Divisibility Argument Essays - Philosophy, Metaphysics,

Divisibility Argument This paper will discuss the dualism's Divisibility Argument. This argument relies on Leibniz's Law and uses a different property to prove the distinctness of brain states of mental states. Mary, who is a materialist, presents several objections to that argument. Her main objection corresponds to the first/third-person approach. She believes that Dave presents that argument only from the first-person approach, which is introspection, and totally disregards the third-person approach, which is observation of another mind. Mary's objections will follow by the Dave's response on them from the dualist's point of view. The purpose of the Divisibility Argument is to prove that mental states are different from the brain states. My body, which includes my brain, is divisible. However, I cannot conceive of my mind as divisible. Therefore, my mind is distinct from any part of my body. Descartes was the first who established the Divisibility Argument. He held that the two components which constitute man had an independent origin and are of a fundamentally different nature. The body is divisible, since it can be separated for example, my leg or my hand can be cut off; my brain can be cut on half. However, the idea of the divisible mind is inconceivable. This argument relies on the Leibniz's Law. It is a principle about identity, which says, "if an object or event X is identical with an object or event Y, then X and Y have all of the same properties." So if X and Y have any different properties, then X can not be identical with Y. Divisibility Argument uses a different property to prove the distinctness of brain states and mental states: the property of being indivisible. In this case, the mind has a property and brain lacks it. The body can be divided, however, it cannot be done with the mind. Mary has several objections to this argument. First, she believes that the mind is an entity, which is composed of several mental states: thoughts, beliefs, memories, desires, etc. Mary strongly disagrees with Descartes' claim that the mind employs itself in its different properties: willing, desiring, understanding, and so on. Secondly, she clarifies the meaning of the word "conceive" in the Dave's argument. The term "conceive" might mean either "imagine" or"understand." Imagining literally involves "forming an image of" or"picturing" in one's mind, whereas understanding is more "conceptual" and does not require the ability to picture something. In case, Dave interprets the word "conceive" as "imagine" in the second premise of the argument, this premise becomes untrue. The fact that he cannot imagine something to be the case does not make it true in everyone's case. Different minds can imagine different things. However, if Dave implies "understand" as a meaning of"conceive" the second premise still remains doubtful. The fact that Dave cannot understand it does not exclude the possibility that someone else is capable to think of his mind as having parts. The next major objection to the Divisibility Argument concerns first/third-person approach. Mary rejects Dave's assumption that the true nature of the mind can be understood solely through introspection or from the first-person approach. She claims that things that cannot be conceived through the first-person approach, which is introspection, can be understood or investigated through the third-person approach, which is observation and science. Therefore, even if it is true that the mind cannot be conceived as divided from the first-person perspective, it is possible that it would be the opposite from the third-person perspective. The perfect example of that case is the multiple personality disorder. This is the clear case where the third-person perspective reveals the true nature of a mind as divided regardless of how it seems from the first-person perspective. As a response to Mary's objection, Dave agrees that the second premise in the argument does not have always a true value that makes the argument unsound. Therefore, he changes it to "I cannot conceive of my individual mental states as having parts." In the case of the first/third-person approach, Dave relates to the multiple personality disorder as a case with several minds rather than one divided mind. In my opinion, Dave does not satisfactorily respond to the Mary's objections since he does not give a good reasoning for his point of view. However, I do believe that the mind is indivisible since there is no such thing as part of mind. Mind and matter have fundamentally different natures: matter, which is extended, divisible, passive, and law-like; and mind, which is unextended, indivisible, active, and free. I definitely agree with Descartes that the soul

