The James Lange theory Essays

The James Lange theory Essays The James Lange theory Paper The James Lange theory Paper The world is a big place, filled with people full of curiosity and with their own individual quests. People are constantly talking, looking, hearing, smelling, and gaining knowledge from things and people from their environment. The scope of knowledge gained on a day to day basis is therefore vast. To what extent though, is this knowledge we acquire true? People are constantly seeking for answers to their questions or solutions to their problems; in a way, they seek a pathway to truth. The quote: rather than love, than money, than faith, than fame, than fairnessgive me truth (Thoreau) justifies that truth is a necessity of life and every man seeks it to distinguish between reality and fantasy. To understand truth, we need to know its three basic theories. The correspondence theory states that a statement is true if it corresponds to a fact. The Coherence theory says that a proposition is true if it fits in with our overall sets of belief. Finally, the pragmatic theory states that a proposition is true if it is useful or works in practice. We will use these three theories to understand when our senses can be trusted to give us the truth. The human species are said to have the weakest of all senses in terms of potency because they can be easily deceived. Perception is a very sophisticated issue because not everything we perceive is real. Optical illusion for sight, not hearing low and high frequency sounds, knowing what a thing tastes like because of its label or the fact we know what it is, not being able to differentiate between different smells, and the reflex reaction for the sense of touch are vivid examples of how things we perceive through our senses sometimes differs from objective reality. We can simplify this by saying that senses just provide the raw information which is then processed through knowledge in the brain to give us a clear and bigger meaning of that information that we believe is true. Therefore, our senses themselves cannot be relied upon to give us the truth. Ultimately, we can never know the absolute truth but only get relatively close to it by combining our senses along with the ways of knowledge- this is the only time we should trust our senses to give us truth. Before getting into details of when we should trust our senses to give us truth, let us look at a classic example of Helen Heller. Even though she was not born blind and deaf, a disease led her to the pit of blackness at a very young age. She was the first deaf blind person to graduate from college. Sight and hearing are considered to be the most important of all senses because it is these that shed light on the outside world and help us stay in touch with our surroundings and communicate with the society around us. Helen proved that her senses were not the only requirements to know the events and survive in the bustling world around her, but language, emotions, perception, and reason- the ways of knowing are equally crucial in order to perceive the truth. Language is a human mode of communication that is not limited to verbal speech only; but also includes visual, auditory, or symbols that can be easily manipulated. Language is constantly surrounding us: when we describe something, express our feelings, write, point out at something, make a sad droopy face, or even when we touch someone or something. Language is one of the main ways by which we acquire knowledge from the world around us and is one of the many pathways that leads to truth because it is through language that we can express our beliefs. Language can also be seen in plants (chemically) and animals (special gestures or sounds through positive reinforcement) furthermore proving how involved it is in our day to day basis. A person like Helen Keller came to communicate by the sense of touch when she realized that motions her teacher was making on her palm, while running cool water over her hand, symbolized the idea of water. Because she was blind and deaf, she had no idea of the concept of language, words, or how to express herself. She found a way around this complication by the means of language through her sense of touch. She used the Tadoma method of touching the lips and throat of others as they speak, combined with fingerspelling letters on the palm. Therefore, she made the sense of touch her mode of communication (her language) and used it in her day to day life to acquire knowledge from the world of underlying facts around her. Over her years of experience and practice, she obtained a set of beliefs that unveiled the blackness and shed light on the world of facts around her, thus applying to the theories of truth. The Eskimo-Aleut language has a hundred words for the word snow; therefore they see the truth in much more detail because of the deeper meaning than other people who do not speak the language. Words can also mean different things in other languages and expressions (body language) can be easily misinterpreted. This is why in order to get the truth, one needs experience with language; this might take a long time but would take us closer to the ultimate truth. Emotions are often deceiving and can seem as an obstacle to the truth we seek. According to the James Lange theory, emotions are generally physical in nature and it is these that trick our senses. This suggests the weak property of emotions because it can be easily hindered due to our physical nature. For instance, if we are deserted on an island and have not eaten or drank anything for quite some time, our emotions kick in causing us to hallucinate and even the slightest sound would cause us to be suspicious. However, if the source of the problem was dealt to (hunger and thirst), then no such thing would happen. It is also because of emotions that our reasoning skills weaken.

