Newspapers Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Newspapers - Assignment Example Although there are certain number of people, mainly of older age who still believe in reading newspaper for getting updated about what are happenings in and around the world the present generation of youth as well as people who remain busy in their respective jobs prefer internet or web to get updated about the news. The news brings about conflict, create difference of opinion among people which help them in a way to figure out what is right and what is wrong. The newspaper is a way by which people can gather information about what is happening all across the globe. In the era of technological advancement newspaper still have its importance as in the developing and developed countries people still have to rely on print media to get details about the happening across the world. But, in addition to that in the developed countries, print media have to come up with new innovative ideas to survive as the internet is more of a common thing in those countries, so dependency on the newspaper in now reducing in those countries. 2. PEST Analysis: Definition, Purpose and Business Benefit: Generally PEST analysis associated with the external factors that affect any company’s overall performance. ... According to them, these four factors differ in different countries but a proper PEST analysis always helps an organization perform better in the competitive world (Analoui & Karami, 2003, 74). According to Kotler (1998), PEST analysis is a productive strategic tool for analyzing market growth or decline, business situation, potential and course for operations. According to his analysis, PEST analysis is helpful because there are continuous changes taking place in the society which creating an uncertain environment and also have its impact on the performance of the organization. The use of PEST analysis is helpful for the organization in strategic planning, developing its marketing strategies, for business development as well. 3. PEST analysis for the newspaper industry in the developed economies: With the continuously developing technologies and availability of internet facilities in almost every household of the economically developed countries, it is a crunch time for the print me dia to look closely to their marketing, promotional strategies and if needed have to make necessary changes. Political aspects: From the very beginning newspaper plays an important role in setting up the political mode of any civilization. By virtue of the reports published in newspapers regarding different political party’s agenda, thought process people decide whom to choose or support. On the other hand, political situation of any country also help the newspaper industry to blossom. Stable political condition, freedom to express views, access to all political parties and leaders, support from them at the crunch time all help the newspaper industry to do its job effectively that is providing good and true

Discussion Question Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 11

Discussion Question - Essay Example Personally, the author thinks that utilitarianism should be observed which means for the benefit of the majority. The concept supporting it is called teleological theory. It is the ethical theory that focuses on the end result which is in favor of the majority (Timby 44). In addition, fidelity and justice must be observed in rescuing those people in the hospital. Both principles are important as the former provides a work-related commitment of nurses while the latter provides an indiscriminate way of helping others (Ibid 46). 3. It may be risky but saving lives should be the priority. Self-interest may be put aside, but it does not mean that the lives of the five people in that situation must be ended. They may look for alternatives in helping them like calling the nearest fire brigade and disaster response team. In addition, the doctor and Peter must follow the example of Margaret in saving the lives of other patients. Doctors must also ensure the interest of the patients before their own as it is part of their oath and core values. On the other hand, Peter also has a responsibility in saving the patients since it is part of his duty to prepare any rescue and evacuation procedures in case of emergencies. 4. The possible consequences may be the deaths of those who went down to rescue the remaining patients in the damaged hospital. Recent hurricane has destroyed the hospital together with the crashing helicopter. On the other hand, it is also possible that more lives will be saved without any casualties if there would be other rescuers. 5. The alternatives can be prioritized by following the values that must be rendered by the profession in saving lives and prioritizing the welfare of the patients. It is quite normal for people to become scared and risk their lives since they may die in the process. It may be overcome by allowing the utilitarian perspective to be the guide in decision-making. 6. The doctor and Peter must follow the

Sabine Women Essay Example for Free

