Aesthetic Values and Objects Essay

1.When looking at the differences between cultural, natural, and truly aesthetic objects, it’s relatively easy to define each in their own ways. Cultural objects differ from natural objects in the sense that cultural objects have been placed in an artistic manner by, and for the human population, whereas natural objects are in the most basic term, objects placed by nature for no other external reason. For instance, a bed of rocks laying among a path, strewn out for an artistic affect is considered a cultural object, where bedrock randomly strewn across a certain area, without being altered by a person or persons, is considered a natural object. In other words, a tree, planted and grown naturally is considered a natural aesthetic object. A table, in its own right, will be a cultural object, as it is used for mankind’s benefit, and also used for artistic effect is considered cultural; whereas a wooden sculpture will be considered aesthetic in its nature as a purely artist ic object. What all these objects have in common is the fact that all consists out of wood, and that all can be considered as either natural, cultural, or truly aesthetic objects. 2.Aesthetics is not easily definable when looking at the different values that can be used to describe the object in question. There are two different forms of aesthetic value namely Inherent and Consequential value. If an object has value in, and for itself, it is considered as Inherent value. Pleasure, for instance, has inherent value because please is sought in and for itself. If an object has value because of its consequences, it has consequential value. This involves anything from an action or a still-standing object meant for something. Friendship, for instance, is consequential because we value it because it a means of pleasure, and not necessarily pleasure itself. A popular saying goes: â€Å"to each his own,† and that is exactly the problem it comes down to when attempting to define the aesthetic. As explained in study guide, whatever reason I would consider something to be interesting and beautiful could be used by someone else to define the exact opposite. For instance, I would say that a movie’s vehicle chase scenes were the scenes that made the movie as incredible as it is, but then a friend of mine would mention that it was those exact scenes that made the movie too boring to bare. By merely saying â€Å"beauty is in the eye of the beholder† one has to ask â€Å"what is the definition of beauty†, and it is there where everyone else seem to have different opinions. Marcia Eaton manages to explain this point by giving the following examples: â€Å"What a movie – one car chase after another!† â€Å"I know, I was bored to death.† and â€Å"The lyrics were so romantic!† â€Å"Yes, that’s exactly why they were so sentimental.† We all have different opinions, based somewhat on the different kinds of cultural backgrounds we have, and how we were raised. This is another factor that has to be considered when we are trying to understand one-another’s aesthetic value towards certain objects. 3.Certain conditions have to be met when applying aesthetic value to certain objects. First, one has to consider if the object truly is cultural, or natural. After that has been considered, you have to think of the reason why the object in question appeals to you the way it does. The problem of defining the aesthetic is what concerns us here. Like all definitions this problem is bound with the criteria for the application of defenitions. This means specifying the conditions for when it is justified to apply the concept of â€Å"aesthetic† to any particular object. – [THL801-U/1/2008-2010] A necessary condition is a condition that must be met for the concept to be applied. For example, a necessary condition for something to be a horse is that it is an animal. A sufficient condition is a condition which, if met, alone suffices for the concept to be applied. For example, a sufficient condition for something to be an animal is that it is an animal. Some conditions can either be necessary and sufficient, or sufficient but not necessary, or even necessary but not sufficient. In other words, the definition of a concept is to give its meaning, and to give its meaning tells us what condition the object must meet for the concept to apply to it.

John Boyne’s The Boy in the Striped Pajamas: Holocaust from a Child’s Perspective Essay

