Loss Accounts and Balance sheet Essays

Loss Accounts and Balance sheet Essays Loss Accounts and Balance sheet Essay Loss Accounts and Balance sheet Essay The results that are shown above are accurately calculated. The figures are taken from Mr. Hans profit ; Loss Accounts and Balance sheet 2007. The table signifies that Mr. Hans business for the year ending 2007. Return on Capital Employed: Return on capital employed in the year 2005 was only 41%, it then went up in the following year by 4% and again in the year 2007 it went up to 50%. This signifies that the ratio has been improved. This ratio is improved because the business has increased investment. Return on Capital Employed can be improved in such way as Mr. Kong has to increase the net profit for next year. This current figure is far greater than the industry average which shows the business is working much efficient than the average business would. Gross Profit: Gross Profit in the year 2005 was only 44% but it have been improved only by 1% in the following year but again the following year (2007) it decreases by 2%. This signifies the ratio is worse. The ratio is worsened because Mr. Kong Hans Gross Profit Percentage of sales was 45% at the end of year 2006 while it has been changed from 45% to 43% in the year 2007. The possible reason for this is because increase in the price of goods they produce. This would give them less profit because of these factors. Mr. Kong Han should take immediate action upon this ratio because Gross profit helps a company to see what percentage of its earning after costs (for products and/or services) is profit. A possible suggestion would be that Mr. Kong Han could decrease the purchase cost possibly by acquiring materials or goods from cheaper suppliers. Another thing that business could do is to increase sales as well perhaps by increasing price of products or more marketing techniques into their products. Net Profit: Net Profit in the year 2005 was only 28% but it has been decreased by 1% in the following year (2006) and again the following year (2007) it decreases by 9.2%. This means that the ratio is getting worse. This is worse because the business is not making any revenue to convert it into profit means that business is not selling the product or services that it produce. The worst cause for this would be that prices of services are increased as well as the business is also paying for mortgages. It is very critical and immediate action should be taken on this because net profit is very important to every business and all business is stable on net profit. Mr. Kong Han business can be improved if business could do to reduce their overall expenses. The business can look for another supplier who is cheaper and can provide a better deal for raw material goods. The business can try to decrease their overheads figures and try to maximise their profit each and every year. Stock Turnover: Stock Turnover in the year 2005 was only 44 days but it has been increased in the following year (2006) to 56 days but again in the following year it has increased by 20 days and went up to 76 days. It has been worsened because the lower days shows that the business has quickly convert stock into revenues. This is worse because the business has high prices on the products as well as the business has no proper strategy to sell the products. The possible action would be that the quicker the business sells its products the better it is. There are several methods that business could be improved. The first thing they could is to lower the products prices; this will hugely promote sales as customers will feel they are getting a bargain. And an additional thing they can do is to try and sell the products to another company for a low price. The price might be low but they will receive some sort of income instead of the product just staying in the shop. It will bring in some extra cash that the business will need. Furthermore the business can try to slow down production if there is too much stock available or they can possibly re-asses the value of the product. Debtor Payment Period: Debtors payment period in the year 2005 was only 0.89 days but it has been decreased only by 0.1 in the following year 2006 to 0.88 days and again in the following year (2007) it has decreased by 0.2 days to 0.86 days. It has been improved over in the following 2 years which means that the business has good control over the capital because the business not letting more capital to the customers and perhaps thats why the business Debtors Payment period is decreased. The improvement that are required for this debtors payment period is that they can do are to try to maintain this number or try to reduce it by next year. This way they can reduce this is to re-asses their credit options with customer and try to decrease the time. Creditor Payment Period: Creditor Payment Period in the year 2005 was only 5.7 days but it has been increased to 13 days in the following year (2006) and again it decreased down from 13 days to 9.2 days in the year 2007. It has been worsened because payment days have been increased. This is because the customers who own capital to business are taking long to return the capital. Mr. Kong Han should take immediate action and encourage customers to pay on time because this will lead a poor relationship with suppliers. The suggestion would be that business should maintain this period or possibly try to increase it in the next year but the main thing they should do is to keep it constant with debtor payment period. Current Ratio: Current Ratio in the year 2005 was only 4:8:1 but it has been increased to 4:9:1 in the year 2006 and again in following year (2007) it has increased to 5.1:1. This indicates that the business is in liquidation. It has been worsened because it has gone up because it shows that they have a lot of stock to sell. These changes happened because they have a lot of stock. Mr. Kong Han should take immediate action on the business because the ideal ratio was between 2:1 and 3:1. The business could achieve this by reducing the ratio. This can be done by selling more of its stock or try to reduce the amount of cash they have available on the business because of the high amount of stock the business should produce few amounts of products. Acid Test: Acid Test in the year 2005 was only 1:1:1 but it has been decreased to 0:89:1 in 2006 and again in the following year (2007) it has decreased to 0:6:1. This signifies that the business is in very poor condition as the Acid Test was worse. The steps the business can try and increase their current assets but not stock as stock can be very hard to sell immediate. They could offer more customers a credit system or the business can try to and hold more cash within the business. Another option is to produce less stock and when there is an opportunity to pay off creditors they should take it.

