Pereboom Argument free essay sample

Two thumbs up for Hard Incompatabilism Through Perebooms arguments we see how he argues against compatibilism, and how he presents to us four cases that will support his rejection against compatibilism. We will see how he delivers a way in which the agents will not be morally responsible for their actions, and succeeds in planting that seed of dought in us. Summary: In Pereboom’s argument, he discusses that it is because casual determinism is true that we lack this sort of free will that is required for moral responsibility, leading to him calling this hard incompatabilism. In Pereboom’s case for hard incompatibilism, it involves arguing against two competing positions. The first would be â€Å"Compatibilism which claims that free will of the type required for moral responsibility is compatible with determinism† (456). Which means that we do not have free will because it is something that is determined already which means we cannot be morally responsible for it. We will write a custom essay sample on Pereboom Argument or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page And we have the second position which is Libertarianism. Libertarianism contends that although the sort of free will required for moral responsibility is not compatible with determinism, it turns out that determinism is false, and we do have the kind of free will† (456-457). Pereboom then gives us four different cases where Professor Plum participates in the cases where we get to see how the actions of an agent are being manipulated, in which indicates that it is possible for the agent not to be morally responsible even if they meet the compatibilist conditions. The first case tells us about Professor Plum and how he was created by neuroscientist, and how they can manipulate him to undertake the process of reasoning. So forth that because his actions is determined by the neuroscientist his first desire to kill White conforms to his second order of desire. In case number two, Plum is an ordinary human being in which he has been programmed by the neuroscientist in the beginning of his life to weigh reasons for his actions, and because of his egoistic reasons he is casually determined to murder White. Third case, Plum is an ordinary human being except he was casually determined by his earlier childhood life and the experiences he had in his surroundings. He still has the first and second order of desire, which lead his egoistic side to killing White. In the last case, Plum is a normal human being raised in normal circumstances, and is as egoistic as he has been in the last three cases. He has the ability to use moral reasons to regulate his decisions, but his egoistic reasons weigh heavily on him, leading him to murder White. All four of these cases are different and we see four different positions in which Plum is put into. But is Plum morally responsible for each and every case according to Pereboom? Evaluation: In Perebooms argument against compatibilism, we see how he gives us these four cases to evaluate and to see if Plum has a reason to be morally responsible for his actions. In case one, we see how Plum is not morally responsible for the murder of White because his actions where predetermined by what the neuroscientist did. As Frankfurt proposes â€Å"moral responsibility requires that the agent have endorsed his/hers will to perform the action in the right way† (457). In case number two he is as well not morally responsible because his actions where predetermined in the beginning of his life, which means that it was those actions implemented in his early childhood that predetermined the killing of White. As for case three, because of casual determinations by factors that where beyond his control, explains the absence for moral responsibility. In all three of these cases so far, Plum meets all the compatibilist conditions. Now we see case four, the only difference we see in this case from the rest is that in this case, the crime is not brought about by other agents, meaning no one else is involved in the decision. Because Plums actions are casually determined in case number four, he cannot be morally responsible for his actions as Perbooms conveys. It is because of these four cases that lead Pereboom to reject compatibilism because compatibilism allows for an agent to be morally responsible for an action even when it is casually determined to act as he/she will. As we see in case 1-4, if an action results from any deterministic casual process that goes back to the agent’s control, then he/ she will not be morally or have the control to be morally responsible for it. As we see Pereboom does have a strong argument that leads us to believe that our actions are predetermined. As for us to be morally responsible, I believe that we are to be held responsible for our actions, because we can choose to carry out the actions or not. As Peerboom states and finishes off his argument, â€Å"we should conclude, I think, that if an action results from any deterministic casual process that traces back to factors beyond the agents control, then he will lack the control required to be morally responsible for it. †(460).