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne is a story that tells of the holocaust through the eyes of a child, Bruno, a boy who discovers a peculiar friend that lives a strange existence on the other side of the adjoining wire fence. The important ideas presented in the novel are cruelty, discrimination, and abusive power, the holocaust from a child’s perspective and the misinterpretations from a child who gradually discovers the world to be not as enjoyable as he thought. Using some of these ideas listed above the storyline of the book gradually becomes more evident and keeps you interested in the book to finding that the story is of the holocaust and how the Jews were once treated, last century. Cruelty and racism is the most important idea being expressed in the book. The Nazi’s were cruel to the Jews by keeping them in concentration camps where they were beaten, starved, threatened, gassed, burned and forced to work day in and day out, it impossible for them to earn a living. The way they treated the Jewish race was all because making the Nazi people purely didn’t like them, which is racist because they had no other reason for their murderous behaviour toward them. One example of cruelty recognised is on page 208, in the last few pages of the book where the meaning behind the whole story begins to be more obvious. â€Å"In fact everywhere he looked, all he could see was two different types of people: either happy, laughing, shouting soldiers in their uniform or unhappy, crying people in their striped pyjamas, most of whom seemed to be staring into space as if they were actually asleep. ‘I don’t think I like it here,’ said Bruno. † This part in the book clearly states that Bruno is beginning to feel uneasy with where he is, and recognise that the Jewish people aren’t actually having fun on the other side of the fence but for some reason are unhappy, due to what we work out ourselves, the cruel and inhumane way that they were being treated. Abusive power is another significant issue presented in the book. Many characters in the story have abused their power, three being Lieutenant Kotler, when he physically abuses Pavel on page 148, a Jew who clumsily makes a small fault and knocks over a wine bottle in front on lieutenant Kotler, and the soldier takes him into the other room and beats him. â€Å"What happened then was both unexpected and extremely unpleasant. Lieutenant Kotler grew very angry with Pavel and no one – not Bruno, not Gretel, not Mother and not even Father – stepped in to stop him doing what her did next, even though none of them could watch. Even though it made Bruno cry and Gretel grow pale. † The fact that Pavel was being beaten made Bruno feel uncomfortable to even be in the room, making it obvious that lieutenant Kotler had abused his power. The second one is Gretel, Bruno’s older sister; she did this several times in the book by constantly criticizing him because of his age and height, which really lowered Bruno’s self esteem. The last and third example is that of Bruno’s parents, as they did not allow Bruno to have a say or choice in moving homes. All Bruno knows is that he was being moved from his comfortable home in Berlin to a home in a desolate area where there is nothing to do and no one to play with. The Holocaust is expressed through many different techniques in the story. The main technique being used is ‘through the eyes of a child’ which allows us to read the novel and get the entire perspective from Bruno, a young boy. The point of this is so that the book isn’t disturbing for us to read because a child has a much more innocent view of the world. â€Å"Bruno was oblivious to the appalling cruelties being inflicted on the people of Europe in his country. † This sentence is on the blurb on the back of the book and reinforces that Bruno doesn’t know for almost the whole book what is happening on the other side of the fence, we just catch glimpses of what is really happening when he describes how unhappy the Jewish people were. Capitalisation is another expression used when describing something. Capitalising words or phrases changes the effect of how you read it in a book. For example, if you were reading something in lowercase it would simply be read in a normal low tone voice calmly if it is capitalised, even if we do not recognise it, we pick up our pace when reading over that section and read it in a more angry tone to express the aggressiveness in the sentence etc. Misinterpretations and mispronunciations are the next two strategies used in the book. Misinterpretations are evident on page 210 where it explains that Bruno misconceives what is happening and that he doesn’t understand, â€Å"He didn’t know what everyone looked so frightened about – after all, marching wasn’t such a terrible thing – and he wanted to whisper to them that everything was all right, that Father was the Commandant, and if this was the kind of thing that he wanted the people to do then it must all be right. † Following this he says, â€Å"’I have to go home. † But just as he said this, his feet brought him up a set of steps, and as he marched on he found there was no more rain coming down anymore because they were all piling into a long room that was surprisingly warm and must have been very securely built because no rain was getting in anywhere. In fact it felt completely airtight. ‘Well, that’s something’ he said, glad to be out of the storm for a few minutes at least. ‘I expect we’ll have to wait here til it eases off and then ill get to go home’† Bruno thought that the soldiers were keeping them in this large room out of the rain to be warm, but what was actually about to occur was much worse then that. The last idea I’m going to discuss is discrimination which relates majorly to the first argument but I wanted to state this again because it is racial inequity and this is what the whole book is about, how unjustly the Jewish race were treated. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is a very meaningful book and not only can we learn of the holocaust history but still be interested and relate to the story because it is from a child’s perspective and this can be recognised by us. From all the techniques and ideas expressed in the story, the book has an emotional impact on us and makes it almost effortless to read as its puts us directly into Bruno’s world view. The way John Boyne has written the story allows us to sympathise for the Jews. The fact that it is based on a historical event really makes it reliable in showing us how the Jews were treated during the holocaust.