Customer-letter writing for tax professionals - Emphasis

Customer-letter writing for tax professionals Customer-letter writing for tax professionals When the naturalist Charles Darwin outlined natural selection, he almost certainly didnt have business people in mind. But his idea, that the species best suited to their environments are the ones who survive, has never been truer in the world of work. Competition for clients can be fierce, and never more so than now. The firms most able to meet their clients needs are often the most successful. One effective way to do this is to make your written communication client-centred. It doesnt have to be complicated simply pre-empting client phone calls and emails with a letter, for example. In fact, well-written, aptly timed letters are one of the best ways to provide good customer service. They help to make your clients feel that you really care about them and their businesses. The trouble is though that too many letters get it wrong. They unwittingly offend the client, dont take responsibility for misunderstandings and talk around issues as though they were having a debate. Clients need you to be the expert; provide the right figures; be honest when you dont know the answers and consistent about the information they need to provide you with. In short, they need to know their needs come first. With the dealings of financial institutions increasingly under public scrutiny, trust is a sought-after quality. So, make sure that it shines through in your written communication because integrity and accuracy will help the numbers add up for your clients. Just SCRAP it Good letters and emails have a clear structure and a specific goal in mind. The aim is to make youre your readers know why you are writing to them and what you want them to do. The SCRAP formula can help you to write clearly. The acronym stands for: situation, complication, resolution, action, politeness. Situation Begin by explaining the situation (or where they are). By doing this your reader will realise you understand and empathise with them. Complication Introduce the idea that theres a problem (why they cant stay there) they need to solve or a request they need to fulfil. Resolution State your resolution to the problem or request. Your reader will probably be relieved that youre offering a ready-made way of fixing things. Action Suggest what action the reader can or should take. In some cases, this will be what further action you are going to take. Make sure that this follows on logically from the resolution. Politeness Finally, end with a polite sign-off. Like any good recipe, you dont have to follow this formula to a tee. Some client correspondence will be so simple and straightforward that theres no problem to resolve. You just need to decide whats happened and what you want the reader to do about it. Top writing tips Get active Use the active rather than the passive voice. So write we found a mistake in your tax return rather than a mistake was found in your tax return. Keep it short and simple Good sentences contain no more than 15-20 words. Long flowery phrases are difficult to follow and can even breed distrust. Clear, plain writing suggests that there is nothing to hide. Always choose a simple word over a complication one. And remember that you can never have too many full stops! Clarify your main message If youre having difficulty figuring out what you really want your letter to say write down the words; who?, what?, where?, when? and why? at the top of a piece of paper. Use these headings to brainstorm the contents of your document. Ditch the management lingo If youve been immersed in the business world for some time, its easy to start writing in management-speak. So, prune carefully through your written work to ensure that youre not unwittingly lapsing into the types of language that would make David Brent in sitcom, The Office proud. Metaphors such as raising the bar and picking the low hanging fruit sound more like a tropical limbo challenge than references to taxation matters. While generic phrases such as working in close partnership with and after due consideration may make your clients think that your letters arent tailored to their industry or even to them. Dont add redundant words, such as pre in pre-prepare and forward in forward planning. All planning goes forwards and you cant prepare until youve prepared. The extra words dilute your message and can make the reader think that your advice is full of padding and waffle too. Remember, clients will thank you for being short and concise, as it will save them time. Brevity can be a courtesy. Case study Whether it is tax, technology or telecommunications; these letter writing principles work in any industry. Heres how letter-writing skills training transformed the customer services of a major insurance provider. The problem: The customer services department wanted to reduce the number of second-stage complaints they were receiving so they asked Emphasis to help the complaints team make its letters more customer-centred. The solution: We helped the team to fully identify the issues and facts behind the letters from complainants. We instructed participants about importance of structure in letters and then analysed the types of language, intentions and assumptions used in their standard responses. We enabled them to write letters in an easily accessible style. The benefits: Each delegate had a one-to-one coaching clinic six weeks later, where they submitted a post-training writing sample. All had progressed in structure and style. The team was so motivated by the course that they now talk about Emphasising their letters. Robert Ashton is Chief Executive of Emphasis.