The changing role of social institutions

The changing role of social institutions Introduction Human beings are social beings; hence the reason they find themselves involved in social institutions in the society. Civil society arises from this set up of social institutions. By definition, civil society is a social realm that consists of actual institutions with moral substance and functions. Above all, civil society denotes that sector of the society that nonpolitical institutions operate.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The changing role of social institutions specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More These social institutions include family, churches, schools, community groups, neighborhoods, and any other form of voluntary association imaginable. The civil society arose due to the spontaneous aspiration and desires of the free people. They take part as people desire to join voluntarily, to serve larger social purposes. Social institutions promote the social society through performing various functions ( Eberly, 2000). How social institutions help to promote civil society To start with, social institutions form part of the civil society and through this, the essential habits of collaboration of ways define trust. Further, the freedom held by these institutions gives each and every one of them a right and a chance to define the habits that they would like be incorporated in, in the civil society. In addition, the desire to achieve a common purpose and meet the needs of individuals helps to have an association needed in the civil association. Social institutions such as churches teach good morals. Having these social bonds does not only generate virtues like trust, self-sacrifice and submission to the authority, but also helps to shape communities have a capacity to share virtuous characters. The above-mentioned virtues are developed through having these institutions by having citizens who develop moral obligations to each other (Eberly, 2000). Social institutions build the morals of individuals who later take in the civil society. They do this by binding people; not to law but to other people. Social organizations help people avoid having private interest, but also develop interest of the other people around them, which shapes the life of civil society. By building social ties and a sense of mutual obligation of weaving together isolated individuals into the fabric of a larger group, socials institutions ensure that there is the development of a body that has an interest of the community at heart (Foley, 2003). Individualism is fought against in the social institutions, and association for serving the larger society is encouraged. The principle of democracy is formed from these bases, as each person is treated as equal to the other. Civil societies usually have a public philosophy that emphasizes on the need to elevate the common good over private interest, renewing social values over the institutions, encouraging wider civil participation, and encouraging citi zen involvement in community problem-solving (Foley, 2003).Advertising Looking for essay on public administration? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The impact of modern social networks in replacing the traditional forms of social institutions and the related associations The development of modern social networks such as blogs, Facebook, twitters and email and replacing the social institutions has enhanced the values of people globally. Geographical boundaries have been overcome through the development of the new technologies, which previously were done through physical meeting. For example, making friends has been greatly substituted by the new inventions. Ultimately, family ties have been weakened as people spend most of their time chatting with online friends, in expense of taking the time with their families. Education has been changed in that students do not have to attend classes as they can get the information n eeded online. Subsequently, exams are also been done online, hence the relationship between the young children which is well developed in schools, is reduced. In the case of children, they do not get to grow together and at some point, they are socially inactive because of spending most of their time engaging with friends they get online. The neighborhood has also adversely changed the interaction between the children and the other children have decreased. The fact they don’t find time to associate with the other children in the neighborhood has made them to be socially handicapped occasionally, many neighborhoods used to have welcoming parties for the new people in the neighborhood. The same used to apply in case there were holidays where these neighbor hoods would organize parties or reunion so as to orient each other: this tread is on the decline as the method of association has changed and with time the neighborhood traditions’ may decrease or even become extinct. The scope of sharing information has been changed from being local to international, and be communicated at a faster rate. Introduction of blogs or twitter has made sure that many people can access certain information in great numbers at a faster rate. People are able to get information even from far places they may not be able to go physically. Moreover, research in different areas in learning institutions has become more easy. Submission of the research and the results can also posted online; hence the need to travel to do the research is avoided, which in turn reduces the cost needed. The presence of the option of having the information online has transformed the schooling set up to being optional for a student to study online, with no need of attending classes (Henderson, 2009).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The changing role of social institutions specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More On the other hand, community groups have been promoted to be more diverse, as many people of different communities can join them. Modern networks can be given credit to these changes because they offer a chance of forming an online group and enrolling to join these groups. Using the high-volume blogs, the movements have been more radical in spreading their ideologies than in the traditional times. They go on to get much attention due to the presence of the network all over the world (Henderson, 2009). The culture of people has changed and is being replaced by sub cultures such as Cyber punk and test speaks. The new cultures have their bases set by the various provisions given in the Internet, which are integrations of various cultures. The culture, initially instilled by the family and society is largely dependent on the behaviors of the famous in the worldwide society, for example, celebrities such as actors, singers to mention but a few. Sometimes, it is not the right way to go since some of the famous people involve themselves with activities considered bad behaviors in their cultures. For instance, the issue of being gay was not welcome among many