Debt in Australia, Monetary Policy Essay

Introduction It is imperative that the Australian households’ debt have noticeably risen over the past two decades, and is currently rated high according to international standards. The sharp increase in housing debt has been the reason for the rise in the household debt. Increased availability of housing finance, strong demand for debt from investors, and lower interest rates are the main drivers of the rising housing debt. The households’ net worth and servicing ratios will be discussed in this paper as the impacts on the higher household debt levels. The impacts of the instability in global capital markets will be discussed in this paper in relation to the housing finance market in Australia. Lastly, the implications of the rising household debt will be discussed in relation to the financial stability and monetary policy. Trends in household debt It is important to note that Australian households had a fairly stable ratio of debt to disposable income at approximately 45% during the 1980s. However, rapid rise in the ratio of debt to disposable income was recorded since 1990, with it reaching optimum of 157% in December 2007. The bulk of the increase was accounted for by the housing debt, that is, over the period, the ratio of the housing debt to disposable income rose to 134% from 31%. It was also recorded over the same period, a rise in the ratio of personal debt to disposable income to 22% from 13%. A sharp rise in the ratio of debts to assets was recorded at 17% in December 2007, from 8% in December 1989 (Wilkins & Wooden, 2009). A sharp rise in household indebtedness in a number of advanced economies has been witnessed over the last two decades. It is however, noted that the increase in household debt in Australia is pronounced. The Australia’s ratio in household debt to income was recorded as the highest in December 2007 despite Australia recording as one of the countries with the household debt lowest ratio to disposable income among advanced economies in the late 1980s. It is also imperative to point out that among advanced economies; Australia rose from the bottom position to the middle number in terms of the ratio of household debt to assets over the same period (Berry & Dalton, 2009). Housing finance market Focus on the housing finance market is emphasized in this paper because the housing debt in households’ total debt is dominant. An average of 15% in the annual growth in housing debt was recorded since 1990. In the periods, 1988-1989, 1994, and 2002-2004 strong growth in housing debt was recorded. This strong growth in the growth in housing debt was faster than the growth in the disposable income of households over the same period that stood at an average of 6% only (Berry & Dalton, 2009). Significant growth in house prices accompanied the sharp increase in the housing debt. Over the period 1987 and 1988, the house prices doubled, however, during the first half of the 1990s the house prices drifted slowly higher, with the house prices doubling more between 1997 and late 2003. Continuous increase in aggregate house prices was recorded since late 2003; however, the trend varies markedly across the country, for instance, house prices in Perth increased strongly, while the house prices in Sydney decreased over time. The boom in resources supports the varied trends in house prices across the country (Berry & Dalton, 2009). A number of factors accounts to the rising house debt in Australia over the past years, with lower interest rates accounting for high borrowing by the households whenever they take their housing loan out. This trend has been responsible for the rise in the average size of new loans, which results into the rise in the average size of outstanding loans over time. The availability of housing finance has resulted into the rise in the capacity of households to borrow finances (Wilkins & Wooden, 2009). Financial health of households It is noted that the historic sharp increase in the Australia’s disposable income in December 2007 was accounted