Legal implications of adverse utilization review determinations by Essay

Legal implications of adverse utilization review determinations by health insurance companies - Essay Example Adverse utilization review determination is an important consideration in health related issues for the people of the United States of America.Health insurance companies of America deal this issue and help people obtaining their health insurance benefits..It is necessary to add that adverse determination of medical necessity is experimental or investigational in nature. The necessity of health insurance companies as well as the adverse utilization review by them is getting momentum position in the recent days."The Department of Insurance (Department) is required to establish and maintain a process for annual certification of independent review organizations and to maintain a list of certified independent review organizations to be used by HMOs.""The insurance department has certified a number of Independent Review Organizations to conduct the reviews. Again, the department has also filed a proposed interim rule regarding external review which was supposed to be effective immediately (Rogers, 2000)ii".States have undertaken efforts to frame legislative instruments and give them into effect with a view to affording people the benefits of health insurance. The state of Indiana has established and long been maintaining an external grievance procedure for resolving the resolution of grievances regarding adverse utilization review determinations. In 2000, the New Hampshire legislature passed a legislation empowering the establishment of an independent external consumer appeal process to review adverse utilization review determinations which are supposed to.... are needed to be clarified. It will also help in drawing a better assessment on this intended paper. Final adverse determination indicates the meaning that an adverse determination has been upheld by a utilization review agent in regard to the issue of a health care service following a standard appeal, or corresponds to a matter where section 4904 of the insurance law is applicable. More categorically speaking, Adverse determination means a sort of determination by health carrier or its designee utilization review entity which meant a requested admission, availability of care, continuous stay or other health care service, as well as supply of drugs which is covered under the terms of the covered person's health benefit plan. Utilization review includes a set of formal techniques designed to monitor the use of or evaluate the clinical necessity, its effectiveness, health care services, health care procedures etc. Material affiliation means where there is a substantial relationship bet ween physician-patient relationships, partnership relationship or employment relationship. Clinical peer reviewer includes the persons who have deserving competences to conduct their activities in medical profession or equal to those of carriers of health care services. Retrospective adverse utilization means the consideration of the claim of health service when the medical treatment has already been taken and whether the treatment should be on continuous stay. Medical Necessity Undeniably, as the companies as well as the HMOs pay claims based upon the concept of The insurance companies consider the claims if people attempt to get pre-certification where a proposed health treatment is to be taken by the patients or insurer of

Research paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words - 11

Research Paper Example s time wasters, with some educational experts regarding computer games to corrupt the brains of the teenagers playing it, however some tend to understand that computer games have positive educational impacts and help in developing creative minds. People need to understand that computer games help people, both kids, adolescents and even the adults grow in different ways, the benefits of the computer range from health, to social. The benefits of playing video games fall into different categories, from benefits to children, adolescents and even to adults. Playing computer games has evolutionary benefits positively affecting the players regardless of their age. The main positive impact falling in all the categories is improvement in coordination and brain exercises, playing computer games requires Maximum Corporation; this improves the brain activities, as one has to intellectually think of the next move acting as a brain exercise. Some of the benefits include; Improvement in planning, l ogistics, and resource management- many computer games tend to have limited resources that the gamer has to learn to manage, these gamers transfer these skills to real life, they learn how to manage the resources they have effectively. In addition, some games such as the railway tycoons encourage players to undertake certain careers such as architecture and urban planning. Playing computer games improve spatial, the fine motor skills, and the hand-eye coordination-those games involving shooting, the player may be shooting and running at the same time. This is not an easy skill to memories; the skill requires coordination as the player need to know where he is heading and where to aim and shoot. Through this the players needs to coordinate his movements, reactions, and interpretations in the brain, recorded by the movements of the fingertips and the hands. Research shows that some of the fighter pilots gain skills from playing video games, especially the skills for quick reaction.