societies in the past. The family has suffered greatly due to the new developments. The parent’s obligation of teaching their children various things has been replaced by the presence of much information in the social networks. The set-up has changed, and children are more aware of their rights. The family formation has also changed, and there are more divorces, and part of the reasons they are happening is because of the some of the spouses met online, and probably did not get to know each other well. The issue of early pregnancy is also an indication of the deteriorating family values. Young teenagers are more likely to get sexual partners, and because of the decline in the family values, they get to a step of doing it. An institution like the church has suffered both positively and negatively. Positively, religion is in such a way that it can be spread to more people at a given time, but also negatively because there has been numerous group that have risen to criticize the churches through anti religion campaigns. Areas where certain religions had not reached have a chance of getting to them due to online social networks. Generally, religion is losing its popularity and many people are turning to different activities, even on days considered holy days. However, the impact of the social networks has not only been negative, as there is also the positive side of it. The rights of the people in the society have greatly been enhanced due to the ability to pressure political leaders through the social networks. A good example is the recent demonstration against president Mubarak of Egypt. Through these social networks, the demonstrators were able to fight any incidences of humiliation from the government forces that were opposed to the move. However, the social network sites also pose a problem as leaders can use t hem to fracture resisting groups. In a greater scale, this may be viewed as factionalization (Foley, 2003)Advertising Looking for essay on public administration? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The changing face and redefining of these social institutions Social institutions have undergone several changes that have changed the way they look, and how they are being defined. Due to the impact of social networks, they have gone through a transformation that has a good and a bad side. To start with, there is no limit geographically as to how much one can relate with other people; people from all regions and walks of life have a chance to participate actively in the modern-day activities, which is far much better as the traditional set up only involved a smaller group of people. The definition of the virtues has been left to the global community, changing the previous responsibility of the social institutions to define them and incorporating other cultures. The changes will ensure that diversity will be more upheld within these institutions as many of their values will need to incorporate views of many different people. How social institutions might change in future The institu tions are likely to change to a state that they will not be much of an influence to the people. Transpired by the fact that people’s way of life is changing dramatically, they will tend to demand less since they will not have the great control of the people’s minds like the past. There is also the risk that more people have a tendency to value social institutions lesser and lesser, and it may get to a point that they become extinct or less influential to the people. It may also be possible that there will not be much of a change in the social institutions as some people will tend to cling on the past as they view the past being more fun than the present day, as well as being more enjoyable as one is relating with real people rather than a computer. The importance of the social institutions towards the people might also change to a state that even the children who are born nowadays do not get to know even there extended families. Churches on the other hand, may transfor m to be achieves and it is evident in some countries that they are now becoming clubs as lesser and lesser people show up to attend them. Associations and reunions of these institutions may also turn out to a lower lever such that the coming generations may no have no idea they even existed and individualism be the order of the day. Technology might also build social institutions that people meet online and with time a tradition of the same might come up. Conclusion New developments and technologies are good since they make life more fun. However the society should not forget the past and the benefits accrued through having it. New social networks can be considered as necessary social evils because, however much they are destroying our social institutions in a big scale, they are also providing us other benefits that we cannot live without, once they are introduced to us. A good example is the education that children are learning; it is more explosive and with more content, which is opening up their mind to a greater knowledge of the world around them. We cannot also forget the fact that the world has been unified to one global village where people are sharing and receiving information in a matter of a short time. On the other hand, social institutions that have been in existence are the source of our identity, and people should strive to have a healthy relationship with their families, as well as the community. It is, therefore, our responsibility to strike a balance where we have balance relations in the social relations as well as healthy social institutions. List of References Eberly, D. E. (2000). The essential civil society reader: classic essays in the American civil society debate. Mary Land: Rowman Littlefield. Foley, W. M, Hodgkinson V. A. (2003). The civil society reader. Lafayette: University press of New England. Henderson, P. (2009). Supervisor Training: Issues and Approaches. London: Karnac Books.

Adolesent Drug Abuse Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Adolesent Drug Abuse - Essay Example This is because the two aspects are majorly social and should be successfully and affordably manageable through social initiatives. Controlling risk factors while promoting counter control measures should have, contrary to the current situation, led to minimal level of adolescent drug abuse cases. However, successful initiatives have not been achieved with respect to these useful tools of preventing and controlling substance abuse among the teens. Risk factors such as environmental change and aggressiveness as well as tools and avenues such as â€Å"family relationships, peer relationships, school environment, and community environment† have been identified for their potential role in controlling teen substance abuse and its eventual adverse effects (Physician, 2002, p. 16). However, persistent trend shows that the structures, family, society and school, have failed to utilize their leadership potential to help the adolescents out of drug abuse (Physician, 2002). The most interesting aspect of adolescent drug abuse is therefore the fact that in spite of its social, readily available, and affordable risk factors and control measures, successful efforts have not been made to identify with social structures’ commitment controlling adolescents’ drug

