Life of Pi Existentialist Examination

Is Life of Pi Existentialist? There are two views of existentialism, that of the more popular atheistic view, and that of the theistic view (Sartre Lecture). In the book Life of Pi, by Yann Martel the main theme of the book is religion, with the main character being of multiple religions: Hinduism, Christian Catholicism, and Islam. (Martel). Life of Pi is both Existentialist and non-existentialist, in both the atheistic and theistic views because of specific religious beliefs, abandonment of religion, despair, and the ultimate use of human instinct for survival.I would first like to begin by giving brief explanations of both sides of existentialism, because both do apply to this book, even though the main theme is religion. The main idea of existentialism is that of â€Å"existence before essence† (Sartre Lecture). By this, they mean that we define ourselves as what we are by our own actions and free will. We exist before our essence, or our determined character, because we de termine it for ourselves by our own doings. â€Å"In the book Life of Pi, by Yann Martel the main theme of the book is religion.The theistic view of existentialism can basically be summed up by this quote: â€Å"When we think of God as the creator, we are thinking of him, most of the time, as a supernal artisan† (Sartre Lecture). By this, they mean that theists view god as the all powerful creator. He created man with a specific idea in mind, and he knew what we would do and create. â€Å"God creates he knows precisely what he is creating† (Sartre, Lecture. ) He knows the past, present, and future, and will not allow us to be defined by our human nature.Human nature was simply a side effect, to allow us to understand possibly why and how we are, but we can’t let it define ourselves as humans. Our intellect and creations define us as who we are, not our natural instinct. Therefore, we cannot blame something on instinct and human nature, because god did not creat e us to do that. He created us to innovate. And as intellectuals, it is our job to realize what we are here for, and to fulfill god and ourselves as human and not to let petty biological needs hinder our knowledge.It is our job to differentiate ourselves from one another, because we all have the same human nature and basic needs, and if we did not use our minds to create an image for ourselves, we would all be the same. On the other hand, the atheistic view, â€Å"Atheistic existentialism, declares with greater consistency that if God does not exist there is at least one being whose existence comes before its essence, a being which exists before it can be defined by any conception of it. That being is man or the human reality† (Sartre Lecture).This is saying that there is no human nature, because there was no god to conceive humans, or the idea of human nature. Man just simply is, and there is no meaning to life or existence unless they give meaning to it. They decide who the y are and who they want to be, or if they are anything at all, and there is no god to have decided what humans will be because he does not exist himself. â€Å"Man will only attain existence when he is what he purposes to be. Not, however, what he may wish to be† (Sartre Lecture).Man does not have existence unless he creates it for himself, therefore counteraction the theistic view, and saying that essence is before existence. Your essence allows you to exist. Within Life of Pi, there are many things that point to it being possibly theistically existentialist. For example, one of the three religions he believes in is Hinduism, which the aspect of reincarnation and karma are greatly important in. Reincarnation is the belief that your soul is passed down through many physical forms, and karma determines what physical form your soul will take on in the next life.This follows with existentialism because it is the thought that you are not tied down by your physical attributes, but you are defined by what you do in life and what image you create for yourself, and gods ultimately decide what physical form you will take on. Therefore, you cannot be defined by what physical form you have or human instinctual needs. It is your job to see beyond that. Another thing that Pi does that coincides with theistic existentialism is that of when he is abandoned on the boat, he still continues to pray five times a day (Martel).Yes, other actions that he committed on the boat proved otherwise to be non-existential, but he remained hopeful by praying on the boat for quite a while, feeling that he was not yet abandoned by god and did not completely succumb to his human needs and solely focusing on survival. Moving on to ways that the book is non-existentialist, I believe that the book was far more non-existentialist from the theistic view. One of the ways was how Pi was the denomination of Catholicism (Martel), which is a denomination of Christianity that does not believe in f ree will.They believe that free will is a denial of grace, or the denial that God created humans in the image of himself, which is pretty much the exact opposite of existentialism itself. Existentialists believe that god gave man the power of free will because he knows what they will do with their free will, and there is no denial of the image of god. Another way that Life of Pi is not existentialist is when he is on the boat, and commits acts of human instinctual survival. He goes against his beliefs to survive.An example of that is when he goes against his vegetarianism and love of animals to drink the turtles blood (Martel). This is abandoning your beliefs and self image to survive, and just giving into human instinct, which brings me to another topic of atheistic existentialism: anguish, abandonment, and despair (Sartre Lecture). â€Å"Anguish† is basically describing that, when a man decides for himself, he is not only deciding something for himself, but that of all mank ind because he is representing them all as a whole because all of our decisions define us (Sartre Lecture). Abandonment† is saying that we cannot depend on god to give us moral guidance. We have to have our own moral, and not look to god and holy books to decide what we do in life (Sartre Lecture). â€Å"Despair† basically means that there should be no despair, because there is no limit as to what we can do. If there is no god, there is no all-powerful being, and then there is no one to decide our limits for us. Therefore, we cannot be in despair, for the possibilities are endless (Sartre Lecture). They all seem to counteract the belief in god, so in the atheistic sense, Life of Pi isn’t existentialist at all.He became a bit absorbed with himself, and not mankind while he was on the boat. He did not care about the animal he killed, and went with human instinct, thus only caring about himself. He depended on his multiple gods for guidance, and also expected them t o help him while keeping up with prayer five times a day (Martel). In conclusion, I believe that Life of Pi is non-existentialist as a whole. Too many things point to it being non-existentialist in the theist sense, and pretty much all things point to it being non-existentialist in the atheist view.Reincarnation and Karma seem to coincide with that of existentialism, as well of his perseverance with faith. But that same perseverance counteracts that of the atheistic view, with anguish, abandonment, and despair. He also showed true human instinct by going against his instincts to survive. I believe that the non-existentialist aspects definitely outweigh the existentialist ones. Works Cited Martel, Yann. Life of Pi. Orlando: Harcourt, Inc. , 2001. Print. Sartre, Jean Paul. Philip Mairet, trans. â€Å"Existentialism is a Humanism. † Lecture given in 1946. Web. 11 December 2012.