Multimedia System Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Multimedia System - Research Paper Example So we can say that multimedia is exhibition of some form of information in any format. This can also be taken as the presenting information by means of numerous dissimilar techniques to obtain across those ideas (Multimedia Product development, 2009). Some years ago, purchasing a multimedia product for a computer was a pretty complex task, on the other hand for the reason that of the marvelous enlargement of multimedia applications, the majority of computers that we purchase nowadays are previously intended to execute and run multimedia products and applications. If we want to develop a multimedia sample or applications then we need a more powerful computer system. If we do not have such machine then its productivity will be lost, but now the majority of people having more powerful machines as compared to 10 years ago computers (Henke et al, 2000). The practice of development of a multimodal product encompasses a comprehensive planning for the over development process. In this circumstances we have to pay more attention regarding the way and tools we have, and which we adopt for the development of the system (Multimedia Product development, 2009). This research is aimed at discussing this development process and its main aspects. This section will discuss about the main aspect of multimedia planning process and events. Successfully developing as well as delivering a multimedia product or applications necessitates an additional powerful PC, very good designing qualities, effective programming knowledge and most important a creative mind. Though, if formation of high-end multimedia product is our objective, then we definitely need to consider positive circumstance that has been recognized particularly for multimedia product development (Henke et al, 2000). Storyboard is the basic step in every type of multimedia product development. In this first phase of the multimedia product development we build up and design a

Mind Body Relationship In Human Person Philosophy Essay

Mind Body Relationship In Human Person Philosophy Essay The mind-body problem has been a much discussed issue in the Philosophy of Mind. All those who undertake any study in consciousness, necessarily need to touch upon this subject. One of the unsettled puzzles is about whether consciousness is part of material or mental realm. It has challenged the scientists as well as philosophers to look for some solutions. They have proposed several theories to address the issue. Among several theories dualism and physicalism were the most discussed. There are some crucial questions regarding mind-body problem: such as; how do they interact, whether the mind and body differ not only in degree and nature but also in kind? The arrival of neuroscience with its several scientific experiments has radically challenged the understanding of relationship between mind and body and forced us to rethink our positions about it. Thus, there is a renewed vigour in studying about consciousness in modern times and it has thrown open several other ways of settling th is issue. This chapter will briefly discuss on how different philosophers perceived the relationship between mind and body in a person and critically analyse various theories of dualism and physicalism in detail and present their difficulties. The concluding part of the chapter will show the need to go beyond dualism and physicalism with the help of neuroscience. We begin our discussion with mind-body relationship in a person. 1.1 Mind-Body Relationship in a Person For many centuries, we have been trying to understand the mind-body relationship in a person. The difficulty behind explaining the relationship between mind-body in a person is that s/he is a dynamic entity.  [1]  Thus, one is in a continued mode of knowing oneself. There are several thinkers who hold the view that a person is composed of body and mind. At the same time there are also some thinkers who oppose this idea. Now we shall discuss the views of some philosophers. There are several ancient philosophers like Plato and Aristotle who expressed their views on mind-body relationship in a person. For Plato, human being is composed of body and soul. Body is nothing but a prison house into which his/her soul has been locked. His understanding of person is different from our understanding of human being.  [2]  For Plato, person belongs to intelligible world and human being belongs to sensible world. Secondly person can be transformed whereas human being cannot be because human being belongs to physical level of being.  [3]  Thus he says that a person, the subject of interest, is not a human being but rather a soul, an entity distinct from that of human being.  [4]  Here we can see a clear-cut distinction of soul and body in Platos thinking. Aristotle, on the contrary, saw the mind-body relationship from a completely different angle. He says that a person is a composite not of body and soul but of prime matter and the human soul which as a substantial form.  [5]  He does not perceive the distinction between mind and body; instead he makes the distinction between matter and form. Therefore, Aristotle understands body and soul as not of two complete beings in conflict with each other but complimenting each other because matter and form are inseparable in a primary substance. There are also modern philosophers like Hegel, Immanuel Kant and John Locke who understand the mind-body relationship quite differently. For Hegel, an individual is part of the larger life of the Mind. He says that, Mind or spirit, passes through dialectical stages of evolution, revealing itself as subjective mind, objective mind and absolute mind. The subjective mind expresses itself as soul, consciousness and spirit.  [6]  From the above statements it is very clear that he gives importance to mind alone. He has absorbed totally the body into mind; for he says, It (mind) embodies itself, creates a body for itself, and becomes a particular, individual soul.  [7]  Therefore what truly exists for him is mind and not body. However Immanuel Kant speaks about metaphysical dualism rather than substance dualism of the person. He sees person as a Transcendental Self because there is a level of self-awareness that is over and above the categories of normal philosophies. Human being is alone a rational being who has a will and a free choice of action. So Kant postulates person as a transcendental free being, an idea that the inner self is not bound by the laws of nature.  [8]  However, John Locke, being a modern philosopher understands human person as that of ancient philosophers. For him mind is the real person and body is only a possession.  [9]  He separates mind from body and shows that body is only a material reality. He says that, Every man has a property in his own person.   This no Body has any Right to but himself.  [10]  For him mind is the real person and in the real person the body aspect is integrated totally into it.  [11]   The philosophers have changed their focus in the recent years. They give more stress on the purpose of human life. They ask; what does it mean to be a human person? However, with the growing interest in neuroscience, the ontological question bounced back with new a quest. One of the forerunners and pioneers of this movement is Philip Clayton who brought back the same question with a new focus. Now we shall discus the extreme positions of mind-body relationship and their solutions. 1.2 Extreme Positions The Mind-Body relationship has been an unsettled question both for science and philosophy. It has been a herculean task for both scientists and philosophers, who were greatly involved in unlocking the issue of the relationship between mind and body. There are two sets of opposing ideologies proposed; namely dualism and physicalism. Most of the philosophers are divided on their opinions hence this issue seeks our utmost attentions. Here we shall examine these two positions in detail and see why we need to go beyond these divisions. As part of this session, 1.3 deals with substance dualism and property dualism and 1.4 tries to examine the critical appraisal of the mind body relationship. The second part begins in 1.5 which deals with physicalism. Let us begin with dualism. 1.3 Dualism Dualism simply means a condition of being double. It comes from the Latin word duo meaning two which denotes a state of two parts.  [12]  It was originally coined to highlight the co-eternal binary position; for example good and evil, body and mind, mental and material, dark and light etc. It is supported by several arguments.  [13]  In philosophy it is a world view that the world consists of or is explicable as two fundamental entities, such as body and mind, the condition of being double or duality.  [14]  From the point of theology, it speaks about that human being having two basic natures, the physical and spiritual. There are two kinds of dualism- substance dualism and property dualism. 1.3.1 Substance Dualism The substance dualism sees mind and body as two distinct and separate substances.  [15]  Several philosophers like Plato, Thomas Aquinas and Renà © Descartes too held a similar view. They see mind as something that is diametrically opposing body. The attribute of body is extension but at the same time they see that the body is passive; whereas the mind is thinking, active and free. The two substances are absolutely distinct and mind is without extension. Those who hold dualism say that they have a clear and distinct idea of themselves in so far as they are only a thinking and un-extended thing.  [16]  The distinction between body as material and mind as immaterial substance becomes a crucial point of discussion in substance dualism because they differ not only in kind but also in nature and degree. However it is a compelling concept because it gives us a hope of personal survival after death and also many religions hold this theory very dear to them.  [17]  We can see th is distinction in Indian philosophy too. The Sankhaya philosophy holds that there are two entities; namely Purusha  [18]  and Prakrti  [19]  which are the two constitutive elements of the world. However dualism is more clearly and intelligibly spelled by the western thinkers. Now we shall discuss briefly about two predominant philosophers: Plato, from the ancient schools and Renà © Descartes, from the modern thinkers, who represent the rest of the dualistic thinkers of their time. 1.3.1.1 Platonic Dualism Platonic Dualism can be seen very clear in Phaedo, one of his dialogues. In the dialogue, Plato accepts the two ultimate principles; namely body and mind. Here his dualism is metaphysical in nature because he deals with immortality of mind or soul.  [20]  He calls mind as soul.  [21]  For him, the mind is immortal and body is mortal.  [22]  The mind is the one which differentiates the living from the dead. He sees the body as a prison in which the soul is confined. In the imprisoned life, the mind is compelled to investigate the truth by means of the organs of perception of the body. Forms are universals and represent the essences of sensible particulars. Plato says that we do not see reality as a whole. We perceive equal things, but not equality itself. We perceive beautiful things but not beauty itself. To have insights into the pure essences of things, the mind must struggle to disassociate itself from the body as far as possible and turn its attention towards the cont emplation of not only to intelligible things but also to invisible things. Plato defines death as the separation of soul and body, and the state of being dead as state in which soul and body exist separately from one another.  [23]  Thus for Plato, the dualism of mind and body are opposite in nature. He establishes the distinction of mind and body by establishing the distinction between the immortality of mind and mortality of body. He proves the immortality of soul through Argument from Opposites, Argument from Recollection and the Argument from Affinity.  [24]  These three arguments are keys to establish his dualism. Plato defends his immortality of soul from the Argument from Opposites. He says that things that have an opposite come to be from their opposite. For example, if something comes to be taller, it must come to be taller from having been shorter; if something comes to be heavier, it must come to be so by first having been lighter. These processes can go in either direction. Similarly he says that dying comes from living, living must come from dying. Thus, we must come to life again after we die. During the interim between death and rebirth the soul exists apart from the body and has the opportunity to glimpse the Forms unmingled with matter in their pure and undiluted fullness. Thus the cycle of life goes on. The second defence for his immortality of soul is the Argument from Recollection. For Plato, soul must exist prior to birth because we can recollect things that could not have been learned in this life. According to Plato, we recognize unequal things and strive for equality. To notice inequality, we must comprehend what equality is. In order to know what equality is, we must have the prior knowledge so that we can understand the form of equality. Hence, the soul must have existed prior to birth to the form of equality.  [25]   The third defence for his immortality of soul is the Argument from Affinity. Plato claims that composite things are more liable to be destroyed than things that are simple. The forms  [26]  are true unities and therefore least likely ever to be annihilated. Further Plato says that invisible things such as forms are not apt to be disintegrated, whereas visible things are susceptible to decay and corruption. Since the body is visible and composite, it is subjected to decomposition. As against to body, the soul is invisible part of forms and purifies itself by having no more association with the body than necessary. Since the invisible things are the durable things, the soul, being invisible, must outlast the body. Further, soul becomes form-like immortal and survives the death of the body.  [27]  Through these three arguments Plato proves the immortality of soul or mind whereby he makes the distinction between body and mind; thus he proves the dualism. However Platos arguments are highly challenged even by his own disciple Aristotle. Firstly, the Argument from Opposites applies only to things that have an opposite and, as Aristotle notes, substances have no contraries.  [28]  Further, even if life comes from what is itself not alive, it does not follow that the living human comes from the union of a dead (i.e. separated) soul and a body. The principle that everything comes to be from its opposite via a two-directional process cannot hold up to critical scrutiny. Secondly, one becomes older from having been younger, there is no corresponding reverse process leading the older to become younger. If aging is a uni-directional process, perhaps dying is as well. The Arguments from Recollection and Affinity, on the other hand, presuppose the existence of forms and are therefore no more secure than the forms themselves. Thus these criticisms show that we cannot simply take the prior existence of soul as it is true. Therefore Platos und erstanding is more of metaphysical and bit of vague because there are several unanswered questions like things which have two different natures interact. At the same time we acknowledge, he has brought certain clarity in understanding dualism with clear proofs. Now we shall discuss the dualism proposed by Descartes. 1.3.1.2 Cartesian Dualism. Renà © Descartes is one of the modern Philosophers who has extensively dealt with dualism. For Descartes, body and mind are distinct substances and the immaterial mind is somehow associated with the material body.  [29]  Substance dualism gets more predominance in Cartesian dualism.  [30]  He says substance dualism goes along with the view that the identity of a person over time is constituted by the identity overtime of this substance, and in versions of the doctrine that countenance life after death, it is survival of this substance, often called soul perhaps along with certain memory and psychological continuities, that constitutes the survival of the person.  [31]  The idea that there is a fundamental difference in kind between the mind and body can be spelled out in two broadly different ways.  [32]  Descartes held that minds and bodies are substances of distinct kind that, in the case of living human beings, happen to be intimately related.  [33]  The disti nction between the body and mind is: the body is spacial, public and has material qualities; and mind is non-spacial, private and has distinctively mental qualities. By spacial, he means that it occupies some space and time for its existence. It is public which means it is visible and we can experience it. When he says that the body has material qualities, he means that it has several qualities by which the substance expresses itself and reveals it to others and through which we come to know the things.  [34]  Firstly, in contrast to body, the mind occupies no space therefore it can be anywhere at any time. In short it is beyond space and time. Secondly it possesses mental qualities of life feeling, perceiving, experience joys and sorrows of life etc. Thirdly the mind is private because we cannot perceive it.  [35]  Descartes believes that the world is made up of substances. A substance is not a thing as we think like water or coal, or paint. For Descartes substance is an in dividual thing or an entity. He says that substances are different; they are complex. He gives importance to human being and his/her rationality. He claimed that, human rationality could not be a physical process.  [36]   The dualism of Descartes sounds good; however, there are certain conceptual difficulties and seemingly insurmountable problems. One of the crucial issues is the interaction of mind-body which is totally opposing each other in nature and kind. If minds are as distinct from material things as Descartes claims, it seems at least paradoxical: how can then the two sorts of substances interact. In this case property dualism seems to solve some of the problems which substance dualism cannot. 