Compassion and the Individual by Tenzin Gyatso, the fourteenth Dali Essay

Compassion and the Individual by Tenzin Gyatso, the fourteenth Dali Lama - Essay Example There is a citing in the article of a surging number of mental illnesses in the United States making up about 12% of the general population. A closer assessment showed that the main cause of these conditions were not lack of material possessions as many may think, but ‘deprivation of the affection of the others.’ Although the intent of life may be viewed as happiness, compassion is one of the key ways this is achieved. The term compassion is used depict a variety of other nouns such as love. The view in this case is that everyone tries to be happy ever since they are born. Every action that is undertaken such as playing with toys, socializing, and so forth are done to fulfil the urge to be happy. It is an expression of human will, and possibly one of the purpose of life. The problem nonetheless is that people are not always happy despite striving their best to be. Despite all the actions that humans undertake and the illusion that they might all bring about, Gyatso contends that the hidden objective is to be happy. However, Gyatso goes an extra mile to expound how this happiness can be attained. He initially clusters happiness into two, mental and physical happiness. Mind happiness in this case is taken to be of greater significance as compared to physical happiness. Mental happiness can be attained by devoting out most serious efforts to bringing mental peace, which would help us live in happiness. Mental tranquility according to Gyatso is best derived from the development of love and compassion. Each individual is viewed as a crucial part of society where the happiness of others dictates the happiness of one self. It is hence ones obligation to care for the happiness of others since it influence inner tranquility. Inner tranquility of the mind plays the role of embracing happiness in one’s life, particularly by overcoming problems that are ever present in life. Gyatso states that these problems may be viewed by

Introduction to Philosophy Essay Example for Free

Introduction to Philosophy Essay I. Pre-Socratic Period also known as the Cosmological Period (cosmos meaning universe) *questions about human existence and subsistence (basic needs) Pre-Socratic Greek philosophers: Anaxagoras Thales (he held that water is the fundamental stuff of all things, saying â€Å"All is water†) Anaximander Xenophanes Heraclitus Anaximenes Empiricism – a theory which states that knowledge comes only or primarily from sensory experience II. Socratic Period also known as the Era of Scientific Discoveries III. Church Period also known as the Theological/Dogmatic Period. Dogmatic – from the word dogma (teachings of the Catholic church) Martin Luther – the most controversial bishop during his time; he questioned the teachings of the Catholic church IV. Rebellion Period also known as the Period of Protestantism *Martin Luther started Protestantism and established the Lutheran church; he questioned the indispensability of the pontis and the institution of the sacraments (holy order and marriage) division of the Catholic church: Roman Catholic Greek Orthodox 4 legal systems: English law Roman law Arabic/Mohammedan law Anglo-American law. V. Renaissance Period renaissance meaning rebirth also known as the Arts and Literature Period (which focused on religion) VI. Modern Period also known as the Period of Industrialization ? introduction to machines ? social problem of unemployment arose ? battle between man and machines 2 social classes: ? bourgeoisie – the ruling class of the two basic classes of capitalist society, consisting of capitalists, manufacturers, bankers, and other employers. The bourgeoisie owns the most important of the means of production, through which it exploits the working class ?proletariat the class of workers, especially industrial wage earners, who do not possess capital or property and must sell their labor to survive, the lowest or poorest class of people Friedrich Engels – mentor of Karl Marx *. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels campaigned for a classless society known as communism communism the political and economic doctrine that aims to replace private property and a profit-based economy with public ownership and communal control of at least the major means of production (e. g. , mines, mills, and factories) and the natural resources of a society; people don’t have private ownership. Das Kapital – one of the major works of the 19th-century economist and philosopher Karl Marx (1818–83), in which he expounded his theory of the capitalist system, its dynamism, and its tendencies toward self-destruction. He described his purpose as to lay bare â€Å"the economic law of motion of modern society. † Lenin and Stalin – leaders of the Russian Revolution who first introduced communism COMMUNISM (zero ownership) SOCIALISM (ownership by few) DEMOCRACY (controlled by the majority of people) Definition of Philosophy from the words â€Å"de finire† meaning â€Å"to limit† 3 types of definition: 1. Etymological – derived from the word â€Å"etymos† meaning â€Å"origin† Etymology of Philosophy by Pythagoras philia (love) sophia (wisdom) greek words 2. Nominal – derived from the word â€Å"nomen† meaning â€Å"name† 3. Real definition – maybe conceptual or operational definition Real definition of Philosophy a science of beings that investigates the ultimate causes of things, events, etc. , with the aid of human reason alone *philosophers investigate by asking questions human reason – the instrument in philosophy branches of science: ? natural ? social ? Physical botany philosophy e. g. physics e. g. e.g. beings – subject matter of philosophy; anything that exists 2 types of beings: a) potential – exists without intrinsic contradiction b) actual – exists with intrinsic contradiction uncreated God (theology focused on the study of God) created living man plants animals soul soul soul rational vegetative sensitive non-living universe (cosmology study of the universe) outside the universe (metaphysics from the word meta meaning beyond) principles of life soul life spirit – principle of unity what makes man unique? his characteristics characteristics of man: ? body and soul (rational psychology – study of soul existence) ? body without soul – corpse ? soul without body – ghost ? intellect – to know the â€Å"truth† (logic – correct reasoning; epistemology – validity of human knowledge) ? will – in search of â€Å"good† (ethics or moral philosophy) branches of philosophy connected to man rational psychology deals with spirituality and religion logic deals with mental and psychological circumstances epistemology deals with physiological/bi ological aspect ethics deals with the physical aspect of man Phenomenological method – method of knowing man. Edmund Husserl – a mathematician, modern philosopher, and the main proponent of phenomenology steps in phenomenological method: i. epoche – method of bracketing man’s natural attitudes (e. g. , biases or prejudices) ii. eidetic reduction – from the word â€Å"eidos† meaning â€Å"essence†; method of reducing the events to its essence to know the real importance of the phenomenon iii. phenomenological transcendental reduction – method of reducing the essence to its subject ? to the very activity itself love – disinterested giving of oneself to other being kinds of love: fraternal. paternal/maternal erotic romantic Understanding the Nature of Philosophical Inquiry *on the distinction between philosophy and natural science natural science ? scientific investigation â€Å"What is Philosophy† by Lauer, S. J. (philosophy in physical science) *can philosophy be taught? philosophy can be defined by doing it *why do we harm philosophy when we define it? philosophy is essentially a dynamic process, the attempt to define it is to stop the process *philosophy is an attitude, a way of life, responsible thinking and not a discipline; not a body of knowledge.