Sabine Women Essay David began planning the work while he was imprisoned in the Luxembourg Palace in 1795. France was at war with other European nations after a period of civil conflict culminating in the Reign of Terror and the Thermidorian Reaction, during which David had been imprisoned as a supporter of Robespierre. David hesitated between representing either this subject or that of Homer reciting his verses to the Greeks. He finally chose to make a canvas representing the Sabine women interposing themselves to separate the Romans and Sabines, as a sequel to Poussins The Rape of the Sabine Women. David began work on it in 1796, after his estranged wife visited him in jail. He conceived the idea of telling the story, to honour his wife, with the theme being love prevailing over conflict. The painting was also seen as a plea for the people to reunite after the bloodshed of the revolution. Its realization took him nearly four years. The painting depicts Romuluss wife Hersilia – the daughter of Titus Tatius, leader of the Sabines – rushing between her husband and her father and placing her babies between them. A vigorous Romulus prepares to strike a half-retreating Tatius with his spear, but hesitates. The rocky outcrop in the background is the Tarpeian Rock, a reference to civil conflict, since the Roman punishment for treason was to be thrown from the rock. According to legend, when Tatius attacked Rome, he almost succeeded in capturing the city because of the treason of the Vestal Virgin Tarpeia, daughter of Spurius Tarpeius, governor of the citadel on the Capitoline Hill. She opened the city gates for the Sabines in return for what they bore on their arms. She believed that she would receive their golden bracelets. Instead, the Sabines crushed her to death with their shields, and she was thrown from the rock which since bore her name.[original research?] In 1799 David exhibited the The Intervention of the Sabine Women at the Louvre, where it attracted a large number of paying visitors until 1805. After the expulsion of artists including David from the Louvre, the picture could be found in the ancient church of Cluny, which he used as a workshop. In 1819 he sold the Sabines and his LÃ ©onidas at Thermopylae to the Royal Museums for 10,000 francs.

The Lewis Model

The Lewis Model Describe the Lewis model as a model for structural change. How does the Harris-Todaro model of rural-urban migration differ from the assumptions and the outcomes of the Lewis model? Economic growth refers to the increasing productive capacity of the country, which results in an increase in productive output and national income. There are numerous theories relating to economic growth and impacts as a result growth. Rural to urban migration has played an important role in growth and has resulted in structural change of an economy. Structural change can be defined as change in the sectors of an economy over a time series. Specific to this The Lewis model demonstrates when underdeveloped economies convert their traditional economic sectors in rural areas into a modern, industrialised urban areas (Todaro, Smith; 2009). The Lewis model is one of two approaches that are based on the structural transformation. The model is based on two sectors and the relationship between the supply and transition of labour and its resulting impact upon development. The Harris-Todaro model focuses upon incomes between rural and urban areas and how they vary, it states that income levels are seen as higher in urban areas which influence migration to the area. Principally, the essence of both models link back to the development of urban areas, and the migration process, however, the assumptions of each model varies which impacts upon the results. The Lewis model, also known as the two or dual sector model, was developed by Nobel Laureate W. Arthur Lewis in the 1950s, nevertheless it is still used 60 years on. There are two main aims of the model firstly the transfer of labour, and secondly the impact upon the modern sector through growth of output and employment. One of the two sectors discussed in this model is the traditional agricultural sector in rural areas. The second sector is the industrialised urban area. Labour supply extracted from the traditional agricultural rural area does not affect its output as it is transferred to the modern industrial urban sector. The marginal product of labour is defined as the change in productivity that occurs from a one unit change in labour. The reason as to why output is not affected is due to the marginal productivity of labour being zero due to the overpopulation, which is a key characteristic in the rural area, and thus leading to a surplus of labour. Urban industrialised sector i s characterised by high productivity. The diagram below of the Lewis model illustrates the impact of the transfer of labour on both the traditional and modern sector. I will first discuss the traditional sector diagram (1a and 1b). Diagram 1a demonstrates that as quantity of labour increases total food production increases. This is until a certain point, where it then stabilises and levels off, due to restrictions at this level by labour. Using the total product curve we can then derive the marginal product of labour and the average product of labour. The dashed line passing through both diagrams illustrate the level of labour accessible in the rural economy. Firstly, as discussed previously due to surplus of labour, the diminishing marginal product of labour is zero which is reflected in the diagram. The average product (APLA) of labour is calculated by using the total product of food and dividing it by the labour available, thus giving us the a level of WA food per person. WA represents the real wage income earned in t he agricultural sector. The surplus labour which is transferred to the modern sector can be illustrated by the red arrows in diagram 1b. The next set of diagrams (2a and 2b) focuses on the modern industrial sector. Diagram 2a illustrates the total product of manufacturing curves for three different