contact with them prior to the trial. One more problem to this is that Jessie did not even tell any of his lawyers or his family that he was forced by the police to make such a confession. It was merely the lawyers who said so. Arguments of the defense in favor of Jessie included his mental handicap (34:35). Nevertheless, based on the deputyââ¬â¢s statement, Jessie was not tortured, maligned or harmed in any way prior or during the confession (47:31). The deputy could not have been lying under oath, based on the tone of his voice, and ba sed on the fact that Jessie did not vehemently or even secretly said that he was indeed harmed. Besides, Jessieââ¬â¢s reactions in court, like bowing his head, are that of a guilty man. Moreover, he has not in any way told his lawyers how innocent he was or how untrue his confession was. Another argument directed against Jessie is his sexual nature (36:20). As he was talking to his girlfriend on the phone, he recalls all the times that he has had sex with her. He may be young and still sexually active and he may only have said such things because he was talking to his girlfriend, and perhaps he was only saying so because he has been deprived of sex since he was arrested. Nevertheless, showing such sexual behavior and pretending in court that he has a mental handicap somehow simply fit the picture of a maniacal killer under the guise of an innocent lunatic. The point is that he may have had a mental handicap as what his lawyers pointed out but his highly sexual nature allowed him to be a sexual criminal at the same time. One other small detail against Jessie is the statement of his stepmother which somehow shows that she possibly believes that he has done it (21:30). She does not seem to show remorse or sympathy for him even while Jessieââ¬â¢s father and whole family do. For a close acquaintance or a family member who believes that it is possible for one to commit a crime is actually strong evidence against him. On the other hand, the evidence against Damien Echols, as proposed by the defense, may be rather fragmented but it remains a fact that if one puts the evidence together, it definitely makes a picture of a murderer. Damien, who looks more like a man who is capable of murder without remorse, has a pentagram in his book (1:11:00), is interested in Wicca (1:14:08), associates with Aleister
Sunday, January 26, 2020
Moral Influences on Historians
Moral Influences on Historians Malthus was criticised of ââ¬Ëconfusing moral and scientific categories, of allowing the former to influence his understanding of the latterââ¬â¢. Should the historianââ¬â¢s work be free of moral influence? ââ¬ËPopulation was [for Malthus] the great Devil, the untamed Beelzebub that was only kept chained down by vice and misery, and which, if it were once let loose from these restraints, would go forth, and ravage the earth.ââ¬â¢ (Hazlitt 1994, p.182) This contemporary response to Malthusââ¬â¢s work by William Hazlitt echoes the main corpus of rejoinders raising the charge against Malthus that his work reflected uncorroborated ethical assumptions that ultimately would prove counterintuitive and fly in the face of common sense. Although frequently articulated by his opponents, this essay will argue that this charge is mainly misguided. The question requires to explore three distinct but interrelated issues: first, whether Malthusââ¬â¢s work suffers from a confusion of moral and scientific categories. Second, whether the scientific aspects of his work have been subject to distortion on account of the moral principles he held to be true and valid. And third, whether history as a scholarly enterprise should be free from moral maxims. The implications of all three issues are complex and reach far beyond the confines of this essay. Malthusââ¬â¢s work itself is easily straddling several domains of academic inquiry and part of the answer to whether his work suffers from the conflation of moral and scientific categories lies in the heterogeneous character of his work. It seems appropriate to elaborate all three issues mentioned above through an investigation of his main arguments. Malthusââ¬â¢s work disrespects neatly drawn boundaries of academic disciplines. The essay will proceed as follows. In a first section it will outline what I believe the wider issue is that informs the debate surrounding the veracity and validity of Malthusââ¬â¢s historiographical work. The second part of the essay will sketch the primary arguments by Malthus and, eventually, relate these as we go along to the issues of objectivity and neutrality. Malthus wrote at the intersection of three domains of intellectual engagement. At the time of the publication of his work, none of these fields had emerged as scholarly disciplines in themselves, although one (history) was in the process of methodological standardisation. Malthusââ¬â¢s main thesis on the consequences and logic of population growth drew on one side from historical evidence and articulated a particular historical narrative. On the other hand, it advocated distinct measures to prevent unchecked population growth and therefore engaged with what we would now call social policy. On a meta-level, however, his historical narrative as well as his conclusions about the nature of population control and its desirability rested on assumptions about the nature of man and the role of reason in determining the common good of English society. In a wider sense