Overview of the Last Glaciation

Overview of the Last Glaciation When did the last Ice Age occur? The worlds most recent glacial period began about 110,000 years ago and ended around 12,500 years ago. The maximum extent of this glacial period was the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and it occurred around 20,000 years ago. Although the Pleistocene Epoch experienced many cycles of glacials and interglacials (the warmer periods between the colder glacial climates), the last glacial period is the most heavily studied and best-known portion of the worlds current ice age, especially with regard to North America and northern Europe. The Geography of the Last Glacial Period At the time of the LGM (map of glaciation), approximately 10 million square miles (~ 26 million square kilometers) of the earth was covered by ice. During this time, Iceland was completely covered as was much of the area south of it as far as the British Isles. In addition, northern Europe was covered as far south as Germany and Poland. In North America, all of Canada and portions of the United States were covered by ice sheets as far south as the Missouri and Ohio Rivers. The Southern Hemisphere experienced the glaciation with the Patagonian Ice Sheet that covered Chile and much of Argentina and Africa and portions of the Middle East and Southeast Asia experienced significant mountain glaciation. Because the ice sheets and mountain glaciers covered so much of the world, local names have been given to the various glaciations around the  world. The Pinedale or Fraser in the North American Rocky Mountains, Greenland, the Devensian in the British Isles, the Weichsel in Northern Europe and Scandinavia, and the Antarctic glaciations are some of the names given to such areas. Wisconsin in North America is one of the more famous and well-studied, as is the Wà ¼rm glaciation of the European Alps. Glacial Climate and Sea Level The North American and European ice sheets of the last glaciation began forming after a prolonged cold stage with increased precipitation (mostly snow in this case) took place. Once the ice sheets began forming, the cold landscape altered typical weather patterns by creating their own air masses. The new weather patterns that developed reinforced the initial weather that created them, plunging the various areas into a cold glacial period. The warmer portions of the globe also experienced a change in climate due to glaciation in that most of them became cooler but drier. For example, rainforest cover in West Africa was reduced and replaced by tropical grasslands because of a lack of rain. At the same time, most of the worlds deserts expanded as they became drier. The American Southwest, Afghanistan, and Iran are exceptions to this rule however as they became wetter once a shift in their airflow patterns took place. Finally, as the last glacial period progressed leading up to the LGM, sea levels worldwide dropped as water became stored in the ice sheets covering the world’s continents. Sea levels went down about 164 feet (50 meters) in 1,000 years. These levels then stayed relatively constant until the ice sheets began to melt toward the end of the glacial period. Flora and Fauna During the last glaciation, shifts in climate altered the world’s vegetation patterns from what they had been prior to the formation of the ice sheets. However, the types of vegetation present during the glaciation are similar to those found today. Many such trees, mosses, flowering plants, insects, birds, shelled mollusks, and mammals are examples. Some mammals also went extinct around the world during this time but it is clear that they did live during the last glacial period. Mammoths, mastodons, long-horned bison, saber-toothed cats, and giant ground sloths are among these. Human history also began in the Pleistocene and we were heavily impacted by the last glaciation. Most importantly, the drop in sea level aided in our movement from Asia into North America as the landmass connecting the two areas in Alaskas Bering Strait (Beringia) surfaced to act as a bridge between the areas. Todays Remnants of the Last Glaciation Though the last glaciation ended about 12,500 years ago, remnants of this climatic episode are common around the world today. For example, increased precipitation in North Americas Great Basin area created enormous lakes (map of lakes) in a normally dry area. Lake Bonneville was one and once covered most of what is today Utah.​ The  Great Salt Lake is todays largest remaining portion of Lake Bonneville but the old shorelines of the lake can be seen on the mountains around Salt Lake City. Various landforms also exist around the world because of the enormous power of moving glaciers and ice sheets. In Canadas Manitoba for instance, numerous small lakes dot the landscape. These were formed as the moving ice sheet gouged out the land beneath it. Over time, the depressions formed filled with water creating kettle lakes. Finally, there are many glaciers still present around the world today and they are some of the most famous remnants of the last glaciation. Most ice today is located in Antarctica and Greenland but some ice is also found in Canada, Alaska, California, Asia, and New Zealand. Most impressively though are the glaciers still found in the equatorial regions like South Americas Andes Mountains and Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa. Most of the worlds glaciers are famous today however for their significant retreats in recent years. Such a retreat represents a new shift in the earth’s climate- something that has happened time and time again over the earths 4.6 billion year history and will no doubt continue to do in the future.