American Airlines Competitive Strategy Essay -- essays research papers

Evaluate American’s 1992 announcement of a new rate structure: a. What changes did American make? American Airlines (American) made four fundamental changes to its rates. First, it moved to a four-tier rate structure; American offered first-class rates and three tiers of coach: full-fare, 21-day advance purchase and 7-day advance purchase. Overall, it expected to reduce coach fares by 38% and first-class fares by 20% to 50%. Though full fare coach prices dropped by about 38%, advance-purchase fares dropped by 6% when compared to the advance purchase tickets already being offered. Through this fare structure, American also eliminated deep discount tickets. Second, American eliminated the negotiated discount contracts of many large companies. Though it intended to fulfill any outstanding contracts, it did not intend to renew any of these contracts. Third, American realigned its pricing with its costs. Under the new structure, American fares were more distance based (therefore cost-based) than they had been in the past. Finally, American changed its non-refundable policy. Advance pu rchase tickets could now be rescheduled for a $25 processing fee. b. Which customers benefited most from the move? Were any customers made worse off? There are five groups of customers that are affected by the rate changes. Travel agents are affected financially by reduced fares that will result in reduced commissions. On the other hand, American’s four-tier structure substantially reduced the numb...

Review of Russia’s Wasteful Attitude towards Oil Reserves

Russia has a high potency for energy copiousness do to its resource rich land. Russia is one of the most uneconomical manufacturers of energy due to misdirection of resources. This is partly because of the fact that Russia is so big that its public assumes that there will ever be more oil to detect, so Russia is non efficient with what it has. This feature of Russia comes from the political orientation of monetary value relationships formed during Russia’s communist yesteryear. The Communist era’s leaders set their precedences on supplying the Soviet with military-industrial complex with inexpensive energy and natural stuffs, ( Goldman ) . This was done to maintain monetary values low to increase economic growing. The job is that these patterns are still portion of the substructure of Russia today. Russia’s ruin was that it had about excessively many resources that attracted corruptness. Right after the Bolshevik Revolution Lenin determined that Russia’s e conomic growing would be dependent on its ain energy potency. Lenin’s attempts went to make the State Electricity Development plan. This plan finally included oil and gas. Separate ministries within the plan led to direct the production and pricing of Russia’s energy and energy resources. This made the Soviet successful with energy, even to the point of catching the US by agencies of bring forthing crude oil in the 1970’s. This was one of the ruins to subsequently Russia. When Russia was bring forthing that much crude oil it made it harder for future production. One of the instances is that they used excessively much H2O injection which caused an addition in oil extraction, but created long term harm to Wellss that finally limited productiveness. This short term believing made Russia utilize up its huge resources, and will subsequently do jobs for the Russian economic system. Russia has ever been defined by its landscape every bit much as by its political orientation and its people. You can non command what is under your undersoil, but Russia is lucky plenty to hold tonss of oil. This will impact many of the picks its leaders have made. Oil makes up approximately 20 per centum of Russia ‘s economic system, 55 per centum of its export net incomes, and 40 per centum of its entire revenue enhancement grosss, ( Naim, Moises ) . In 2004 Russia had a 3rd of the world’s gas militias and was the 2nd largest oil exporter next to Saudi Arabia. Europe is dependent on this since they get a tierce of their oil from Russia. Russia’s high dependance on oil has led it to hold many of the features of a Petro-state. Think of an oil rich state, many are in the in-between E with some being in South America or Africa. Take Venezuela or a two-channel typical Middle Eastern state for an illustration. These states typically have weak establishments, a neglect ing public service, and the wealth is in a high concentration with the general public being in poorness. Russia has many of these features but non as extreme. The general populace of Russia is angered by the hapless per centum of the nation’s money from oil and widespread poorness. The job with a state being a Petro-state is that while it makes good gross, the money is in the custodies of those involved and people outside of the oil concern do non profit much at all. The ground for the bead of Russia’s laterality of oil in 2004 is from the new oil engineering that other states have developed. In the 1990’s Russia made inventions in geographic expedition and boring that brought oil Fieldss into production that had non been bring forthing before. The Middle East is non about as stable which