then Malthus offered his readers a dense and complex philosophical framework that informed his analytical and interpretativ e project. The issue of scientific objectivity or moral influence of his work however does not extend equally into these three fields. And it is this disciplinary distinction which will allow us to clarify some of the challenges and accusations that were levelled against his work. Interestingly the question whether Malthus confuses moral and scientific categories in his work only pertains to one dimension: that of history and historical evidence. Social policy is per se generated by ethical viewpoints about what society ought to look like and about the permissibility of human suffering or desirability of human happiness. Philosophy as an enquiry about the moral resources for social agency of individuals possesses equally qua definitionem a moral impetus. Neither of the two are therefore even in their ideal form free of ethical considerations, nor should they be. To deprive them of any normative content is to strip them of their essence. This is not the case with history, or so at least some philosophers of history claim. The relevant debate is mainly cast in the issue of objectivity in historiography. Historical evidence so the main claim goes, can somehow be void of ethical judgement and so should be the end product of historical work, histories that purport to be an accurate portrayal of things past. Insofar as Malthus presented us in the Essay (Malthus 1970) with an example of historical writing, he would have to abide by strict guidelines of what constitutes objective historiography. There are several confusions here at work that, once clarified, instantly defuse the charge of subjectivity against Malthus. If we understand objectivity in historical writing as absence of undue personal bias then little of historiography would pass this test. McCullagh has convincingly argued that such a stringent standard makes little sense (McCullagh 2000). If we probe our convictions further we may find it utterly reasonable that some types of political, ideological or moral bias find their way into our narratives. What we do find deplorable however is if historians try either to conceal their possible interests in giving a particular narrative a specific slant, or pretending to present to us in their narratives the epitome of objectivity in historical work. Furthermore, we can, as sensitive observers, detect biases and criticise them. All we need for that purpose is to be able to follow up the historical evidence and check that it corroborates the particular historical narrative under scrutiny. This way it is fairly easy for historians to distinguish a work written to robust methodological standards from a fanciful account of past events. The thesis that objectivity is a standpoint universally shared and that therefore historical opinion ultimately must converge upon an indisputable singular truth is erroneous and distorts the nature of history as an intellectual endeavour. Objectivity in historiography can only amount to absence of obvious personal bias which still leaves us as historians with questions of contested interpretations and the problematic nature of evidence selection. History therefore is by nature a field of contestation, a conversation on things past (Oakeshott 1999) rather than the presentation of an ultimate irrefutable portrayal of events. If that is the case, moral maxims may play a role in the instruments of selection and interpretation in historical work, but that should not bother us as long as they are transparently articulated and remain susceptible to criticism. Haskell has formulated a persuasive critique of those notions of history that assume historical writing be ethically neutral (Haskell 1990). We have, he writes, as much chances to prevent our moral convictions to colour our historical work as we have to detach us from our social lives and commitments. In fact it is at the heart of the philosophical project of scepticism to suggest that the search for an Archimedian point of view, which would expose to us the world as it is in some transcendent reality, is riddled with problems bordering on conceptual nonsense. It is this scepticism that informs Malthusââ¬â¢s work on population control and his critique of social policy and social reform. Consequently this critical project is formulated from an ethical standpoint which is clearly expressed and made transparent in his writings. The historical evidence he produces is equally open to scrutiny and he did abide by all common standards of methodological stringency endorsed at that time. H ence to claim that his historical account of population growth is unduly influenced by moral, political or ideological commitments which are immune from analytical scrutiny is to misunderstand the capacity of history for rigorous methodological discipline and professional standards. Let us now turn to a brief outline of the various themes and arguments which Malthus presents in his work. As already mentioned his work is a multifaceted and richly textured argument which straddles at least three domains of intellectual inquiry: history, philosophy and social policy. To contend that Malthusââ¬â¢s essay is exclusively an example of history proper is to fail to recognise the multiplicity of his intentions as well as the depth of his argument. As I have argued above, it should cause us no trouble to accept that