Article summary Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Article summary - Assignment Example company that lowers the price of its tickets will affect not only its own profitability but also the profitability of its competitors since a lower price will influence consumers’ decision making† (p.490). This way, this article relates to the concept of best-cost strategy. We know that best-cost strategy enables the producer to provide value-added products to consumers by lowering the prices and enhancing the value of the product. Unlike low-cost strategy, best-cost strategy focuses on a broader market and adds value to the product. Poh and Mohayidin (2011, p.494) state that â€Å"Value is what buyers are willing to pay and superior value stems from offering lower price than competitors for equivalent benefits.† This means that consumers will prefer to travel on that airline which has low ticket prices but provides the similar or even greater benefits than other competitor airlines. Here comes the concept of best-cost strategy. Airlines adopting the best-cost-str ategy will attract more consumers in the broader market as it eliminates customer changing preference behavior and enhances image positioning of the service provider. Poh, L.S., & Mohayidin, M.G. (2011). Competitive pricing strategies of low cost airlines in the perspective of game theory. International Conference on Sociality and Economics Development , 10, pp. 490-494. Retrieved March 12, 2014, from

Research on Author Bram Stoker Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

On Author Bram Stoker - Research Paper Example To be specific, the amalgamation of history, imagination and horror raises the novel Dracula to new heights of readership, and the novelist to popularity. Thesis statement: Bram Stoker’s writing style, with unique themes, symbols, metaphors, imagery, and character types, is symbolic of the Gothic horror genre in English Literature (special references to the novel Dracula). Short biography Bram Stoker was born in the year 1847, Clontarf in Ireland. His childhood was not so happy because he was forced to be bedridden due to sickness. Sue L. Hamilton states that Bram Stoker’s experiences (say, sickness) in his childhood helped him to be imaginative and creative as a writer (Hamilton 8). When he entered the Trinity College, he was able to overcome the past troubles. For instance, he proved himself as brilliant in athletics and academics. After graduation, Stoker entered the Irish Civil Service and remained as a civil servant for the next 10 years. His entry to the civil ser vice did not hinder him to make progress in his literary career. Besides, his relation with Henry Irving helped him to be in the limelight of Lyceum Theatre in London and his contribution to drama criticism was noteworthy. But Stoker was not ready to give up his ambition to be a writer and he decided to write novels. As pointed out, ill health in childhood and family influence in the early stages of life deeply influenced him and he was attracted towards horror novels. Carol A. Senf opines that Bram Stoker’s curiosity in learning science and horror maybe deeply rooted in his family background (Senf 50). For instance, one can easily identify that Stoker’s novels represent the horror (Gothic) novel genre in English Literature. Some of his novels are: The Snake's Pass (1890), Dracula (1897), Lair of the White Worm (1911), etc. After the marriage with Florence Balcombe in the year 1878, Stoker moved to London and worked as the manger of Lyceum Theatre, London. In London, S toker was able to be in the elite circle of writers. This relationship with writers like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle helped him a lot to fulfil his ambition to be a writer. Meanwhile, Stoker decided to conduct a world tour and visited the United States of America. The world tour boosted Stoker’s craftsmanship as a writer. For instance, in the United States of America, Stoker was able to meet Walt Whitman, one of his favourite writers. Besides, the American tour inspired him to select the same nation as the background of later works. Generally, Bram Stoker’s short stories and other novels apart from gothic novels are less appraised by critics. For instance, the novel Dracula is praised as one of the most important gothic novels in English Literature. Due to stereotyped characterization and less importance given to vividness, Stoker’s other works are generally less accepted. In addition, the high content of melodramatic elements that can be seen in Stoker’s nove ls and short stories reduce the scope of vivid characterization. But the craftsmanship shown by Stoker in describing places proves his craftsmanship as a novelist and short story writer. Bram Stoker passed away in 1912. Bram Stoker’s life history and his journey from Scotland to England are noteworthy because his profession as a theatre manger did not harm his ambition to be a writer. Instead, his profession boosted his ambition to b

Adam smith vs Karl marks philosophy economics contribution Essay Example for Free

Adam smith vs Karl marks philosophy economics contribution Essay To begin with, Smith came up with the concept of the ‘invisible hand’ (Communist (1848)). This concept was to explain that seeking self interest is not necessarily bad but it sought to explain the reality that people tend to act in their own self-interests. When individuals pursue their self interests, they promote without their knowledge the good of the community at large and so it can be said that an individual who wants to maximize their revenue maximizes the revenue of the society too. This liberty to customers to buy freely what they want and for the producers to produce what they want without any pressure enables the market to settle on a product distribution and prices that are beneficial to all individual members of the community. This liberty to both producers and consumers and the greed to maximize their interests, drives them into a behavior that is beneficial to all in that particular community. Due to this, producers are forced to employ methods of production that are efficient with an aim o maximize their profits. This leads to low prices that are meant to out do their competitors and this forces investors to go for firms that wants to maximize their profits and hence this works as mechanism of balancing. The invisible hand concept acts as the root of modern economics. A good example is the general equilibrium which states that if the economic forces are balanced in the absence of external influences, then the economic variables will not change. This requires that everything in the market beginning with pricing to production be controlled by the players in the market but not by other forces. These external forces may include among others the regulations that are imposed by the government or other organizations that may have a say on the market. According to the general equilibrium, when the prices are very low, then there is surplus supply and when the prices are very low, then there’s a shortage in supply. As a result of this, the situations tend to control themselves without the need for any regulator from outside. These outside forces in the market slow the rate at which the economy grows and they also lead to infancy in the division of labor. As a result of that need for self improvement, efficient division of labor is realized as well as improved efficiency in the economy. This concept is very much in use even in today’s economy . The modern market structure borrows greatly from the earlier ideas of natural monopoly by Adam Smith.