1.3.2 Property Dualism Property dualism maintains that mind is not only one kind of physical substance, having physical or behavioral-material-functional properties but also nonphysical behaviorally-materially-functionally in-eliminable and irreducible properties.  [37]  The advantage of property dualism over substance dualism is that it avoids the casual interaction problem because this theory has no need to countenance causal interaction between material and immaterial or spatial and non-spatial substance, since it admits only that there is only material substance.  [38]  It also need not appeal to Gods divine abilities in order to account for mind-body interaction or the objectivity of the perceived world. It has an edge over materialism that it provides for the intuitive distinction between body and mind by positing a difference in their properties, and especially in the metaphysical categories of their properties. Property dualism holds that without both properties, we cannot satisfactorily ex plain the psychological phenomena. The in-eliminable and irreducible properties are said to be essential to mind because they are responsible for experience, feeling, object directionality and intentionality of psychological states.  [39]  This property dualism could be understood in three ways; namely Theory of Attribute, Anomalous Monism and Non-reductive materialism. 1.3.2.1 Theory of Attribute The first way of understanding the property dualism is through Spinozas theory of attribute. Attributes are part of Spinozas metaphysics.  [40]  For Spinoza God is the only Substance since Gods essence involves existence. He says that, God exists and, moreover, only God can fulfill the conditions for substance, therefore there can be only one substance.  [41]  It is a mistake to assert that mind and body as substances because they are not fully self-subsistent, but are dependent modes or manifestations of God. For him, A true substance must be that which contains within itself, as part of its essence, the complete explanation of its nature and existence.  [42]  This God has infinite attributes. But human being can know only two attributes; they are namely thought and extension. By attribute what Spinoza understands is that the intellect perceives substance as constituting its essence. For him, the attribute of thought is attached to mind and extension to the body. He says that the object of idea constituting the human mind is the body which is certain mode of extension. He says that Therefore, the minds power of understanding extends only as far as that which this idea of the body contains within itself, or which follows there from. Now this idea of the body involves and expresses no other attributes of God than extension and thought.  [43]  This attribute enables us to understand and talk about an extended world and a thinking world in terms of which we understand bodies and minds. He partly invented this theory of attribute for the sake of solving an outstanding question raised by Descartes philosophy of mind. If the mind is, or belongs to, a separate substance from that of the body, then how does the body-mind interact? In order to avoid the problem, Spinoza considered that mind and body is one and the same thing under the attribute of extension and thought. Though the Cartesian notion of dualism was logical, it had constant problems. It coul d not substantially explain the relationship between substance constructed as individual and substance constructed as matter or stuff. But Spinozas explanation came very close to a satisfactory theory.  [44]   1.3.2.2 Anomalous Monism Anomalous monism is proposed by Donald Davidson, who is an American pragmatist. Anomalous monism is a philosophical thesis about the mind- body relationship. This theory has twofold divisions; namely mental and physical.  [45]  It states that mental events are identical with physical events. Events are causes in virtue of the properties that they instantiate, unless mental properties and physical properties are also identified, questions about the causal redundancy of the mental reappear at the level of properties.  [46]  But Davidson says that the mental events are anomalous, that is to say these mental events are not regulated by strict physical laws. Hence, he proposed an identity theory of mind without the reductive bridge laws associated with the type-identity theory. He understands the ontological nature of the relationship of mental events especially propositional attitudes with physical actions. Davidson accepts that there is ontology of events where events, which may seem to be opposed to objects or states of affairs, are the fundamental, irreducible entities of the mental and physical universe. He also believes that event-individuation must be done on the basis of causal powers. He further argues in favour of the individualization of events on the basis of spatio-temporal localization. According to this view, all events are caused by and cause other events and for him this is the defining characteristics of what an event is. The important aspect of Davidsons ontology of events for anomalous monism is that an event has an indefinite number of properties or aspects. He says that a very simple physical action like switching on a light has a large variety of mental events especially reasoning; for example recognizing the need of light, making a choice to switch on etc. For Davidson, a particular reason causes a particular action. Thus it explains that reasons are causes and actions are effects of the causal efficacy of the mental events.  [47]   However there are also people who are highly critical about it. One of the criticisms about the anomalous monism is whether mental events are ever causes of physical events in virtue of their mental properties. Gibb says that If the mental properties of a mental event do make a causal difference, then unless one admits systematic causal over determination, this is to violate the causal closure principle, for according to it an events physical properties are sufficient for the causal effects that event has within the physical domain.  [48]  It is otherwise the mental properties of an event make no causal difference to the physical effects that the event has, then mental properties have the status of epiphenomena. He observes that Consequently, to identify mental events with physical events whilst distinguishing mental properties from physical properties are not to remove but merely to relocate the problem of mental causation.  [49]  For this reason, the non-reductive physicali st who identifies token mental events with physical events but maintains a property dualism can plausibly be accused of property epiphenomenalism. Secondly a strict law cannot be formulated in the same terms as the causal claim because causally related events must have descriptions under which they instantiate a strict law. Similarly, the causal claim and the relevant covering law cannot be formulated in purely mental terms because any mental event that causes a physical event must be characterizable in physical terms and therefore be physical. Hence, mental events are physical events. On the other hand, as there are no strict psychophysical laws that would support the reduction of mental concepts to physical concepts, anomalous monism leads to the rejection of any conceptual reduction.  [50]   1.3.2.3 Non-reductive Materialism Non-reductive materialism represents the current orthodoxy in Western Philosophy thinking about the ontological status of the mind. The proponents of non-reductive materialism hold that the mental is ontologically part of the material world; yet, mental properties are causally efficacious without being reducible to physical properties.  [51]  Even though the mind itself is really physical, our mentalist explanatory scheme is not reducible to physics but is instead autonomous. They hold both irreducibility of the mind as well physical nature of the mind as realism. They are also arguing that they are fundamentally unstable combination. The non-reductionist distinguishes mental kinds from physical kinds, where the mental includes sensation and thought, and the physical is roughly the domain of the physical sciences, including neurophysiology. But those who oppose it say that the whole question of explanatory autonomy became a topical philosophical issue which threatened the reducti onism because there was a general acceptance of materialist theories. It was broadly a metaphysical doctrine. It would seem to follow that all phenomena are susceptible to physical explanation, and if this is true then what can the ontological status be of those concepts, categories and theories which fall outside the domain of the physical sciences?  [52]  Then the non-reductive materialist may have to give up all pretense of having a realist view of mental terms, giving up all talk of real but non-physical mental properties. It seems that you cannot combine Physicalism with realism about the mental and at the same time hold out for the autonomy of the mental. However non-reductive materialism could be still seen as fundamentally a stable position. 1.4 An Appraisal of Mind-Body Relations Though Descartes argues for the mind-body dualism,  [53]  the sort of dualism for which he argues, entails certain conceptual difficulties and seemingly insuperable problems. The main difficulty with mental activity is that, as Descartes understands them, how do the mind and matter interact. If minds are as distinct from material things as Descartes claims, it seems at least paradoxical that the two sorts of substances should interact. The question of the relation between the mental and the physical can be posed equivalently as about mental and ph

Solar Cookers :: Essays Papers

Solar Cookers Jewish families celebrate Passover to commemorate the freedom and exodus of the Israelites (Jewish slaves) from Egypt during the reign of the Pharaoh Ramses II. When the Pharaoh Ramses II freed the Israelites, they fled so quickly that there wasn't time to bake their breads. Instead the Israelites packed the raw dough, which they quickly baked in the hot sun into hard crackers called Matzohs as they fled through the desert. The exodus of the Israelites took place over 3000 years ago, but the Israelites were not the first to harness solar power for cooking, neither were they the last. Solar cooking has had a long rich history and has important implication for the future. Solar cooking is an important link in understanding the sun’s power, is a sink of innovation and technology, is widely applicable around the world, has social, economic and ecological benefits, and is the answer to some of the world’s biggest natural resource shortages. Although, solar cooking is an ind ustry that has yet to be revolutionized into an efficient home appliance, therefore, there are many avenues for innovation and technological advancement to be explored. Horace de Saussure coincidently created the first solar box cooker, although, because cooking food was not his objective he failed to revolutionize the solar cooking as an efficient home appliance. Horace de Saussure, â€Å"set out to determine how effectively glass heat traps could collect the energy of the sun.† Horace de Saussure placed five consecutively smaller open bottomed glass boxes within each other on a black table, in which he placed a piece of fruit. When this miniature five walled green house was exposed to the sun, each consecutive glass chamber trapped warm air and thermal radiation, which are by products of light energy being turned into heat. Consequently the innermost glass box became the hottest, a recorded 189.5 degrees Fahrenheit and Horace de Saussure successfully cooked fruit within this box. Cooking was only an experiment used by Horace de Saussure to understand his greater goal, which was how effectively glass heat traps could collect the energy o f the sun. Although, Horace de Saussure realized the practical application of his heat trap. Horace de Saussure stated, â€Å"someday some usefulness might be drawn from this device . . . [for it] is actually quite small, inexpensive, [and] easy to make.† Horace de Saussure was correct in stating that solar cooking is useful, but contrary to his advice the solar cooker failed to be revolutionized into an efficient home appliance.