Philosophy of Mind Essay

Since centuries, our philosophers have been trying to unravel mysteries of our memory, thought processes, different emotions, will power and imaginations culminating into what is known as different intellectual and conscious part of our personality.   Our mind, as our great literary figures have posited, is a stream of our consciousness and is a part of our brain’s inherent processes. Our mind is a place where our reasoning power gets the shape and takes the practical form. As also said in Indian Vedic philosophy, He who knows the receptacle (Ayatana) verily becomes the receptacle of his people. Mind is verily the receptacle (of all our knowledge).† – (Chhandogya Upanishad, V-i-5.) Different studies by our philosophers have been compounded into various theories each delving into the depth of various aspects of our mind processes. Its earliest studies have been found in the works of Zarathushtra, Mahatma Budha, Plato, Aristotle, Adi Shankara and many more ancient Greek and Indian Philosophers.   Many of the pre scientific philosophers based their theories on relationship between the mind and the soul, supernatural elements of faith, having a feeling of closeness with divinity or god, but on the other hand modern theorists based their theories on their research and scientific studies of the brain. These theories rely heavily on the fact that the mind is a phenomenon of the brain and is a tantamount of consciousness. The study of the relationship between the body and mind is the most central aspect to the philosophy of mind, despite of the fact that there are number of issues related to the nature of the mind which does not take into consideration its relationship to the physical body. The most crucial and complex differences of thoughts are arising among different theorists regarding the exact and most appropriate theory of mind. Though various theorists have developed their own different versions to make us understand our own functioning of mind yet as more and more theories are coming up, more and more it is getting difficult to come out with the best theory of all. As all theories are able to capture the intensity of readers to make us understand the core of our mind and thoughts, yet it is very challenging to understand â€Å"Which is the best?† Here I am trying to unravel the mystery to understand which theory-Dualism, mind-brain identity or functionalism is a correct theory to understand all about mind. Dualism is a most important school of thought that has tried to solve the most paradoxical and most important relationship of mind and body problems. It has tried to make several attempts to sure that mind and body in some way or the other detach from each other. Roots of Dualism dates far back to Plato, Aristotle and the Sankhya and Yoga schools of Hindu philosophy but in a most precise way it was understood by Rene Descartes only in the 17th century. His philosophical disposition is based on the fact that the mind is independent in itself and constitutes two different kinds of substances like â€Å"res extensa meaning extended things, physical things† and â€Å"res cogitans means thinking things†, (Descartes, Online Edition ). The thinking things are beyond the dimensions of time and space and are thus separate in itself whereas Property dualists thinks that there are several independent properties known to us. It is quite clear from his disposition that he is trying to explain the importance and concept of soul, giving religious discourse. But in this all, he has tried to explain that there is an interaction of mind in pineal gland, from where there is a control on bodily actions and receive sensory perceptions. But this approach of Dualism is not without criticism as its properties are more of dubious in nature. Their theory is based on religion and their ardent faith but no element of scientific fact is found in this. If we visualize and understands that if there is a soul in our physical body and the soul can have drastic effect then it is quite natural that it should be able to generate new energy to bring the bodies into moment.    It is argued that if the soul exists and it can affect the body then it must be able to create new energy to move the body, but this is sheer violation of the theory of the conservation principle.   Owen Flanagan, in his The Science of the Mind says,†If the mind according to Descartes is not a physical system therefore it also could not have any energy to prove herself but in-order to increase this physical energy, the need of the hour is to get it transferred from other physical system but it is not possibl†e. (Owen Flanagan, pp. 21, Mind creators.com). To overcome the limitations of the Dualism, several philosophers and psychologists began to ignore the very concept and existence of mind itself and by doing so their expectations to touch the cord of mind began to flow towards the realistic parts of our lives. Therefore in the beginning the new generation of philosophers came up with what is known as Type Identity Theory.  Ã‚   They posters the view that though the structure of every person’s brain is similar yet in the brain of every person there are certain differences therefore it is not possible to find oneself in a position of same neurological state. Therefore this theory soon took the shape of Token Taken theory implying that if there are two people having different neuropsychological states, then what is it that brings them into the same mental state? And to this they answered that it is due to the function of those two states only that had created them same. This leads to functionalism theory, which says that, â€Å"Two different brain-state tokens would be tokens of the same type of mental state if the two brain states had the same causal relations to the input stimulus that the organism receives, to its various other â€Å"mental† states, and to its output behavior†. (Functionalism, online edition). In simple words, he said that there were supposed to be two thoughts, which are same, and all of the inputs, internal and external, lead to the same output. With this statement, psychologists tried to bring all the conditions of the mind set in equilibrium. This leads to the functionalism theory. Though there are several problems to this approach too yet we can very say that if this theory of functionalism is adopted, it will take us into next major breakthrough, but all is not well with Functionalism too as it failed to explain in clear terms the fact that even if there are conditions of different physical states which gives different material phenomenon, then there is no possibility of different physical structures to regain equality.  Ã‚   . While there is a great controversy to come at the concrete conclusion about which one is correct â€Å"theory of mind,†, but it is a matter of fact that functionalism is the most popular theory among scientists as well as philosophers of today. According to this theory, all the aspects of mental state like beliefs, pains, hopes, fears, etc. depends and are divided on the bases of their activity and are characterized by the jobs they do, or in other words according to the functions that they perform. Just like computers understands the main idea behind our thoughts process in the same way our brains captures our thought processes from our mind and induces us to act accordingly. WORKS CITED Anderson, David. â€Å"Introduction to Functionalism† Consortium on Mind/Brain Science Instruction. Internet. (2006) Available: http://www.mind.ilstu.edu/curriculum/functionalism_intro/functionalism_intro.php?modGUI=44&compGUI=1403&itemGUI=2447, March 5, 2008   Cofer, David. â€Å"Dualism† MindCreators.Com Internet. (2002) Available:   http://www.mindcreators.com/Dualism.htm, March 5, 2008 Cofer, David. â€Å"Functionalism† MindCreators.Com Internet. (2002) Available: http://www.mindcreators.com/Functionalism.htm, March 5, 2008 McAdoo, Oliver. â€Å"Critically discuss the idea that mental states are identical to physical states† arrod.co.uk Internet. Available: http://www.arrod.co.uk/essays/mind-brain-identity.php, March 5, 2008 Chance, Tom. â€Å"Mind-brain identity theory† Internet. Available: http://tom.acrewoods.net/research/philosophy/mind/identitytheory, March 5, 2008 Swamy   Sivananda, â€Å"Mind – Its Mysteries & Control†, The Divine Life Trust Society, 1994, World Wide Web Edition, 1998, A Divine Life Society Publication, Internet Available, http://www.dlshq.org/download/mind.htm Flanagan, Owen (1991). The Science of the Mind, 2nd edition. MIT Press. pp. 21.