levels of labour. The total product of manufacturing is a function of capital (KM) and labour (L). The marginal product of labour can be interpreted as demand curves for labour. WA represents average real income in the traditional sector in 1b, whereas WM is the real income in the modern sector. The supply curve in the diagram is completely horizontal, this suggests a perfectly elastic supply, and this would link well with the surplus labour (shown in figure 1b). The demand curve for labour is negatively sloping this is due to declining marginal product influencing. This is highly likely due to the assumption of the modern sector to employ until marginal physical product is equal to real wage (L1 on diagram). The KM curves also represents demand, it rises from KM1 to KM2 and KM3. This is due to the reinvestment assumption t hat the Lewis model makes, increasing capital stock and in the long run economic growth. The process then continues up until a point where the surplus labour is transferred to modern industrialised sector. After the self sustaining growth process has stopped, labour from the rural sector will only be transferred at a higher cost of lost food production. One of the key changes is that the marginal product of labour is no longer zero in the rural sector. The structural shift of the rural economic reliance to the urban industrial sector is complete. An essential idea to consider before discuss the next model is that rural to urban migration has become extremely high, this could affect the probability of employment opportunities and also the impact upon social services of the developing urban area. A model which can explain this relationship between rural urban migration and rising unemployment is the Harris Todaro model. The model states that income is the primary influence the decision making process of migrants, and that they do not consider the difference between expected and actual income they might receive. If the potential income earned in the urban sector is more than expected income in the rural agricultural sector, the higher income would draw the workers to migrate from rural to urban. This would suggest that the only reason for migration is to get higher paid jobs. This process should indeed result in the income difference narrowing due to the interactions of supply and demand. However, the likelihood of this occurrin g is small, due to high unemployment in urban areas many people have to settle for jobs in the low paid informal sector. Skilled labour and labour with a greater level of education are likely to get better jobs for a good pay in the formal sector. However, it is never guaranteed and many could be over skilled for the job they are doing. Time horizons can be an important factor to consider when making rational decisions. If a worker only considers the current time frame it is highly unlikely that he or she would enter employment at a higher wage than in rural areas. However, the probability would increase if the future likelihood of getting a job is considered. The worker may plan that initially pay is low and the job is fairly low skilled, nevertheless, in time skills improve, connections develop and the job is likely to improve and the probability of a higher income also increases. In this model urban incomes would have to be equated in order for migration from rural to urban to be seen as unbeneficial. Expected income considers two factors; wages and unemployment. If wages in urban areas are higher than rural, the unemployment rate would have to be in accordance to the percentage difference in income. However, there are seen to be more benefits than income in the urban areas, therefore even though unemployment rate may be chronically high people still do attempt to migrate for better quality of life. The diagram above includes two main sectors; agriculture in the rural area and manufacturing in the urban area. The line AA represents labour demand for the agricultural sector and MM for the manufacturing sector. Total labour force is on the horizontal axis from OA to OM. The equilibrium wage is thus at the point where the AA and MM curves cross, E on the diagram. However, if wages in the manufacturing industry is set higher than agriculture at a level WM, the difference from the equilibrium (E) wage rate for agriculture (WA*) is high. When considering the impact of this upon labour it would mean less labour would be able to find jobs in the urban area. From LM to OM to be exact, on the diagram highlights urban area employment, thus leaving OA to LM as rural labour or even unemployment at wage WA**. Nevertheless, many people still chance for employment at a higher wage and migrate to urban areas. The line qq shows the line of indifference between rural and urban sectors for jobs. Th is is calculated by using a formula which shows probability of the likelihood of finding a job in the urban area and the rate at which it is able to equate agricultural income with potential income earned in urban areas (Todaro, Smith; 2009). This results in the equilibrium shifting to point F on the diagram, this lowers the wage from WM bar to WA. However, the labour gap is not reduced, OA to LM is still employment in rural areas or unemployment; as urban labour is LM OM. Thus illustrating the reason as to why unemployment in urban area occurs, people risk migrating in order to achieve a higher wage. However, the probability of finding a well paid job in the formal sector is very low. Describe both models in detail, with graphs Compare and contrast the assumptions and how they shape the outcomes.