The Current Status of Literacy in Mathematics Research Paper

The Current Status of Literacy in Mathematics - Research Paper Example Despite the application of the important factor in education, knowledge remains to be a fundamental part as it provides the foundation for people to practice their own calling or profession. It means that a significant portion of profession gives importance to literacy. People can only function to the extent of what they know. It also shows that research on education is very important. Research is done to improve the literacy and education globally. It has also recognized the recent developments in technology that allows the information to be disseminated in a wider scope using the internet. It has bloomed the concept of interconnectedness which has significantly improved the business, work and overall living of people worldwide. In short, it can also be used to improve the education system. The same interconnectedness has also been known across fields of specializations and body of knowledge. Science can be used in music which means systematic ways of doing things in making songs ma y entail the use of both science and music. Some may even use music in learning the subject matter like in language. Singing can be used to easily remember the important concepts like a song on nouns for a language class.Literacy has been connected with learning and education although its roots can be traced back to the concept of language. In the present, it has been synonymous with the level of understanding in certain subject areas like science, math and much more.  Since literacy has been connected to language, it can be applied to the content of mathematics. For example, a branch of mathematics called geometry may need the language and literacy to improve its standards. Its content may deal with the geometrical terms. Having the shapes and concepts in geometry may be hard to deal with for some students. To improve it, the use of songs may be used to understand the terms and connect them with their respective elements. Some literacy games may also be done to connect the right terms to the right elements. Another goal would be the analysis of the characteristics of shapes in two dimensions and three dimensions which can be done through the use of technology-based applications or software. The same goes with the content of the shapes when they are needed to be compared like understanding how two shape are the same or different. They can also be classified with the aid of the software like computer games and shape-modeling software (Brozo 160). It shows how important to improve the content through literacy like words and terms and even use the technology for learning. Content plays the key role in learning certain subject matter so it is very important to focus on it. It contributes greatly in comprehension of the learners about particular subject matter (Conley 5). Learning is really affected by the quality of the content and how it is delivered. It is really applicable to mathematics. For instance,

American Revolution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

American Revolution - Essay Example The revolution took place as a result of accumulated grievances which the American people had had enough of. They were also protesting against the various acts that had been established by England and which were to their disadvantage. An example was the Stamp Act of 1765 which imposed that every American was to pay taxes to England in order to offset the costs of running the British Military Organization. There was the currency act of 1764 that prohibited issuance of legal tender money and this threated to destabilize the industrial economy. The quartering act of 1765 also contributed to the revolution as it required colonialists to house troops from Britain and even supply them with their hard earned food. The conflict that occurred between England and the colonies was basically brought about by the colonies disagreements with the rules introduced to them by their British leaders. These rules undermined them further and prevented them from being independent and they were tired and angry about this. They therefore started with revolts in some of the colonies which were ultimately copied and repeated in the rest of the colonies and this in turn led to the revolution which took place over a number of years. They were totally opposed to these policies and they started uniting against the British colonialists as they knew that once unite, they could easily get their independence. The colonies also stopped providing money to the British government. The British government had used up most of its resources and even accumulated debt from the war and they needed money from the colonies to recover which was not forthcoming (Morton 41). They started rioting and mass protests to refuse the new policies England was imparting on them hence giving a hard time to the colonialists. The point of no return was reached in 1763 after the seven year’s war. At this juncture, enough was enough with the oppression and the numerous Acts and

Cultural evolution Essay Example for Free

Cultural evolution Essay In his article â€Å"Where Do Social Relations Come From? †, Michael Grossetti discusses the ways that human relationships are studied by sociologists, citing that often the methodology begins by starting with the relationship ad working backward to define it (Grossetti,p. 289). The most lasting relationships are the ones that come from organizations, he concludes, especially those related to family and friends. When we related this conclusion back to cultural evolution theory, we can argue that the lasting relationships of this generation because at this point in time most relationships are forged out of organizations or via our families. However, we can clearly argue that once this may not have been true as people had longer term relationships with people in their neighborhoods and those with whom they had a physical proximity. Grossetti argues that neighborhoods do not provide a basis for lasting relationships as they do not necessarily share life values or interests which draw people together (p. 292). When discussing this assertion in relation to cultural evolution, we can argue that in the recent past, neighborhoods did share a commonality that is now missing – immigrants would tend to settle in neighborhoods, neighborhoods would be divided by racial or religious lines, or at the most tangential neighborhoods would be reflective of a certain socio-economic status. Now, according to Grossetti’s study, relationships have evolved to the point that people develop relationships based primarily on organizations which they belong to –church groups, work groups, or interest organizations. When this is combined with the use of social networks, it can be observed that people are then creating a new means to segregate themselves via their interests. People have developed a new means to identify people with like interests and create new association groups. The interesting aspect of this evolving form of meeting may be that it creates relationships among people who in previous generations may never even have met. Because social networking allows people with common interests to meet without the traditional introduction of a mutual friend, they may completely change the way relationship develop in the future, dovetailing nicely with the theory of cultural evolution.