( The Poverty of Philosophy human nature) The division of labor Division of labor is a clear indication of qualitative step towards increased productivity and so it acts as an engine that drives towards realization of economic progress. Smith realized that labor division and for that matter labor specialization would improve greatly on the concentration of workers on the duties they perform. This concentration would come as a result of doing a single task many times or repetitively. The need for improvements in productivity of the work force is said to be the root cause for labor division. According to Smith, labor division can lead to increased productivity. This productivity from the workers can be attributed to specialization in one task since specialization leads to greater skill on their particular subtasks compared to what would be accomplished by the same number of workers performing a broad task. For maximum productivity from workers, skills that they have should be matched with the corresponding equipments.   Most of today’s increase in productivity can be attributed to the matching of technological, human and physical capital and mostly in the manner in which they are organized. This means that laborers need to be equipped with the right skills so as to be effective in what they do compared to when there would be no job specialization and hence anybody could perform any job. Todays economics has borrowed greatly from these ideas from Adam smith. Many organization have realized the need to equip their employees and some even hire unskilled ones but pay for their acquisition of skills. Another outcome of labor division according to Adam smith is minimization of time that is wasted by employees when moving from one task to the other. A lot of time is wasted when people keep on relocating and this proves expensive to the company in the long run because they have to pay the employees. Through labor division, this time wastage is minimized . The modern concept of scientific management borrows greatly from Adam Smiths ideas .Scientific management emphasizes on the connection between activities and the transformation that occurs within the process. This is also supported by William Petty who notes and demonstrates its importance in the construction of Dutch ships. He admits that people with a particular task to perform had discovered new ways of doing their work which were later observed and justified by political writers on economy. (An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776) specialisation) The wages of labor Wages of labor are dictated by mostly by the availability of job vacancies and also by the availability of workforce. When there are many workers and the available vacancies are few, the amount of money the workers are paid usually fall. Likewise, when employers compete against one another and the labor supply is limited, the wages paid to the employees usually rises but its worthy noting that this process is made possible by unity among laborers and masters. This kind of unity enables laborers to come together and stop biding for jobs against each other hence making the employers increase the wages paid to them. Likewise when employers come together in unity and stop binding against each other, the wages fall. However, in places where the amount of labor is more compared to the amount of the amount of revenue that can used to pay for waged labor, the competition among the employees in greater than the competition between the employers. Smith argues that the amount of revenue must keep on increasing constantly compared to the amount of labor so that wages may remain high. Profits of stock too have an impact on the wages because the more money is spent on compensating labor; little is left for personal profit. This is clearly shown in countries where competition amongst employees is great compared to competition among employers, profits will be much higher. Due to these views, Smith attacks people who are politically aligned and try to use their political influence to manipulate the government and other powers into their bidding. Smith feared that people of this class could form a powerful block and take advantage of their closeness with the authorities into manipulating the state into enforcing certain regulations meant to serve their interests against the general interests. These would maker other players vulnerable and have no say in the way businesses were being conducted. According to other people the level of specialization brought about by division of labor was externally determined but in the contrary, Smith argued that it was the dynamic engine towards economic progress. Surprisingly, Smith himself criticizes the division of labor arguing that it leads to mental mutilation of the workers hence rendering them ignorant and insular because their lives are limited only to doing a single task many times. These ideas by Smith are incorporated into today’s discussions on economic issues. Human capital is one of the discussions in which Adams Smiths ideas are used. Human capital is one of the four types of capital that were identified by Adam as being important for the success of a company. As argued by Smith previously, human capital and the productive ability of the labor force is both dependant on the division of labor. It’s worthy noting that human capital includes skills, dexterity, and the ability to make the right decisions and human capital can be acquired through informal schooling and on the so called on-the-job training. These acquisitions of skills aimed at improving the effectiveness of the workforce are still practiced today by ma ny companies. (An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776) productivity) Adam Smith vs Karl Marx Both Adam Smith and Karl Marx shared a common idea and this common idea was their praise for capitalism .These two early pioneers of modern economics agreed that capitalism was the key in unleashing the productive powers. This argument stated that for the employees to be more productive, they needed to be subject to their bosses or seniors. If the employees were left to work at their own leisure these two men agreed that their productivity would be minimal and as a result, their employers would incur big losses. This