Essay --

In the short story â€Å"Going to Meet the Man† by James Baldwin, Baldwin pushes the boundaries of racism and cultural repression. Jesse is white deputy sheriff who is sexually frustrated in bed with his wife Grace when he cannot develop an erection. For the first time he is suffering from insomnia and he begins to have flashbacks of the many interactions he has had with the black race. He starts to tell his wife of an earlier incident he had with a group of black protesters who would not stop singing. While the sheriffs are arresting the protesters, Jesse takes the â€Å"ring leader† of the group to a cell and beats him repeatedly with a prod in order to force him to stop the singing. As Jesse heads for the cell door, the boy reminds him of his pass when he once disrespected his auntie, Old Julia. This channels the many flashbacks he has to understand why he sexually repressed with violence and has grown to be racist. Baldwin conveys that violence and pain manifests th emselves in each generation because families teach them through household values and societal expectations. Jesse first lesson was his childhood friend, Otis. Jesse was not always violent towards the black race as he was in the jail cell with that black, battered body. As a child, he looked beyond race and his black friend Otis was just a boy to him: â€Å"He had a black friend, eight, who lived nearby. His name was Otis. They wrestled together in the dirt† (1756). Baldwin shows that Jesse and Otis are simply friends. Jesse plays with Otis because he did not care about his race but he just wanted to be a kid and have fun. Shortly following the friendly interaction with Otis, Jesse started his transition from child to the chauvinistic man he is now. Soon young Jesse realizes that... ...oked to them for courage now† (1754). Jesse’s prior experiences provoke him to believe that through violence towards the colored race was the epitome of being a man. It was because of his father and his friends, which forms the racial tension he has with colored race and the moral value of white supremacy. Overall, racism and social repression is a pending issue that has yet to cease. Racism has become the face of American history because of the belief structure and family morals built on hatred of one another. This leads to societies broken and has become the most common setback of modern society. The use of violence and pain has manifest through generations, teaching whites to be superior and allowing blacks to be use to common oppression. If the world fails to reprimand the issue, generations will grow to believe the unrealistic morals that have shaped America.

Classification Essay - Exercise Partners -- Classification Essays

Classification of Exercise Partners Every woman's magazine I've ever read gives its readers advice on exercising, and one of the most common tips I've seen is to find a partner to exercise with. In my experience, however, having an exercise partner is not a good idea. I have encountered five types of exercise partners, and I have concluded that it is definitely best to exercise alone. The Drill Sergeant My ex-boyfriend represents the Drill Sergeant. He is one of those people whose motto is "No pain, no gain." Of course, he assumes that everyone else follows this decree as well. He will try to push you to the limit every time you exercise with him, and can become nasty if you give up before he thinks you should. I refused to exercise with him after a few bad jogging experiences. I had expected that we would start slowly and only go for a short run. What a mistake! I was faltering after only a mile or so, and my ex took it personally that I wanted to stop. He started yelling things like "What are you? A quitter?" and, "You can't give up already!" I believe he was trying to inspire me, but his remarks had the reverse effect. I gave up immediately. The Drill Sergeant feels he must whip you into shape. He probably would, if you could stand being around him for that long. The Coach The Coach is closely related to the Drill Sergeant but has a gentler approach. The Coach feels you need guidance to perform to your potential. My former roommate was the coach. She would cheer me on with phrases like, "You can do it!" and, "Just a little further!" Had I actually been on some sort of sports team with her as my coach, the comments would have been perfectly acceptable. They were meant to be words of encouragement, but they only ... ...e and didn't want to get out of bed early. On day four her ankle was bothering her. On day five she was coming down with a cold. By day six, I had given up on my sister and was striking out on my own once again. It is possible to exercise with Lazy Bones if you catch her at the right time. If and when you figure out what this time is, please let me know. I have yet to piece that puzzle together. Most people do not enjoy exercising. Why make it any less enjoyable by exercising with someone who will ultimately annoy you? All people are different, and with that comes different levels of physical fitness. It is nearly impossible to be on the exact level that someone else is at any given moment. When you are alone, you can set a pace comfortable for you. There are no outside pressures to worry about and no others to depend on. I have concluded it's the only way to go.