1980 African American Education :: essays research papers

1980s African American Education Amount of Blacks in college 1980: Impressive 718,000 1987: Growing more slowly, 855,000 *1988: Sliding back down to 785,000 *In 1988, the enrollment of black men declined, while it increased for women. There were 179,000 black women in college, then black men. Percentage of highs school graduates going to college 1960-1970: Males exceeded women 1980’s: women overtake men and never lost the lead Popular concentration in education in the 1980’s 1981: business and management were the most popular of all black bachelor’s degree recipients. 13,325 blacks earned a bachelor’s degree in business and management (40% earned in historically black colleges). The Black and White Gap "The average scores of black students have remained well below those of whites, and at age 17, the reading achievement of black students was lower last year than it was in 1988—a depressing reversal of the gains made over the previous two decades," Michael T. Nettles, the vice chairman of the National Assessment Governing Board, said at a press conference held here late last month to release the results. The independent panel oversees National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) In just about every age group and in every subject, the test-score gap between white and African-American students has grown since 1986, reversing a trend in which the discrepancies decreased from the time the exams were first given in 1969, 1971, and 1973. Since the mid-1980s, gaps in several subjects and age groups have grown by statistically significant amounts. Resegregation occurring again â€Å"Studies finds the causes for resegregation stemming from a number of social and political factors: a series of court rulings beginning in the late 1980s that reversed many of the desegregation orders, the growing isolation of whites in suburban schools, and the increasing segregation of blacks and Hispanics in suburban schools.

Hero’s in Greek Literature Essay

In modern times the word hero can be used to describe many different people. For example, a scientist that develops a cure for AIDs would be thought of to be heroic. Or perhaps one might deem teachers heroic for shaping the youth of tomorrow. Although these jobs are noble, they would not be deemed heroic by the Greeks. Today’s definition of a hero is comparatively broad to that of which the Greek’s would have considered the term of hero to describe. More accurately, a hero is someone who puts themselves in a position of death in order to obtain a morally just cause. This idea of self sacrifice is what makes a hero. In Greek literature, especially in poetry, there are several examples of heroes and heroines. I will specifically discuss Achilles of Homer’s Iliad, as well as Antigone in Sophocles Antigone, and why their character is of heroic stature. In early Greek literature, such as Homer’s Iliad, a hero was more parallel to the concept of a warrior. In book I of The Iliad, Achilles is not just portrayed as a warrior, but is in fact introduced as â€Å"godlike† (Homer, 107). Achilles is an exemplum of one of the defining characteristics of epic poems in that he possesses godlike qualities, such as superhuman strength. In epic poems, the intervention and presence of the Greek gods is a persisting trait. Achilles is born of both mortal and immortal persons, his father a militant mortal Peleus and his mother the sea nymph Thetis. Due to these qualities and over the course of the poem, Achilles proves himself to be the most capable warrior of all. Moreover, Achilles also proves himself a hero by surmising to the idea of self sacrifice. It has always been known that if Achilles kills Hector during the Greek and Trojan War, he will at some point be put to death by the gods. As described in book IX, â€Å"My mother Thetis, a moving silver grace, tells me two fates sweep me on my death. If I stay here and fight, I’ll never return home, but my glory will be undying forever. If I return home†¦ my glory is lost but my life will be long,† (Homer, 141). Therefore Achilles does have the option of going home and living a long life. However, it is the death of Patroclus, Achilles best friend, that sways him to fight even though a sure death will come. This choice is namely why Achilles is a hero. Another central theme to a Greek hero is that he is unable to be destroyed by any other man and therefore a central theme of self- destructiveness exists (Whitman).