created the need for competition among both the employers and the employees as well since this would keep these two parties on their feet through out. But despite these similarities in their in their views, there was differences in their ideas as well. Marx and Smith both seem to agree that capitalism is the ultimate driving force in profit maximization .New profits and value added, they seem to agree came as result of the employers paying the workers the exact value that is in the market for their labor capacity. But the sad thing was that in most cases, the market value of the goods which the workers produced exceeded that market value. This clearly means that the employers were making maximum profits while paying little to their workers. Both Marx and Smith agree that     there are different types of capital and they play different roles during production. Production Capitals include things like land, natural resources or raw materials and lastly technology. All the above named different classes of capital were dependant on each other in production. These two men seemed to agree also that social relations of production should not only be made up of relationships between individuals but rather should be between large groups of people or certain classes of people. These two men had the same idea of a free market. They described a free market as a market in which all prices of the goods that are on offer are decided by mutual consent between sellers and buyers   and also one   that did not mislead both the sellers as well as the buyers. They both argued that these two major people in the market, the buyer and the seller, should not be forced into making decision by an external party. The relationship between these two players should not be manipulated by any one but to the contrary, it should be left to obey the natural law of supply and demand. The difference between free and controlled markets is that   controlled markets are controlled by external forces These forces mostly refers to governments which may directly or indirectly try to have control of prices or the supplies in the market. One area where these two men seem to differ is their idea of job specialization. Smith advocates for specialization for jobs among workers. He argues that laborers who were assigned too many different duties were less productive than those who were assigned a specific task to perform day in day out. He says that this leads to efficient usage of time and it seeks to save time that is usually wasted by workers when moving from one task to another. But to the contrary, Karl Marx disapproves this idea arguing that job specialization could result to workers with more poor overall skills. This, as he says would be brought about by tendency of people to resist change. He also says that when people perform one task repeatedly, it may lead to boredom and make them less enthusiastic about their work. He describes this whole process as a kind of alienation. According to him, the more workers become specialized and do the same thing over and over, they later become totally alienated. Marx goes ahead to argue that division of labor brings with it spiritual depression to the workers. This means that the workers perform their duties feeling as if they are being forced other than doing out of their own will .This greatly lowers the morale of the workers and as a result lower their productivity. Physical tiredness or fatigue can be brought about by job specialization as Marx goes ahead to argue since they no longer feel like human beings but they feel more of machines. Contrary to the idea of Smith, Marx believes that fullness of production is very essential to human liberation goes on to say that he would accept the idea of a strict division of labor as a temporary necessary evil. These views can be said to be in total contrast to those expressed by Smith. Smith on his part believed that any business was a collection of inter related tasks that were aimed at solving a particular issue. So as to effectively do this, Smith argued that the workload should be divided into simple sets of tasks which could be done effectively by workers who were equipped with special skills for doing that particular job. It’s worthy noting that Smith, despite his advocating for division of labor, he does not advocate for achievement of labor division at all costs. It’s worthy noting that in contrast to Smith’s view which were only limited to functional domain only and were made up of activities that were direct in sequence as far as the manufacturing process is concerned, modern processes are very inclusive. It was as a result of his ideas that labor division was adopted. Today, we can clearly say that much of today’s practices in the job markets have bor rowed greatly from the ideas of Smith. In all organization, there is job specialization. This has led to the rise of departments in many organizations and each department is allocated certain workers who are in most cases equipped with certain skill to enable them perform specific duties .The sense in this whole exercise as argued by Smith is that it saves a great deal of time that could be wasted by employees when moving from one task to another. This proves very essential since no employer will want to waste his money employees without maximizing their productivity. However, it is good to note that Smith admits that seeking self interests is not always good. All he tried to do was trying to reverse believe that self interest is generally bad. He also intended to bring to the light the idea that wile human motives are selfish and greedy; the out come of these human behaviors would bring benefits to the whole community at large. This is the direct opposite of the ideas that Marx had .In his arguments; Marx says that the major struggles are always between the producers and those who work in the industries. Another of his greatest contribution to modern economics was his sharp distinction between the two types of division namely social and economic division of labor .If these two labor divisions are conflated, it might look as if labor division is inevitable rather than being constructed socially and influenced by power. (Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776) Karl Marx, The Poverty of Philosophy). References Edwin G. West, (1976)The Man and His Wor

Safety in plastic manufacturing