Mattel Toy Recall Essay

1. What are the main issues involved in the case? Mattel had five recalls in 2007 involving over 21 million toys. The problems were related to lead paint and poorly designed magnets. Most of the toys were made in China, which caused them to question the reliability of the Chinese manufacturers. At first, Mattel tried to put all the blame on the Chinese manufacturers as a denial tactic. They also claimed the media and government overly magnified the crisis. Mattel also failed to notify the CPSC of the defects within the time limit of 24 hours. It took them nearly a month and a half to notify the CPSC. Even though the recalls were in 2007, there were incidents/injuries reported in 2003 with children needing surgery because of the toy defects. One death was recorded. 2. Identify the major stakeholders and state how the issues in the case affect each stakeholder. Competitors: Because Mattel is such a large and trusted company that outsources, customers were nervous to trust other companies that outsourced. Who was to say they did not have the same issues as Mattel? Investors: Stocks dropped and investors lost money. They ended up suing based on allegations of failure to disclose recalls in a timely manner, and failure to have proper protocols to avoid recalls. Customers: Many children were injured and required surgery, and one child even died. Parents lost faith in Mattel and created lawsuits against them. Employees: Because of the accusations on the Chinese manufacturers, job security in China all but diminished. Job security and pay decreased in America too because of the fines from the CPSC, and the cost of the recalls. 3. How could this case be viewed from an ethical perspective? It was Mattel’s job to report the incident in a specific time limit, which they failed to do. They could have warned parents approximately a month and a half earlier, possibly saving children from painful injuries and surgeries. Mattel also put the blame on the Chinese and did not own up to their own mistakes. 4. What final conclusions or recommendations would you draw? Immediately tackle any issues or problems that arise to avoid a larger fiasco. Implement higher standards and checks to ensure the safety of the products. Follow all government statues and be sure that the outsource countries have the same or similar regulations and priorities that we hold.