Malthus the historian has in fact worked from ethical assumptions that may not be universally shared and that these assumptions have influenced his selection of historical evidence as well as the interpretations of it. The standards of historical work stipulate simply that these assumptions can be revealed, scrutinised and criticised by evaluating the validity of his interpretations of historical evidence as well as the impartiality of his selection. This in essence is the nature of historical work and does not jeopardise any reasonable claim of the discipline as a whole to engage in an enterprise that can lay claim to be objective as different from morally neutral (Haskell 2000). It is however a quite different story if we take Malthus to be an advocate of particular policies of public health or social reform. The question then does not seem to be whether or not Malthus was guided by his moral convictions in formulating his views on these matters, as he inevitably was, but whether his view of history should justifiably tell us anything about the way in which we should organise our society. The question resonates deeply with contemporary philosophical debates of which Malthus must have been keenly aware. Only some years before David Hume took issue with the view that we can infer the future from things past. There can be no doubt that to a certain degree Malthus is guilty of committing the mistake of extrapolating from past developments a picture of a desirable future state of British society. But let us in all fairness look at his claims in detail. In outlining his main arguments I will use a distinction made by Hamlin which I believe structures the field of interpretation in a helpful way and separates the contentious issues from the non-contentious ones. Hamlin focuses first of all on Malthusââ¬â¢s core argument which is of descriptive nature in his statement of the population principle. As a purely descriptive proposition it must fail to invite criticism of ethical subterfuge. (Hamlin 2000, p.117). The principle of population can be summarised in three aspects. Firstly, Malthus believes to have shown that the ââ¬Ëpopulation cannot increase without the means of subsistence, second, that population invariably increases when the means of subsistence are available, and third that ââ¬Ëthe superior power of population cannot be checked without producing misery or viceââ¬â¢ (Winch 1987, p.19) Here Malthus works with two (mainly speculative) assumptions: first, that manââ¬â¢s drive to procreation is infinitely greater than the earthââ¬â¢s potential to produce subsistence. And second, that the sexual impulses of man are stable over history. Malthus illustrates the first postulate by contrasting the arithmetic power of subsistence to the geometric growth in population. The disparity between the two had been pointed out previously by other commentators, and critics have accordingly accused Malthus of plagiarism (Hazlitt 1994a, p.171). But it would only be fair to Malthus to mention that he never claimed to be the discoverer of this relation between the two different ratios (Hazlitt 1994a, p.171). Although Malthus attempts to support his calculations about the necessary divergence of the two ratios with some available figures on population growth and grain production in the past, his argument which links the two remains speculative. This is not so much the case because he may use only a highly selective range of historical evidence (it can be disputed how much was available to him at the time), but rather because the disparity between the two hinges upon certain assumptions about the nature of population growth and food supply as well as their interaction. Malthus thinks that procreation is the natural outcome of the sexual impulse and does not reckon with the proliferation of already available means of prevention. Equally, his notion of food supply is one dimensional and consequently fails to take into account the possible variations of food produce. He notes that pasture necessarily makes less effective use of land than grain production, yet fails to see the different outcomes in nutritional value for humans. The speculative character of his writings therefore reside in the lack of depth of his calculations not in his moral convictions that may have come to bear upon his selection of historical evidence and hi s interpretation of it. The second domain of his work relates to social policy and the potential of society to prevent misery. This introduces a first normative element into the picture but, contrary to many critics, Malthusââ¬â¢s ethical convictions do not confound the entire issue but only aspects of it. The fist aspect is whether or not it is true as a historiographical assertion that poverty exerts an influence upon the ability of population to grow. Here Malthus is still on descriptive ground. He once again may lack the empirical resources to reach a sufficiently informed judgement on the issue but nothing points to the possibility that Malthus follows in his interpretation of the available evidence a personal bias and subsequently tries to conceal it. His prose is not driven by ideological or moral convictions. The second aspect however deals with the chances of success for a proactive policy of public health and welfare. Here he extrapolates from a mixture of historical evidence and some theories about social and economic agency. It is this mixture which opens him up to