Safety in plastic manufacturing INTRODUCTION: Plastic manufacturing is becoming one of the most important fields in manufacturing (Makin 1987). All manufacturers are trying to reduce their cost by putting plastic into their machines or computers. Plastic Manufacturing started from producing combs and buttons till it reached different fields of production such as: automotive, medical equipments, aerospace, construction and consumer goods as well as toys and packaging. The most important threat that has been facing the advance of this technology is health and safety. Safety in plastic manufacturing is critical because you deal with different areas such as: the machinery, raw materials (generally petrochemical materials) which are mostly flammable and lately there has been environmental issues of concern arising from the manufacturing of plastics thats why It needs to be considered during the design phase of a factory before starting the manufacturing phase. With more and more automation and advanced machinery being applied to this industry, and greater application of new technologies being implemented with increased capability for providing flexibility to the process and operations, greater attention has to be given to safety. This research aims to capture what level of safety is there in plastic factories. And what it lacks for and what is needed to implement health and safety inside these factories and protect the workers and the owners of the factory in addition of comparing the cost of a safety program in a factory to the money spent in case accidents happen because of the low level of safety. The study will briefly review the impact of this industry on the environment and the importance of recycling to cut-down these impacts. Studies have been conducted in different industrial countries like: The United kingdom and The United States of America and comparing that to an industrial developing country like Saudi Arabia. KEY QUESTIONS: There are several questions to be exploded in this topic of research because as mentioned earlier safety in plastic factories is critical because it is attached to different sectors like: machinery, raw materials, and environmental issues. So the main question can be: How to implement a safe environment in a plastic factory? This main question can be specified by using the following questions: 1- What are the most common accidents and injuries that happen in plastic factories? 2- What are the reasons that cause accidents in plastic factories? 3- Why is plastic manufacturing threatening the environment? What are the solutions to reduce this risks and accidents caused by this industry? 4- How can you develop safety in plastic factories in developing countries like Saudi Arabia? AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: This research will aim to capture the main reason of accidents in plastic factories and how to implement health and safety in this industry in all phases. These aims can be specified to the following: * Decreasing the risks that plastic manufacturing causes in the environment, and developing the ways to prevent pollution caused by this industry such as plastic recycling. * Cutting down the number of accidents during work by applying advanced safety plans and precautions in Saudi Arabia. * Analysing the most common accidents and their reasons and link them together statically. * Implementing computers and networks in emergency management inside and outside the factories. Generally, this study will embrace the ways of having a healthy and safe environment in plastic factories and how to reduce accidents and risk that are caused by this industry. LITERATURE REVIEW: In 1868 John Wesly Hyatt developed plastic material called celluloid he used it to substitute ivory which was becoming more expensive and difficult to obtain after improvements ,from that plastic industry was born (Bryce 1999). During the next 40-50years others began to investigate this new process and used it for manufacturing. During 1940s the plastic injection moulding industry became more popular because of the demand created for inexpensive mass produced products after the World War II. The makers of Bakelite, the first synthetic plastic called it the material of the thousand uses and used the mathematical symbol of infinity [à ¢Ãƒâ€¹Ã¢â‚¬  Ãƒâ€¦Ã‚ ¾] as a trademark (Bryce 1999). In general applying safety to your factory and keeping your workers healthy and safe does not happen by chance there are different things to be done from electrical and machinery safety to dust handling requirements for example: careful management processes, commitment throughout the organisation in addition to safety management including risk assessments, engineering controls, and emergency procedures and training. Good management processes in plastic manufacturing includes carefully evaluating raw materials and implementing controls such as containers, safe handling procedures and use of appropriate personal protective equipment, because as mentioned before plastics are petrochemical materials that must be dealt with carefully. It is always recommended to have a good communication with the raw material companies in case any information is needed. Prevention of pollution is essential too; it can be by controlling techniques for emission such as optimising processing conditions for h andling and mixing dry additives and storing of these materials. Health and safety associations such as Health and Safety Executive (HSE) work to improve safety in a wide variety of sectors in this industry. Firstly, machines new or old should comply with its regulations and meet the requirements needed. About the workers; government regulations in Europe and North America require that operators be protected from moving parts of machinery, while machinery parts that require a tool to open must be opened by trained personnel following appropriate safety procedures (British Plastic Federation 2009; Health and Safety Executive 2009). To avoid hand injury which is almost 25-50% of the total injuries in this industry according to the HSE statistics survey, robots and automation are implemented to protect workers from injury during manual handling although it is difficult to eliminate manual handling but they are trying to cut it down. Safety of using these robots should be encountered too because there are not reliable and safe 100%.There are several accidents reported from using robots and automation, the first robot fatality occurred in Japan in 1981 the robot stabbed an employee to death the employee didnt use the safeguards (Makin 1987). Nearly 80 accidents in blow moulding factories were investigated by inspectors from HSE during 1986-1996.It was found that 50% of these accidents happen because inadequate or damaged safe guarding about another 25% were because of defeated safeguards (Health and Safety 2009). To avoid these kinds of accidents it is recommended to: provide the right safer guarding and check it is kept in the position and working effectively. Plastics are created by refining common petroleum products the most common are crude oil and natural gas. Fire in plastics manufacturing may generate black acrid smoke and poisonous gases including carbon monoxide. The fires may spread quickly and be difficult to extinguish. Sources of ignition should be controlled by prohibiting smoking and hot work in high risk areas. A key to safe operation is safety awareness and putting safety as a priority at all levels, from the operator to the manager. Mr.Seeberg the safety director at Clariant says that workers will notice if their site manager or supervisor is only concerned with the output or is also concerned with safety (Science Direct 2009). Before safety training can be effective, top management