by the strong rise in the housing debt in Australia over the past fifteen years. It was however, pointed out that only a few households had difficulties in repaying their debt obligations, despite the historic sharp increase in the housing debt in December 2007 (Berry & Dalton, 2009). Impact of the turbulence in global capital market It is significant to note that the housing finance market in Australia has suffered greatly as a result of the global capital markets’ turbulence. This is because half of the total funding for financial institutions in Australia is accounted for by the deposits. The foreign and domestic capital markets the balance in the Australian financial institutions. There has been significant rise in the mortgage rates, and significant change in the markets shares from lenders, due to this, there is limited restriction to the overall supply of housing finance (Berry & Dalton, 2009). Significant reduction in some forms of capital market funding as well as significant rise in the most of the forms of capital market funding have resulted from the turbulence in the financial market. It is however, noted that the impact of the financial market turbulence have been felt in a number of securitization markets. Securitization markets over the past decade or so, have established itself into as a significant source of funding for housing loans in Australia. In mid 2007 for example, outstanding securitization housing finance loans had accounted for 23% (Wilkins & Wooden, 2009). This was a significant rise from the mid 1990s 5% housing finance loans that were securitized. A number of loans from mortgage originators were being securitized. Institutions like credit union, regional banks, and building societies had adopted securitization of their loans since it was a cost effective way of wholesale funding (Wilkins & Wooden, 2009). The onset of the global financial turbulence in July 2007, led to significant close of the securitization market. There were significant rise prime residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) to 75 basis points in December 2007 from approximately 15 basis points in mid-2007. It is imperative to point out that Australia’s Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities (RMBS) accounted for the issuance of a number of Australian Asset-backed Securities (ABS) that extends on AAA-rated senior tranches (Berry & Dalton, 2009). There was significant spread in the subordinated AAA-rated tranches that increased to approximately 110 basis points from approximately 20 basis points. It is significant to point out that despite the sharp increase in the spreads, investors in Australia has never encountered losses on rated Australian RMBS, coupled with the housing market in Australia remaining healthy. The investors have become more concerned with the product itself, as discounts are attached to all the sales of securitized products. The selling of residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) by several structured investment vehicles (SIVs) has also created excess supply in the secondary market (Berry & Dalton, 2009). Implications for financial stability and monetary policy It significant to point out the access to credit by the household sector has greatly increased courtesy of financial innovation and deregulation. The households in Australia have become more comfortable to take loans owing to the ongoing strong performance of the economy (Berry & Dalton, 2009). Â  The balance sheets of households have remained in good health despite the significant rise in the household debt; this has resulted into significant rise in asset-value capable of offsetting the rise in debt. It is also significant to note that macroeconomic conditions in the economy are also favorable. Â   References Berry, M., & Dalton, T. (2009). Mortgage default in Australia nature, causes and social and economic impacts. Melbourne: AHURI. Wilkins, R., & Wooden, M. (2009). Household Debt In Australia: The Looming Crisis That Isn’t. Australian Economic Review , 42(3), 358-366. Â   Â  