Presocratic Philosophy Essay

Although Aristotle’s statement is too slight to serve as a sure foundation for judgment, it seems more likely that Thales was arguing for the broader presence of life forces in the world than most people imagined, rather than that the real in its totality is alive. Anaximander Thales’ younger contemporary from Miletus, Anaximander, born toward the end of the seventh century B. C. E. , found the explanatory principle of things in what he called ‘‘the apeiron,’’ a word that might be translated as ‘‘the indefinite,’’ ‘‘the boundless,’’ or both. This opens up the possibility that the apeiron is both immeasurably large in its temporal and physical extent and also qualitatively indefinite in that it is without measurable inner boundaries. The apeiron is further described, according to Aristotle, as being ‘‘without beginning,’’ ‘‘surrounding all things,’’ ‘‘steering all things,’’ ‘‘divine,’’ ‘‘immortal,’’ and ‘‘indestructible. ’’Some have inferred that Anaximander’s barely concealed purpose was Western philosophy’s first attempt at demythologization. Equally striking is Anaximander’s description of the universe as a closed, concentric system, the outer spheres of which, by their everlasting motion, account for the stability of our earth, a drum-shaped body held everlastingly in a state of equipoise at the center. Whatever the inadequacy in certain details (the stars are placed nearer to the earth than the moon), with Anaximander the science of cosmological speculation took a giant step forward. As far as life on earth is concerned, Anaximander offered another striking hypothesis. The first living things, according to him, were ‘‘born in moisture, enclosed in thorny barks’’ (like sea urchins), and ‘‘as their age increased, they came forth onto the drier part’’ (as phrased by Aetius [first to second century C. E. ]). Pythagoras Although we know that Pythagoras was a historical figure, it is difficult to determine exactly what Pythagoras himself taught. He wrote nothing, and the ideas of other members of the community were attributed to him as a sign of respect and as a way of lending weight to the ideas. Plato and Aristotle rarely assign ideas to Pythagoras himself, although Pythagorean ideas seem to have influenced Plato’s philosophy. Pythagoreans asserted that number is the first principle of all things. They were the first systematic developers of mathematics in the West and discovered that natural events could be described in mathematical terms, especially as ratios. To the Pythagoreans, the â€Å"principle of number† accounted for everything. Number was a real thing. Somehow, numbers existed in space, not just as mental constructs. According to Pythagorean doctrine, the entire universe is an ordered whole consisting of harmonies of contrasting elements. The Greek for â€Å"ordered whole† is cosmos. The Pythagoreans were the first philosophers to use the term cosmos to refer to the universe in this way. The â€Å"celestial music of the spheres† is the hauntingly beautiful phrase the Pythagoreans coined to describe the sound of the heavens as they rotate according to cosmic number and harmony. Xenophanes A fourth Ionian philosopher, Xenophanes of Colophon, born around 580 B. C. E. , s the first we know of to overtly attack the anthropomorphism of popular religious belief, in a series of brilliant reductio ad absurdum arguments. His own view has been understood, ever since Aristotle, as pantheistic. Xenophanes was also the first philosopher we know of to ask what degree of knowledge is attainable. In B34 we read: ‘‘the clear and certain truth no man has seen, nor will there be anyone who knows about the gods and what I say about all things. ’’ Several ancient critics took this to be an indication of Xenophanes’ total scepticism. On this basis of moderate empiricism and scepticism, Xenophanes offered a number of opinions of varying plausibility about the natural world, one of which—a strong, evolutionary interpretation of the discovery on various islands of fossils of marine animals—is enough to constitute a major claim to fame in natural philosophy and ranks with his other significant steps in epistemology (the theory of knowledge dealing with what we know, how we know it, and how reliable our knowledge is), logic (the study of rational inquiry and argumentation), and natural theology (the attempt to understand God from natural knowledge). Heraclitus One of the most important and enigmatic of the Presocratics, Heraclitus (fl . 