has led many companies to turn to Russia for concern. When a state with weak cheques and balances is flooded with gross from crude oil, a petro province is created. If the stat e is strongly democratic with a good populace sector so oil money will non interrupt the economic system such as the US. Petroleum money mixed with hapless public establishments created poorness and corruptness. States with high dependance on oil exports end up with a jobless, volatile economic growing. Crude oil creates money in exports but does non make many occupations which is the ground for the hapless distribution of wealth. There has non been a recorded Petro-state that has turned oil into prosperity for the bulk of its public. While Russia is so dependent on oil, merely two million of its 67 million workers are employed in the oil and gas industry. This big independency on oil causes Russia’s economic system to fluctuate with the monetary value of oil, normally known as roar flop rhythm. When making good the economic system will din, but it ever finally busts. Russia gets over half of its revenue enhancement grosss from the top 10 largest companies. This is two-channe l typical of a Petro-state, which usually has a narrow revenue enhancement base. This causes corrupt authorities thanks to the concentration of revenue enhancement money in a few big companies. Since the companies make up a big per centum of the revenue enhancement gross, they have a larger pull in who gets elected. Guess who they want to acquire elected? They want whoever will profit the company more. This farther causes a larger difference in the spread of wealth because of big companies keeping on to the money and commanding the economic system. The job with nationalising the oil industry is that it causes province owned companies to pervert and command politicization and they can sabotage weak public establishments. Privatizing can besides be a job without a strong ordinances on its revenue enhancements. If this is non done a monopoly could interrupt out which would do greater jobs. Russia is fortunate that it has non yet go a complete Petro-state as of yet. It has a diverse eco nomic system, although mostly dependent on oil, but it could be of usage to follow a strong democracy to assist with its political failing. Russia’s economic system is non known for being stable and strong. If this was non bad plenty, the bead in the monetary value of oil is endangering Russia into a recession. The monetary value of rough oil reached its lowest point in four twelvemonth in October of 2014 ( Arutunyan 1 ) . There is a opportunity that Russia, who gets half of its gross Petroleum based exports, would lose one million millions due to the dropping rough oil monetary value, ( Arutunyan 1 ) . Russia’s economic system is so depended on oil that a mere five dollar loss per barrel of rough oil would be Russia six billion dollars per twelvemonth in lost gross. The heavy monetary value of oil has caused Russia’s exchange rate to other currencies to drop by 20 per centum in the past twelvemonth. A good part of Russia’s economic problems have been caused by Western countenances over Russia’s engagement with Ukraine, and ended up in countenances stoping Western funding assisting Russ ian companies, ( Arutunyan 1 ) . This might look like merely Russia is in problem, but due Russia’s economic dealingss with other states, the neglecting economic system could hold planetary effects. If Russia’s recognition goes down it could impact states in Europe and Asia that on a regular basis trade and rely on its economic stableness. This would be kindred to if China were to get down bear downing 50 per centum more for the goods it trades to America, so America would be in economic problem due to the fact that the US relies to a great extent upon China for its commerce. In the state of affairs of Russia, it is the world’s 8th largest economic system, so many other states depend upon it. If rough oil monetary values would drop to the point that oil dependant Russia goes into a recession, so a better portion of two continents would besides travel into recession. Russia usually exports in dollars and spends money in its ain currency, rubles. This means that the take downing value of ruble’s causes more rubles for every dollar received in oil gross, ( Arutunyan 1 ) . â€Å" This twelvemonth, ( 2014 ) , we have made more than 1.5 trillion rubles ( $ 36.5 billion ) on the ruble ‘s devaluation, † ( Orlova ) . This consequence is non all good though, if the monetary value of oil does non lift the buffer will run out. â€Å" If oil monetary value continues to fall at the same rate, the negative consequence for the GDP will increase, If oil falls to $ 75 per barrel, we could lose up to 3 % of economic growing. That would slightly intensify the recession that ‘s about to acquire underway. † Alexander Golovtsov main analyst at Moscow’s UralSib Asset Management. Soviet union does hold clip to retrieve nevertheless, because of its big Reserve and National Welfare Fund. This will purchase clip for about another two old ages for the oil monetary values to come back up. There would be effects for utilizing modesty financess, one of them being holding to cut military disbursement.