French Educational System Compared to the American System Essay

France and the United States have numerous striking differences and tastes in almost all cultural aspects. The French education system has been criticized globally by scholars and experts in various career fields for its failure to provide a flexible, all-round education. However, it has also received praise and recognition by the world at large for its significant contribution to the field of mathematics, with the revolution in banking in the late 20th century pioneered by French mathematicians. The United States education system, on the other hand, is increasingly receiving favor by international students for its provision of high class, market friendly education, despite the current criticism on the high cost of education. This paper compares the French and the American education systems. There are many differences, as well as similarities, in the French and the US education systems. One of the major aspects which have raised concern is on higher education. In both countries, higher education is given high priority, and in the US, for instance, the majority of adults are college educated. In France, higher education is also highly valued, with a person’s popularity and respect increasing as she or he advances in education. A significant difference in the higher education in both France and the US, however, is on the entrance process to university. In the French education system, before one can gain access to university studies, the final exam, the Baccalaureat, or the â€Å"Bac† is mandatory. The â€Å"Bac† is a rigorous school-leaving examination with no multiple choice questions and includes a written part and an oral part, with several subjects each. The â€Å"Bac† is highly valued in the nation so much that despite numerous criticisms from scholars globally to change the system and implement other selection methods, the nation has refused to change it. (Understandfrance. org, 2008) Despite the tough examination system, the French have no other university selection method. The nationwide â€Å"no selection† policy has raised controversy from scholars worldwide who find the method not sufficient for a thorough process. College selection in the US however, is very vigorous and students undergo numerous processes before gaining entrance to college. Selection is comprised of practices such as writing a personal statement, attending an interview, being involved in extra curricular activities among of course, the class ranking and the grades earned in high school courses taken. Recommendations too, by responsible persons are also considered before one can gain entrance into any higher institution of learning. A major reason which has made many international students prefer the higher education system in the United States over that in France in the recent past is the many facilities and services offered in US institutions. Issues such as overcrowding in lecture halls, for instance, are not experienced in majority of US institutions, although quite evident in most of the universities in France. Such prestige, however, comes at a cost. College tuition fees in the US can in no way be comparable to France, where education, interestingly, at all levels is almost free and only 26 percent of university students receive scholarships. (Understandfrance. org, 2008) Tuition fees is so high in the US, such that scholarships alone cannot cater for the students; the majority of US students receive either loans, grants or both from the government, so as to cater for their tuition fees. The government, in fact cannot sufficiently cater for the tuition needs of all the students, and private sources are increasingly becoming normal. Grants and loans are even not enough, and many students opt to sign up to study over the internet, in the many obviously questionable free online courses. Another striking difference in the education systems of both France and the United States is their curriculum. The French curriculum has been criticized globally for its failure to connect to the world market. Many demonstrations have been staged by French students, for decades and although there have been reforms; the reforms have not been good enough to cater for the current market demand. The US system, on the other hand, has diverse and flexible curricula, with a wide range of topics, from nuclear science to dance. As opposed to the French curricula, where extra curricular activities such as sports, musical groups and numerous clubs are not recognized in the curricula and where one can only have private classes for the same, in the US, such activities are given high priority. They can also be found in US institutions, both public and private. The flexibility of the US education system is what has made it the most preferred by international students worldwide, since they can have access to almost all interested areas of study. Unemployment, as a result is not as prevalent in the US as it is in France, with the recent demonstrations by French students to find solutions to the problem. The French are recognized as a literacy community, where education levels determine a person’s status. The more one advances in education, the more recognized she or he gets. This is a belief not common in the US. This general belief is what makes the education valued so greatly, with most French students spending most of their time in classroom related activities, allowing no room for other activities such as music and art related fields. Highly educated people in France in especially the globally viewed â€Å"tough† subjects such as mathematics, are given great respect, with the not very successful in education, despite their circumstances or other achievements, looked down upon and not recognized. In the United States, however, education levels are not given such respect and other issues such as healthcare are given more weight even politically. It is not surprising to note that the richest Americans are college dropouts, big names such as William Gates III. This notwithstanding, the education facilities in the United states are the best compared to other institutions worldwide. Despite critics arguing that French schools tend to make students theoretical and uncreative, French academic standards are high and discipline is strict. This is however not the case in the American education system, where the use of drugs is common especially in junior high and high schools. This problem has remained a major problem in the US for many years. (Hall, 1990, 99-102 & 144) Education, over the years, has played a very important role in the development of individuals and a nation. It is important to note that both the French and American education systems should be improved, in certain features, as aforementioned, such as eradicating the drug use in US schools, making the French system more market friendly and more relevant to the current market stage, and improving the overcrowded high education institutions. This move would in the long run, make both of the systems stronger, hence ensuring effectiveness in both; an important catalyst in the road to globalization. Works Cited: Hall M. R. (1990) Understanding Cultural Differences: Germans, French and Americans (Intercultural Press) Understandfrance. org (2008): Education in France. Retrieved December 2nd 2008 from: http://www. understandfrance. org/France/Education. html