Of Mice and Men essay: The issue of racism Essay

Racism features strongly in the novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. I think Steinbeck manages to sum up every thing that was wrong with racism and American culture of the time, whilst keeping his views to himself. Steinbeck decided not to write either for or against racism, he just gave you a few scenarios for you the reader to decide whether it was ethical, I think this was very effective as it provokes a response in the reader and also coincides with the plot and time that the story was written. There is a lot of racial prejudice shown in Of Mice And Men towards Crooks the black and crippled stable buck. Crooks is a more permanent worker than the other ranch hands and has his own room off the side of the stable on the far side of the ranch in isolation. Crooks is separated from the rest because the other ranch hands do not want him in the bunkhouse with them because he is black. As a result of this prejudice Crooks has become bitter, hating all white people because of this and has become very lonely and isolated. Mainly during section 4 Steinbeck involves Crooks more and involves more racial issues linked with him. The language Steinbeck uses is of a racist context and mainly tells the story of discrimination against black people in the form of Crooks telling Lennie about how he is excluded from the others because he is black. â€Å"S’pose you couldn’t go into the bunkhouse and play rummy ’cause you was black.† (Pg. 105) And†¦ Further more on page 41 Steinbeck writes to suggest that Crooks is sometimes used for entertainment, at Christmas Crooks was forced to fight with some one called â€Å"Smitty† â€Å"little skinner name of Smitty took after the nigger. Done pretty good, too. The guys wouldn’t let him use his feet, so the nigger got him† this quote clearly shows the way Crooks (described as a nigger) being attacked, probably in relation to the colour of his skin. Crooks is often called names as well, for instance when Curley’s wife used her social status as a white person to over power him. â€Å"She turned to him in scorn. ‘listen nigger† and â€Å"well you keep your place then, Nigger. I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny.† This shows Curley’s wife telling Curley how if he didn’t shut up she would have him hung, probably lynched, this sort of behaviour wasn’t uncommon and Crooks receives a lot of verbal abuse if he doesn’t conform to white peoples rules. The conditions in which Crooks lives are sub-standard when compared to the others. â€Å"Crooks bed was a long box filled with straw.† (pg. 98) Crooks is described as sleeping in quarters and being treated no better than an animal. This is again, is clearly racism. Crooks also feels left out due to not being listened to. â€Å"If I say something, why its just a nigger saying it† (pg. 103) Crooks is saying that no one listens to him and his opinions are un-voiced and worthless. I think that Steinbeck was very aware of what the impact of the language would create and I think that was the reason he used it, to quite simply clear up any naivety and get the message across about racism. Steinbeck was neither for or against racism, but used it as it was a part of life and more exeptable at the time the novel was written. However in the culture we live today I doubt such a novel would be so accurate describing racism as such a common place and I also think that it wouldn’t be so acceptable as in general people today are more open minded and racism isn’t as common as it was in America during the 1930s. A few words such as nigger, for definite would not be used as it may offend readers and is no longer acceptable and many more changes along those lines would have to be made. Overall racism was a part of life when the story was set and I think that Steinbeck has done a good job of describing in detail the sort of problems that arose whilst sticking to the plot of the story.

Enterprise Integration - Infrastructure Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Enterprise Integration - Infrastructure - Essay Example For effective integration, it is pivotal that all these information systems are linked together through a reliable technology. So much so that the enterprise as a whole works as a single platform, all the information systems connected and related in a productive manner, providing the processed information as and when needed, or even before hand. This leads to optimized business operations at reduced costs, alignment with the customer and enhanced business agility, streamlined internal business operations, individual roles and growth opportunities. This calls for some strategic decisions about the kinds of technology that a company should use to link its various information systems. The technologies can then be made to work together in a coherent infrastructure to support the work of the organization. Regardless of the technology used, applications and data must communicate, and that communication is growing to include a wide variety of technologies, such as SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol), JMS (Java Message Service), FTP and custom APIs. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is by far the most initial tool to serve the purpose of enterprise integration. ERP systems do not define what integration is and how it is to be developed, but they incur a techno-logic that conditions how control can be performed through financial and non-financial representations because they distinguish between an accounting mode and a logistics mode. The concept behind Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) is that applications should expose their functionality as services in a way that can be accessed by any authorized external system. SOA isn't a point product or even a suite of products-it requires multiple components comprising multiple products up and down the infrastructure stack and includes messaging (ESB) technology, application servers (ESP), management (SOA Management and Registries) products, development tools and more. Conventional integration technologies are evolving and are quickly being replaced with ESB (Enterprise Service Bus) software. ESBs provide integration plus the capabilities of legacy EAI (Enterprise Application Integration) products, and features and functions that integrate both legacy and contemporary services, such as Web services. Enterprise and infrastructure management system (EIMS) technology offers network managers benefits such as unprecedented control, protection, security and integration with other systems. EIMS bridges network management software and physical layer management. It can self-discover the physical topology of data centers, communication rooms and wiring closets, while, at the same time, manage and troubleshoot network connectivity through integration with third-party logical layer applications. Infrastructure Model It is better to apply SOA concepts incrementally to existing information technology (IT) systems to exploit short-term business benefits. SOA facilitates aligning existing IT infrastructure and systems to achieve end-to-end enterprise connectivity by removing redundancies, generating unified collaboration tools, and streamlining IT processes. The Human Service Bus (HSB) is an optimized organizational