The Housing Allowance – Business Ethics

THE HOUSING ALLOWANCE Wilson Mutambara grew up in the slums of Rambia and through hard work and talent he was given the opportunity to study and receive his MBA in the united states. After three years of working at a cellular telephone service company, NewComm, he received the opportunity to go back to Rambia when NewComm decided to expand. All the employees at the NewComm offices in Rambia were set to receive $2,000 monthly for housing needs to insure that its employees live in a safe and convenient area and that their living arrangements are complimentary to the company image.One of the employees, Dale Garman, found out that Wilson was falsifying his monthly housing expenses and was in fact living in his old neighborhood, which couldn't possibly cost more than $300. The house that Wilson was living in was not up to the company standards and it looked as if he was sharing it with quite a few people. Dale notified Wilson's supervisor Barbara Weston of his living situation and Barbara confronted Wilson. Wilson admitted to the falsified invoices and pleaded to Barbara that there is quite a bit expected of him as a Rambian from the slums.He provides for his family and pays for his nieces' and nephews' educational expenses from that money. He also felt that if he lived in an expensive area like his colleagues, his family would judge his actions and think of him as selfish. Although Wilson had good intentions in falsifying his claims, he did not use the allowance as NewComm intended for him to do and more importantly falsified his invoices. Now Barbara faces a tough decision of deciding how to appropriately handle this situation in an ethical way. At the personal level of analysis, Wilson is the primary stakeholder.He looked at the situation at the beginning and assumed that it was fair for him to receive equal compensation for housing even though he chose to live below his means. He was helping his relatives and was unable to see that the fraud he was committing co uld have dire consequences. At the corporate level of analysis is NewComm, its’ management and employees in Rambia. The company, NewComm, is a very significant stakeholder since it is providing the money to Wilson and expecting that the obligations they allocate to their employees are met without protest.NewComm can also garner trouble from authorities or the IRS if they are reporting the housing allowance under benefits, and Wilson’s imprudence comes out as fraud and the government might also think NewComm is involved. The societal stakeholders in this case are Wilson’s relatives and the Rambian community who perceives Wilson as their hero for achieving success in America. After Barbara confronted Wilson about his indiscretion and he explained his reasoning behind it, she has to decide how to handle this appropriately. Barbara is obligated to handle this by taking NewComm’s best interest into consideration.It is imperative that she consider the harm Wils on’s decision could have caused NewComm since he used the money dishonestly and intentionally misrepresented his false housing, and now Barbara has to decide if Wilson should face disciplinary action, or even termination. However, Barbara needs to show empathy toward Wilson and consider the reasons why he felt obligated to defraud NewComm. Wilson felt that this money was being put to better use since he was helping more people with it instead of spending it to portray a better image of NewComm by living an extravagant lifestyle.From my perspective, the three alternatives for Barbara in this case are: i. For Barbara to give a probationary period to Wilson to correct his actions and find proper housing in keeping with NewComm’s image. He can move out of Old Town and into the â€Å"safer† neighborhood where the rest of his colleagues are residing. Although this is very unfair, he can also receive a pay cut to reimburse NewComm for the money he wrongfully took from the housing allowance allocation. ii.Since Barbara is the supervisor, she is allowed to change the company rules and can make a change in the housing allowance under special circumstances. She could add a provision in the housing allowance for employees to get approval to live in any neighborhood they choose to. Compared to the money that other employees in Rambia are receiving for housing, it would be unfair to pay Wilson less if he is choosing to live near his loved ones and helping his relatives. iii. The final alternative is for Barbara to terminate Wilson’s employment with NewComm.Philosopher Immanuel Kant considered moral rules categorical imperatives, meaning that they are absolute and unqualified commands for everyone, in every walk of life, without exception, not even for stressed professionals. Kant pursued moral principles that do not rest on likelihoods and that define actions as fundamentally right or wrong apart from any particular circumstances. A Kantian appro ach, which considers duty, fairness and rights, would force Barbara to terminate Wilson’s employment with NewComm, even though it would be unfair.It teaches a lesson to other employees to follow proper policies and procedures when it comes to contractual relationships with employers. Wilson did lie and defraud NewComm and for that