Management accounting-Bias Budgets Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Management accounting-Bias Budgets - Coursework Example Question One (a): Why do managers want to manipulate their budgets? After budget approval, the company may use it to carry out budgetary actions. As a result, the managers use it to ensure they carry out the organization objectives and plans and in the end, they have to compare budget plan against the real performance. Once compared, the difference in amount is usually the budget deficient or bias which is cause by manager`s manipulation or distortion on the proposed budget. There are various reasons as to why mangers manipulate budget. Firstly, if the rewards and motivation through performance evaluation help to achieve the budget results, the managers may end up manipulating the budget to include more of rewards in order they can hit the target more easily like league table and bonuses. Besides, managers are highly involved in cases of budget slacks-where organization set their revenue to be too low and a high cost, the organization may end up losing sales since the resources requi red to raise production with the short time given have been limited. Moreover, the managers who have been promised some rewards on attaining certain goals set their target to be very low such that they easily attain them without caring whether the company looses or gains. Likewise, the senior managers dictate on a budget for performance. As a result, it forces the mangers to keep focus of resources on the performance of their department. Consequently, the mangers end up presenting a budget request biased on his department not for organization as whole. Hence, the direction of bias is downwards. Secondly, the company`s practices and norms is subtle in determining the performance of the company`s budget. Notably, prevailing work conditions help to dictate what is morally right. As a result, the management, which focuses on self-manager performances, will give incentives directed to managers alone. However, the aggregate accounting performance from his action is focusing on organizatio n as whole. On the other hand, the management focusing on others gives a hard determination of degree of performance. As a result, it reduces the aggregate performance although it induces co-operation and collaboration to other firms. Moreover, when there occurs some change in the budgetary system from being top-down or centralized, and an acceptable estimate of growth is set, with the changing budgetary system to may be bottom up, and company`s practices remaining similar, bias of unknown direction happens. Lastly, the mangers may feel insecure in their job and as a result, they are more than ready to use the budgetary trick when a chance arises. By this, it mean, the managers are quick to spend until the entire budgeted amount is consumed when the chance of buying goods occurs at a lower price. In fact, in the managers operating in the declining sales department makes use of entire budgets usage under the assumption that the future is uncertain. As a result, the budget becomes was teful at the expense of the manager approving his need of upholding the job since the amount needed by the company and the bought one is very varying. Hence, strong upward bias occurs. (b): Why are they able to do? What are the constraints on such behaviour? As a long as the departmental budget exists, some head of the department will always try to game the budget. Additionally, there are numerous reason as

Cultural Awareness on Iran Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Cultural Awareness on Iran - Research Paper Example Iran possesses a unique culture that traverses across several elements. Culture is an aspect that achieves definition from different entities. Iranian culture belongs to the larger Persian identity that defines most countries in the same region. Persian culture forms one of the richest compositions in the world. This relates to literature, architecture and live customs that date back to three thousand years ago in the Zoroastrian age. Throughout civilization, this culture transferred to the eastern and western nations. It is notable that many western celebrations achieve their articulation from Persian culture. Art is an imminent feature of Persian culture. Art and culture interweave to form a prominent civilization. This reveals in the form of exquisite carpets, distinct architecture, subtle soulful music, blue mosques and brilliant literary work. Notably, Farsi forms one of the richest languages in the world. ... Bakhtiaris and Lurs speak the Luri dialect. There are semi nomadic people who speak the Baluchi language. They live in the adjacent areas, of Pakistan and Afghanistan, in the southeastern Iran. Twenty eight percent, of the Iranians, speak various Turkish dialects. Arabs and Assyrians mostly speak Semitic languages. Islam defines the core of Iranian culture and life. Islam forms the religion that governs political economic, legal and personal lives of Iran. In this aspect, Prophet Muhammad is the last God emissary that brought revelation to mankind. Islam provides that this message belongs to the whole of mankind. As in the example, of the Bible, Quran is the basic guidance of their religious life. Unlike the provision of the Bible, Quran strongly dictates many aspects of Iranian lives. Muslims have notable obligations such as praying five times a day. Friday forms a holy day in the Muslim worship calendar. Islam is an influential religion that dictates closure of companies on Thursda ys. In the holy month, of Ramadan, all Muslims are mandated to fast. Notably, Iran forms the only Shi’ite state of all the Muslim countries. Sunnis believe that the successive leadership of the Muslims did not have to come from the Prophet Muhammad family. The Shi’ite believes that the Islam leadership should have been monarchial. Iran and Iraq possess the highest population of Shi’ites. In terms of family values, the family forms the core social unit. In an Iranian setting, a family forms a very private unit. This is a distinct aspect whereby female relatives face protection from outside influences. A clear manifestation, of this cultural aspect, pertains to the taboo of asking a question about female relatives and someone’s life.