500 b. c. e. , d. 510–480 b. c. e. ), said that ignorance is bound to result when we try to understand the cosmos when we do not even comprehend the basic structure of the human psyche (soul) and its relationship to the Logos. The complex Greek word logos is intriguing. It could and at times did mean all of the following: â€Å"intelligence,† â€Å"speech,† â€Å"discourse,† â€Å"thought,† â€Å"reason,† â€Å"word,† â€Å"meaning,† â€Å"study of,† â€Å"the record of,† â€Å"the science of,† â€Å"the fundamental principles of,† â€Å"the basic principles and procedures of a particular discipline,† â€Å"those features of a thing that make it intelligible to us,† and â€Å"the rationale for a thing. † The Heraclitean capital L Logos is like God, only without the anthropomorphizing (humanizing) of the earlier philosophers and poets who attributed human qualities to the gods. According to Heraclitus’s impersonal view of God, the Logos is a process, not an entity. As such, the Logos is unconcerned with individuals and human affairs, in much the same way that gravity affects us but is unconcerned with us. More radically yet, Heraclitus asserted that even though things appear to remain the same, â€Å"Change alone is unchanging. † Traditionally, it has been held that Heraclitus went so far as to claim that everything is always changing all the time. But whether he really meant that everything is always changing, or that individual things are held together by energy (change), remains unclear. Anaximenes Anaximander’s younger contemporary, Anaximenes, who lived during the sixth century B. C. E. appears to revert to a prior and less sophisticated vision in claiming that the earth, far from being a drum-shaped body held in equipoise at the center, is flat and ‘‘rides on,’’ supported by air. The same might be said of his contention that the basic, ‘‘divine’’ principle of things was not some indefinite entity but something very much part of our experience; namely, air. Anaximenes’ view would also no doubt have seemed to be corroborated by the fact that the universe, commonly understood as a living thing and hence needing a soul to vivify it, possessed in air that very ‘‘breath’’ that for most Greeks constituted the essence of such a soul. Parmenides Parmenides of Elea (fift h century b. c. e. ) radically transformed the early philosophers’ interest in cosmology, the study of the universe as a rationally ordered system (cosmos), into ontology, the study of being. By common agreement he was the giant among the pre-Socratics. According to Parmenides, none of his predecessors adequately accounted for the process by which the one basic stuff of the cosmos changes into the many individual things we experience every day. In his search for a solution to the problem of â€Å"the one and the many,† Parmenides turned to a reasoned analysis of the process of change itself. According to Parmenides, all sensations occur in the realm of appearance. This means that reality cannot be apprehended by the senses. Change and variety (the many) are only appearances; they are not real. If this is true, then our most commonly held beliefs about reality are mere opinions. The senses cannot recognize â€Å"what is,† much less can they discover—observe—it, ever. In other words, whatever we see, touch, taste, hear, or smell is not real, does not exist. Perhaps most unsettling of all, Parmenides â€Å"solved† the problem of the appearance of change by concluding—in direct opposition to Heraclitus’s insistence that everything is always changing—that the very concept of change is self-contradictory. What we think of as change is merely an illusion. The logic runs as follows: â€Å"Change† equals transformation into something else. When a thing becomes â€Å"something else,† it becomes what it is not. But since it is impossible for â€Å"nothing† (what is not) to exist, there is no â€Å"nothing† into which the old thing can disappear. (There is no â€Å"no place† for the thing to go into. ) Therefore, change cannot occur. Empedocles posited, against Parmenides, change and plurality as features of reality, but affirmed the eternality of anything that is real; the sphere-like