Native Americans In Kentucky Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Native Americans In Kentucky - Research Paper Example Once the land was regarded as free land, it became a free resource for the new settlers who went ahead to divide the land among them. The arrival of settlers ushered in individual land ownership for settlers and the removal of native tribes from their ancestral land. In contrast, Native Americans had an entirely different approach to land ownership, as the land was viewed as communal land held in trust. They had no concept of individual land ownership; however, there was the concept of tribal territories. Tribes living on specific land had no problem accommodating other tribes, as long as the new tribes lived in peace and harmony with them.This concept was important to the native tribes as it held the tribes together and fostered communal responsibility towards everything that appertained to life. The history, traditions, cultures, and norms of the tribe were held in trust by the elders. Each native tribe had its own unique traditions, culture, practices, and norms that had been shap ed by their individual experiences as a community. Banning the native tribes together and relocating them threw them into a cultural melting pot that did not afford the natives time to blend. TheIroquois Indians named the region where the present state of Kentucky â€Å"Kentake† or â€Å"meadow land†. This meadowland region was the home of four different Native American tribes. The native tribes had their own cultures and traditions that were unique to each tribe despite their shared similarity in dialects.

How much of the United Kingdom's energy needs could be covered by Essay

How much of the United Kingdom's energy needs could be covered by renewable energy sources in 25 years - Essay Example Renewable energy is energy that relies on sources and natural energy flow from the environment, which never run out because of continuous replenishment. UK has the world’s largest resources for renewable energy such as wind, tides, waves, and therefore, it is in a good position when it comes to natural energy resources. Shifting to renewable energy is not only essential for stopping fossil energy imports, but it will also create an avenue for exporting natural based energy to other countries with limited supply of natural energy. In addition, increasing focus on environmentally friendly energy also prompts UK to switch to renewable energy sources. This aims at limiting the effects of climate change, and protecting environment from degradation, thus, preserving it for the generations to come. The success of venturing into renewable energy depends on environmental economic and political factors. Overview of Renewable Energy Sources in the United Kingdom Renewable energy currentl y supplies a significant of part of the UK’s energy demands. ... be because renewable energy sources are expensive, for example, the Energy Minister himself, George Eustice, recently made a comment saying solar and wind power subsidies are too high to benefit consumers (Mason, 2013). This among other challenges is preventing renewable energy sources become the primary source of energy production. Plans are underway to attain a 30 percent target of renewable energy by 2020 in the United Kingdom, which is quite achievable given the advancements in technology and rich sources of renewable energy. Below are the primary sources of renewable energy in the United Kingdom and there sources of application. Wind Power Wind power is energy generated using wind turbines fixed in the windy regions especially the countryside. The amount of wind power therefore depends on the availability of acceptable sites. Currently, winds turbines are set up in several places including Wales, Scotland, Yorkshire, and Cornwall. The primary application of wind power is the gen eration of wind related electricity, in which it currently provides for 20% of electricity requirements in the country. In 2010, there were a number of significant wind related projects in the UK with Sands, Gunfleet, Thanet and Robin Rigg, which are offshore wind farms. As a result, this saw a 1.1 GW power capacity from the new wind, which is a 3% increase compared to 2009 data (Gifford, 2012). Furthermore, offshore installations increased to 230% with 653 MW though with 503W it reduced by 38%. Similarly, 2013 has seen great improvements recording 10GW by mid-2013, and UK being the eighth largest producer of wind power in the world, there is great expectation of growth with respect to its wind power capacity (DUKES, 2013). Furthermore, current estimates stands at 2 GW increase in wind