The Planet Jupiter

The Planet Jupiter The study of the universe and other heavenly bodies has been one of the main concerns of scientists since the ancient world. The solar system has a series of planets and Jupiter is one of them. This planet was first discovered by scientists during the ancient period and it was closely linked with religious and mythical believes of many societies. Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Planet Jupiter specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More For example, the Romans called it Jupiter, a term which referred to one of their gods. Among the heavenly bodies visible in the sky at night, Jupiter is the third brightest. However, Mars can also have the same level of brightness at certain intervals in its orbit. Jupiter has an oblate spheroid shape because it rotates very fast. It is mainly composed of gaseous and liquid substances. In terms of size, it is the largest of all the planets and it is number five from the sun. â€Å"The diame ter of Jupiter is 142984 kilometers and its density is 1.326  g/cm3† (Bova 125). The upper atmosphere of this planet is mainly made up of hydrogen which occupies ninety percent and helium nine percent. The remaining one percent is occupied by small quantities of other gases like ammonia and water vapor. Silicon based compounds can also be found in the atmosphere. â€Å"Based on spectroscopy, Saturn is thought to be similar in composition to Jupiter, but the other gas giants Uranus and Neptune have relatively much less hydrogen and helium† (Bova 127). The mass of Jupiter is two and a half times greater than the combined mass of all the remaining planets. The density of this planet is low despite its large size. â€Å"Jupiters volume is equal to 1,321 Earths, yet the planet is only 318 times as massive† (Cattermole 81). According to theoretical models, Jupiter would shrink if it had a greater mass than it has at present. The heat generated in this planet is alm ost the same as the amount of solar radiation it gets from the sun. This process leads to the shrinking of the planet by approximately two centimeters annually. When this planet was formed, it was very hot and its diameter was double the current one. Scientists believe that Jupiter has a dense core, which has several elements and it is also surrounded by a layer of gases â€Å"Rain-like droplets of helium and neon precipitate downward through this layer, depleting the abundance of these elements in the upper atmosphere† (Bova 201). A high temperature also builds toward the core of the planet. However, much is not known about the detailed structure of the core. Advertising Looking for essay on astronomy? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The formation of the core is believed to have taken place during the initial stages of the formation of Jupiter. The fact that Jupiter has a core was partially proved in 1997 thr ough gravitational measurements. However, this fact has not been fully confirmed scientifically. â€Å"Jupiter is covered with clouds that have ammonia crystals and hydrosulfide† (Cattermole 159). â€Å"Jupiter has a unique feature known the Great Red Spot, which is a persistent anti cyclonic storm located 22 ° south of the equator that is larger than the Earth† (Bova 267). This feature has probably existed since 1665. Mathematical models indicate that this feature may permanently remain as part of Jupiter. This feature is very visible if one uses instruments such as telescopes to view it. The red sport is oval and rotates anticlockwise on Jupiter. â€Å"In terms of rotation, Jupiter is the fastest in the solar system and within ten hours it can completely rotate within its axis† (Bova 128). The tilt of Jupiter is just 3.13 ° hence it does not have considerable changes in seasons. The sun and Jupiter are 778 million kilometers apart. Since Jupiter is not so lid, it has equatorial and polar atmospheric rotations. The latter rotation lasts approximately longer than the former. Even though some research has been done on Jupiter, more is still being done even today. Travelling from the earth to the other planets is very possible and many of such missions have successfully been conducted by scientists in the past. Galileo Galilei is one of the earliest scientists who did a lot of research on planets. For example, in 1973, the pioneer missions successfully got pictures of Jupiter. The study of these planets has not been an easy task for the scientists and they have had to sacrifice a lot of their time and resources in order study them. Besides this, space exploration is a very dangerous adventure and many scientists have lost their lives in the process of moving to the planets. Some of them even disappeared mysteriously and they have never been traced since they went for space exploration missions (Nickell 127). Nonetheless, space explorati on has greatly contributed to scientific knowledge. With the introduction of sophisticated technology in space exploration, many scientists are now able to travel to various planets and most of them have had successful missions.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Planet Jupiter specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Bova, Ben. Jupiter. New York: Wiley, 2000. Cattermole, Peter. Earth and Other Planets: Geology and Space Research. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995. Nickell, Duane. Guidebook for the Scientific Traveler: Visiting Astronomy and Space Exploration Sites Across America. New York: Rutgers University Press, 2008.

NEWS CORPORATION CASE STUDY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

NEWS CORPORATION CASE STUDY - Essay Example NC has existence in six media domains that include Cable Network Programming; Filmed Entertainment; Television; Direct Broadcast Satellite Television; Publishing, and Other (Reuters, 2012). This essay is based on the case study analysis regarding the overall expansion strategies of NC. Based on the information in the case study, it explores corporate level strategies of NC and discusses attempt it undertakes to add value to its overall portfolio. For the purpose, strategy matrixes of Ansoff product and market development matrix and corporate parenting matrix have been applied; analysis and suggestion for improvement has also been provided. Analysis for the criticism on Ansoff product development has also been made part of the essay. News Corporation media conglomerate initiated its journey in 1923 with publishing of a local newspaper The News in Adelaide, Australia by Ruport Murdoch’s father. The corporation continued growth and by year 1980 News Corporation had success in cre ating country’s only national newspaper The Australian, also two national magazines and 20 Provincial newspapers. Major developments in the journey of NC have landmarks. NC in 1968 expanded beyond its homeland Australia and entered UK with purchase of News of the World and to US in 1973 with purchase of The Express Publishing Company. Since then, journey for constantly increasing global footing is on way. News Corporation attempted first diversification strategy with major shift to US and bought Film Company Twentieth century Fox in year 1984. In 1989 NC entered into satellite broadcasting business in UK. It further expanded to Asia In 1993 acquired STAR TV followed by developing foothold in internet media with acquisition of My Space.com in 2005. NC has been following the technological development at each stage successfully except few exceptions. Its overall strategy has been to size the unanticipated and unique opportunity with agility no matter how much risky the new ventu re get. It carried strategy of providing customised product. Throughout journey in case study, NC has been managed by Ruport Murdoch. Ruport Murdoch has been described as person with intention to rule the world and so is reflected in the risky moves taken by NC. RM also has been very dominant in guiding the deep down operations and in order to get the positive results he had was free to use his political terms to support his ventures. NC has been successfully leveraging its financial, personnel and knowledge resource to expand and control the business that has international presence in various media related domains. Though financial conditions have had some difficult times but NC has been able to strengthen it with its strategy. The Ansoff (1965) developed strategy matrix using two dimension of development; first product development and other being market development. This matrix gained much popularity in business literature. The matrix with former variable on horizontal axis and la tter one vertical axis provided four strategies which are: product development, market development, market penetration and diversification (Cravens and Piercy, 2008). Individually both variables have been given the credit to play crucial role in leading firm’s success; since pioneering study by Stopford and Wells (1972). Moreover, there have been large numbers of studies developing the success stories with strategies developed by combining the two variables in matrix (Constantinides, 2004; Watts, Cope, and Hulme, 1998; Delios and Beamish, 2002) (Constantinides, 2004) The Ansoff matrix being the combination of important variables of international literature has its own success levels; however, four strategies develo