must show a clear commitment and interest in safety. Some managers say that their major concern is that they do not have the resources to have a full time safety person in this case they can rent a safety supervisor in-order to reduce the cost. In general the employers duties can be summarised in: * Making the workplace safe without risks to health. * Ensuring the plant and machinery are safe and that systems of work are set and followed. * Giving the information instructions, training and supervision necessary for health and safety. The successful implementation of management system for both occupational health and safety and return to work programmes will result in positive change in business and safety cultures in the industry and there will be a considerable opportunity to reduce costs in manufacturing. The plastic industry faced a lot of threats in its beginning a lot of people tried to link it with cancer. The waste and littering caused by plastic products in the world especially in sea shores (Meikle 1995).Plastic bags are light weight and moisture resistant meaning that it can float in air and water easily and travel long distances. Every year more than six million tons of trash is dumped into seas and oceans more than 80% are plastic like plastic bags and bottles. Sea creatures eat the plastic thinking it was food which can cause their death, some blamed plastic bags for the death of kids by suffocation too (Clean Up 2009). To avoid plastic waste and cut from its effects high fines are applied now; in the USA the cruise ship Royal Princess was fined  £311,000 for dumping 20 bags of garbage overboard( British Plastic Federation 2009). In-order to face these threats plastic associations are implementing recycling in every home so the impacts of this manufacturing can be prevented. Most of the plastics can be recycled and has its own way of recycling, thats why in the bottom of every plastic product you can find the initials for its name and type like PP for polypropylene and HDPE for high density polyethylene as shown below in Figure(1). In the UK five million tonnes of plastic are used annually only 19% is getting recycled but it is planned to reach 25%by 2010.There are a lot of benefits from recycling plastic, to sum it up we can say: less used plastic, less oil used for plastic production and less energy consumed which will affect the plastic industry positively. REASEARCH METHOD: In this part I will introduce the methods used in this study and explain the techniques used and where this research fit into. Generally this research is a combination of both methods; quantitative and qualitative which is also known as the mixed method. Firstly, the quantitative method which mostly deals with numerical data to develop theories and hypothesis (Creswell 2003). In-order to obtain information to develop the safety in plastic factories we are going to design questionnaires and surveys to seek answers for a couple of question that will help us fill the gap. Some of these questions are open-ended and that is where the qualitative method combines. Secondly the qualitative method is a method of inquiry used for different scientific and academic fields, traditionally in the social sciences, but also in market research (Creswell 2003). It also investigates how and when a decision can be made we will make some interviews with workers, factory managers, and people from health and safety organizations. Usually in social sciences quantitative research is contrasted with qualitative for the purpose of discovering meaning and models of relationships. Although when it comes to their aspects of scientific investigation there is a difference (Creswell 2003), it is said that both are attached and help each other as Kuhn (1961:152) says large amounts of qualitative work usually been prerequisite to fruitful quantification in the physical sciences. Qualitative research is used to explore a phenomenon and form theories then we can test these theories by using quantitative research. In this research in-order to obtain useful information that can help in applying health and safety in plastic factories and have a safe environment, we will have around 200 questionnaires distrubted to different types of people who in this industry such as: workers, engineers, managers, etc. There will be interviews with people from health and safety organisations in the UK, like the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Plastic Processors Health and Safety Liaison Committee (PPHSLC). Also there will be four factories from Saudi Arabia as case study and compare the safety of these factories to the safety requirements in the UK and try to develop the safety there to the same level in the UK. All the data taken from the questioners, survey, and interviews will be analysed by using SPSS to determine the relationships by manipulating factors thought to influence safety in plastic manufacturing. There are several studies done before in how plastic manufacturing is effecting the enviro nment we will see where these studies reached and modify their approaches. TIMETABLE: TASK DURATION Proposal Preparation 18Nov-1 Dec Literature Review 1Dec-1 March Fieldwork 1Feb-15 March Data Analysis 15 March-22 March Presentation 22 March-1 April Final Report 1 April-30 April CONCLUSION: As a conclusion for this study we will find the gaps in safety in plastic manufacturing and help having a safe environment by developing safety procedures and observe the threats that are effecting the environment. Also, the safety in plastic factories in Saudi Arabia will be studied, and determine what it lacks for and how can it be developed to reach the appropriate level of safety. As all studies in this field this study benefited from the relevance of previous researches and assumptions of many experts. The analysis of the data and surveys will show how much people are concerned about safety. Hope this study cans be effective in the development of safety in plastic manufacturing and helps other researches in the future in this topic to obtain what safety in plastic factories lacks. REFERENCES: British Plastic Federation (2009), Health and Safety [online] available from [21 November 2009] Bryce, Douglas M. (1999) Plastic Injection Moulding. Clean Up Australia Ltd (2009) Plastic Recycling Fact Sheet [online] available from [22 November 2009] Creswell, J.W. (2003) Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and mixed method approaches. Cross Plastics (2008) Domestic Recycling Symbols [online] available from [30 November 2009] Health and Safety Executive (2009) [online] available from [17 November 2009] Meikle, Jeffry I. (1995) American Plastic a Cultural History. Kuhn, T. (1961) The Function of Measurement in Modern Physical Science Makin, P. (1987) Safety in Advanced Manufacturing, Journal of Proceeding of the Advanced Manufacturing international seminar 14,(1) 1-4 Markarian, J. (2008) Worker Health And Safety in Plastics Compounding. Journal of Plastic Additives and Compounding [online] 10,(1) 26-29.Available from [28 November 2009]