Barbara can privately sit him down and explain all the reasons why he is being dismissed. For Kant the source of moral justification is the categorical imperative. In order for an act to be categorically imperative, it must be thought to be good in itself and in conformity to reason. Overall, Kant says what you care about simply doesn’t matter.Your duty is your duty, and you must do it whether or not you want to or not. Nothing exempts a moral agent from the demands of moral duty. The dilemma that is faced by Barbara can be solved with proper thought given to Utilitarian principles. Most of the utilitarian philosophers would want her to do th e â€Å"right† thing which would harm the least amount of people since utilitarianism takes into account everyone affected by the action, instead of self-interest only. Aristotle’s four virtues would want to ask about the moral standing of the people engaged in this case.The four virtues are prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance. Prudence, the cardinal virtue, would require Barbara to exercise sound judgment or apply practical wisdom. Prudence is an ethical excellence of heart and mind, displayed in an eagerness to seek and an ability to find the â€Å"just right† course of action, attaining the best outcome possible in the light of present circumstances. Another very applicable virtue is fortitude which ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy in doing the good. Fortitude is sometimes called strength or courage.Justice is another very important virtue; And Barbara could choose to be fair to Wilson and keep him with the company is he corrects his act ions, or better yet have the housing allowance rules changed so that every employee has the right to choose where they want to live. If Barbara were to follow Aristotle’s virtues, then she would think of the greater good and act with prudence, justice and fortitude. Aristotle would advise for Barbara to give a probationary period to Wilson to correct his actions and find proper housing in keeping with NewComm’s image.He can move out of Old Town and into the â€Å"safer† neighborhood where the rest of his colleagues are residing. In this case, Rawl’s theory of original position can also be used. Rawls proposes a set of Principles of Justice to be established through a thought-experiment, a kind of modern replacement for the philosophical state of nature. Basically, Rawls lets us imagine a situation where people are unaware of their own characteristics which may make given principles advantageous or disadvantageous to themselves.Through the veil of ignoranc e, people may then agree upon principles of justice independently of personal interests, meaning impartially and rationally. Those collectively decided principles should thus be socially fair. If Barbara is advised by Rawls, she can then look through the veil of ignorance to make this decision; it would most likely come out to that she terminate Wilson’s employment from NewComm. With the veil of ignorance she would have to look past Wilson helping his relatives and only look at the sham that Wilson committed.Personal knowledge of Wilson helping his relatives might tempt Barbara to select principles of justice that gave Wilson unfair advantage. Rawls claims that rational people will consistently adopt his principles of justice if their reasoning is based on general considerations, without knowing anything about their own personal situation. If Barbara is considering personal benefit over the greater good or the right thing to do then she might not be able to come to a clean an d honest conclusion.There are numerous practical constraints faced by Barbara in this situation. Barbara would have the live with whichever decision she makes regarding Wilson, if she chooses to fire him, she would have to live with the detestations from her inner self because Wilson’s relatives had gotten used to him providing for them and he was the bread winner for a lot of people. Now those people could be going hungry just because Barbara could not make changes to the policy and let Wilson work for NewComm.If Barbara were to let Wilson stay with company, the rest of the employees would think it is okay for them to also break company policy since the falsification by Wilson was taken too lightly. The action that should be taken by Barbara is to be fair to Wilson since he was trying to be a bigger person by helping his relatives and to payback his share to society. Barbara can be fair by amending the housing allowance and allowing for all the employees to receive the same $2,000 housing allowance for wherever they choose to reside. Barbara can show empathy toward Wilson nd consider the reasons why he felt obligated to defraud NewComm. Wilson felt that this money was being put to better use since he was helping more people with it instead of spending it to portray a better image of NewComm by living an extravagant lifestyle. Although, Wilson should also receive some sort of a reprimand for breaching the company policy and deceitfully misrepresenting his housing invoices. This decision is based on the four virtues of Aristotle and also the Utilitarian theory so she can help Wilson to help his relatives lead a better life. Read also: Disadvantages of Ethics in the Workplace