Shakespeare Comedies Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Shakespeare Comedies - Term Paper Example nd the critics declared his comedy as the most refined pieces of art and literature, even Aristotle has stated comedy as a mean form of the imitation of real life. But it is not applied to Shakespearean comedies, which serve as the guiding star for the future generations to come. Shakespeare does not take comedy as the ridiculous or ugly form of literature. On the contrary, he introduced new and novel elements in comedy that maintain theme, meanings and objectives within their fold. His plays under study also concentrate upon highlighting the follies and shortcomings human nature contains, and Shakespeare looks for addressing those follies and weaknesses in a sophisticated manner. Answer A: Though Shakespeare appears to be influenced by classical literature in his early comedies, yet he outgrows this impression in his future works. The same is applied by going through his â€Å"Taming of the Shrew† and Measure for Measure†, where he exercises his intellect while creating the city comedy in an innovative way without seeking inspiration from classicism. It has been the tradition of the playwrights to either classical or romantic genre while producing comedy and Shakespeare’s can be attributed as romantic in composition and decorum. He presents vivacious city life in both his comedies under study, where there is energy, light, vigor, thrill and passion where dancing, feasting, love-making, engagements, drinks and dinners and merry-seeking decorate the entire atmosphere, and the reader finds himself in an extremely pageant environment where there is peace, harmony, jubilance, excitement and pleasure all around. The same can be detected in the streets of Padua, where the characters offer, stipulate and exchange ecstasy, joys and delight, as Christopher Sly states while conversing with the hostess at the bar: â€Å"Ye are a baggage: the Slys are no rogues; look in the chronicles; we came in with Richard Conqueror. Therefore paucas pallabris; let the world slide:

Wittig reaction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Wittig reaction - Essay Example The latter chemical agent is commonly known as the witting reagent, it results into chemical agents known as alkene as well as triphenylphosphine oxide (Carrutthers, 1971). Discovered in 1954 by Georg Witting, it continues to be vastly used in the organic synthesis of alkene preparation. This procedure should not be misunderstood with, the Witting rearrangement chemical procedure which is based on a different theory. The witting reaction is normally applicable in the coupling of aldehydes and kentones, is the single substitution of phosphine ylides. The out coming data from the ylides test results is nearly exclusive with the z-alkene chemical agent product. As such for one to obtain the E-alkene chemical agent, there is need to apply ylides under stabilization which can also be substituted with unstablised ylides. This can be undertaken with the application of the Schlosser modification chemical tests, after which the Witting reaction chemical test can be performed (Vedejs et al, 20 00). The witting reaction has a variation known as the classical mechanism; this is the established theoratical procedure of the witting reaction chemical test. It involves the bulk steric of ylide, this interacts with sterochemicals to produce nucleophilic addittives. This gives rise to betaine, the carbon-carbon bond rotation produces betaine tht in turn produces oxaphosphetane. By eliminating the desireable z-alkene in addittion to triphenylphosphine oxide components, the simplified witting reagents are used in a sequenced procedure. The first sequence of this procedure begins with a combination of aldehyes and ketones, this is followed by the decomposition of betaine. This decomposition occurs to the fifth form, this stage is also known as the rate-determination level. However, with ylides under stablization the initial sequence is noticed to be the slowest. As such the general alkene formation rate is reduced with time, this results into a sizeable proportion of the akene produ ct in which case being the E-isomer. This creates an understanding of the reasons, behind the failure of the stablizing reagents in proper reaction with sterical hindered ketones (Vedejs et al. 2000). Witting reagents such as phosphorus ylides, are prepared in a formulated procedure. Phosphium salt is the known derivative of preparation; it is also a resulting chemical agent from the reaction of triphenylphosphine and alkyl halide. As such in order to create the witting reagent being ylide, phosphonium salt must undergo suspension in a solvent such like diethyl ether with treatment of strong base chemicals like phenyllithium which can also be substituted with butyllitium. This can be shown with the following chemical equation Ph3P+CH2R X? + C4H9Li > Ph3P=CH?R + LiX + C4H10, in this chemical procedure methylenetriphenylphosphorane is the simplified ylide in use (Vedejs and Marth, 1998). This yield is also a precursor to a more defined elaboration of the witting reagents, alkylation o ccurs as seen in this chemical equation Ph3P=CH2 by the main alkyl halide that creates a phosphonium salt substitution. The formulation of these salts, is deprotonated in the normal matter resulting into a chemical agent as identified by the following chemical equation Ph3P=CH?CH2R. The ylide which is the witting reagent is structured in such a way that is identified as phosphorane in written form. This is an established representation of the ylide form, being a vital contributor as carbon remains mildly nucleophilic. Its chemical structure is comprised of a ball-and-stick model arrangement, that is takes the physical form of a crystal structure. In terms of its reactivity, simplified phosphoranes are highly reactive and very unstable in