nature of the real when looked at as a totality and the fact that the real is a plenum, containing no ‘‘nothingness’’ or ‘‘emptiness’’. Anaxagoras likewise posited change, plurality, and divisibility as features of reality, yet also affirmed the eternality of the real (understood by him as an eternally existent ‘‘mixture’’ of the ‘‘seeds’’ of the things currently constituting the world, rather than the eternal combinings and recombinings, according to certain ratios of admixture, of four eternally existent ‘‘roots’’ or elemental masses). Leucippus Leucippus of Miletus (c. fi ft h century b. c. e. ) and Democritus of Abdera (c. 460–370 b. . e. ) argued that reality consists entirely of empty space and ultimately simple entities that combine to form objects. T is materialistic view is known as atomism. Leucippus is credited with being the originator of atomism and Democritus with developing it. Rather than reject Parmenides’ assertion that change is an illusion, Leucippus argued that reality consists of many discrete â€Å"ones ,† or beings. Zeno Zeno, who was born early in the fifth century B. C. E. , was a friend and pupil of Parmenides. In his famous paradoxes he attempted to show by a series of reductio ad absurdum arguments, of which the best known is perhaps that of Achilles and the tortoise, the self-contradictory consequences of maintaining that there is a real plurality of things or that motion or place are real. The prima facie brilliance of many of the arguments continues to impress people, though it soon becomes clear that the paradoxes turn largely on the failure or unwillingness of Zeno, like so many Pythagoreans of the day, to distinguish between the concepts of physical and geometrical space. Zeno’s way of constructing the problem makes it seem that his primary object is to defame pluralists by attacking the logical possibility of explaining how there can be motion in the world. Gorgias Gorgias has achieved fame for the stress he laid upon the art of persuasion (‘‘rhetoric’’), although whether he wrote the baffling On What Is Not as a serious piece of persuasive reasoning or as some sort of spoof of the Eleatic philosophy of Parmenides and others remains disputed. Its basic, and remarkable, claim is prima facie, that nothing in fact is (exists /is the case [esti] or is knowable or conceivable. Any exiguous plausibility that the arguments supporting this claim possess turns on our overlooking Gorgias’s failure, witting or unwitting, to distinguish carefully between knowing and thinking, along with his various uses of the verb ‘‘to be. ’’ If the failure was witting, the document can be seen as a skillful device for the spotting of fallacies as part of training in rhetoric and basic reasoning. If it was unwitting, Gorgias still emerges as what he was claimed to be—a deft rhetorical wordsmith on any topic proposed to him. Protagoras Perhaps the greatest of the Sophists was Protagoras of Abdera (481– 411 b. c. e. ). Protagoras was an archetypal Sophist: an active traveler and first-rate observer of other cultures who noted that although there are a variety of customs and beliefs, each culture believes unquestioningly that its own ways are right—and roundly condemns (or at least criticizes) views that differ from its own. Based on his observations and travels, Protagoras concluded that morals are nothing more than the social traditions, or mores, of a society or group. The details of Protagoras’s beliefs remain disputed. When he said, for example, that ‘‘anthropos [humanity] is a/the measure for all things, of things that are, that they are, and of things that are not, that they are not,’’ it is unclear whether he is talking about one person or the sum total of persons; about ‘‘a’’ measure or ‘‘the’’ measure (there is no definite article in Greek); or about existence or states of affairs or both. The Platonic reading in the Theaetetus, which takes ‘‘anthropos’’ as generic and ‘‘measure’’ as exclusive, led to the assertion that the logical consequence was total (and absurd) relativism. ______________________________ References: The Columbia History of Western Philosophy. Richard H. Popkin. Columbia University Press. 1999. Archetypes of Wisdom: An Introduction to Philosophy. 7th ed. Douglas J. Soccio. Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. 2010.