the charge of propagating the abolition of any reform agenda on the grounds of ideological beliefs. His position is informed by certain theories of socio-economic behaviour that are at best speculative, at worst simply false. His core argument rests on an analysis of the effects of resource scarcity in society. He notes that the provision of additional money to the poor, if not mirrored by an increase in food supply, only results in the increase of prizes. The overall effect comes to nought. As the income of the poor rises, so do the prizes since the demand exceeds now the supply of food. The intended effect is the continuation of misery for the poor (Malthus 1970, pp.94-95). While this hints at an economic relationship that may or may not pan out in the predicted way, and overall may still prove to be overly simplistic, it can hardly be considered to be unduly influenced by moral beliefs. It is prima facie an economic theory which features (still) in many run of the mill explanations of prize development. Malthus however supports this idea with the notion that any kind of monetary assistance transforms the capacity of human agency for self-reliance negatively. He writes: ââ¬ËThe poor laws are strongly calculated to eradicate this spirit [of independence]. â⬠¦ Hard as it may appear in individual instances, dependent poverty ought to be held disgraceful. Such a stimulus seems to be absolutely necessary to promote the happiness of the great mass of mankind, and every attempt to weaken this stimulus, however benevolent its apparent intention, will always defeat its purpose.ââ¬â¢ (Malthus 1970, p.98) Here he presents us with what John Rawls would have called a background social theory that informs our interpretation of social activity and structures our notion of socio-economic agency (Rawls 1993). The difficulty is that these theories require justification in order to shed their ideological drift (Daniels 1996). Malthus seems to think that all sorts of dependence are deplorable, while all kinds of independence are laudable. What he fails to realise it that independence exists in social contexts which crucially shape the capacity to act as an economic or social agent. Clientelistic relationships for example may to some degree offset lack of money. On the other hand, the absence of either deprives any individual to enter the stage of economic co-operation in the first place, hence the chance to perpetuate personal independence and transform it into participation in social and economic schemes of co-operation. Malthusââ¬â¢s theory about the stimulus of independence abstracts from the conditions that need to be fulfilled for active and effective socio-economic agency. This clearly reflects an ideological bias although, arguably, it may echo the beliefs and attitudes prevalent at the time. Here Malthusââ¬â¢s work lacks the sceptical sting that it exhibits in other parts. The further one reads his essay the more he gets bogged down in speculations about the perfectibility of man and the conditions for moral excellence. These are regrettable deviations from his main argument and deflect from the validity of his historiographical reflections. Once again however, these are strictly speaking not confusions of historical evidence and moral convictions but attempts to defend the conclusions he drew from population development in the past for social policy. He may have committed a category mistake by drawing on descriptive data to formulate prescriptive and substantial policy and support this with views on human nature and the role of reason in society, but his historical credentials remain intact. Although his policy recommendations drew fire, it would be unfair to say that his selection of historical evidence was driven by personal interest or moral convictions. Bibliography Primary Sources Malthus, Thomas Robert (1970), An Essay on the Principle of Population and a Summary view of the Principle of Population, New York: Penguin Books [1798 and 1830] Hazlitt, William (1994a), An Examination of Mr. Malthusââ¬â¢s Doctrines, in Population. Contemporary Responses to Thomas Malthus, ed. By Andrew Pyle, Bristol: Thoemmes Press, pp. 170-175 Hazlitt, William (1994b), On the Principle of Population as Affecting the Schemes of Utopian Improvement, in Population. Contemporary Responses to Thomas Malthus, ed. By Andrew Pyle, Bristol: Thoemmes Press, pp. 176-183 Secondary Sources Daniels, Norman (1996), Justice and Justification. Reflective Equilibrium in theory and practice, Cambridge New York: Cambridge University Press Hamlin, Christopher and Gallagher-Kamper, Kathleen (2000), Malthus and the Doctors: Political Economy, Medicine, and the State in England, Ireland and Scotland, 1800-1840, in Malthus, Medicine, and Morality: ââ¬ËMalthusianismââ¬â¢ after 1798, ed. By Brian Dolan, Amsterdam Atlanta: Rodopi, pp.115-140 Haskell, Thomas L. (1990), Objectivity is not Neutrality: Rhetoric vs. Practice in Peter Novickââ¬â¢s That Noble Dream, in History and Theory, Vol. 29, No. 2, pp.129-157 Mccullagh, Behan C. (2000), Bias in Historical Description, Interpretation, and Explanation, in History and Theory, Vol. 39, No. 1, pp.39-66 Oakeshott, Michael (1999), On History and other essays, Indianapolis: Liberty Fund Rawls, John (1993), Political Liberalism, New York: Columbia University Press Winch, Donald (1987), Malthus, Oxford New York: Oxford University Press
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