Foundation’s Edge CHAPTER THREE HISTORIAN

HISTORIAN Janov Pelorat was white-haired and his face, in repose, looked rather empty. It was rarefy in anything but repose. He was of average height and weight and tended to move without haste and to speak with deliberation. He seemed considerably older than his fifty-two years. He had never left Terminus, something that was most unusual, especially for one of his profession. He himself wasn't sure whether his sedentary ways were because of – or in spite of – his obsession with history. The obsession had come upon him quite suddenly at the age of fifteen when, during some indisposition, he was given a book of early legends. In it, he found the repeated motif of a world that was alone and isolated – a world that was not even aware of its isolation, since it had never known anything else. His indisposition began to clear up at once. Within two days, he had read the book three times and was out of bed. The day after that he was at his computer terminal, checking for any records that the Terminus University Library might have on similar legends. It was precisely such legends that had occupied him ever since. The Terminus University Library had by no means been a great resource in this respect but, when he grew older, he discovered the joys of interlibrary loans. He had printouts in his possession which had been taken off hyper-radiational signals from as far away as Ifnia. He had become a professor of ancient history and was now beginning his first sabbatical – one for which he had applied with the idea of taking a trip through space (his first) to Trantor itself – thirty-seven years later. Pelorat was quite aware that it was most unusual for a person of Terminus to have never been in space. It had never been his intention to be notable in this particular way. It was just that whenever he might have gone into space, some new book, some new study, some new analysis came his way. He would delay his projected trip until he had wrung the new matter dry and had added, if possible, one more item of fact, or speculation, or imagination to the mountain he had collected. In the end, his only regret was that the particular trip to Trantor had never been made. Trantor had been the capital of the First Galactic Empire. It had been the seat of Emperors for twelve thousand years and, before that, the capital of one of the most important pre-Imperial kingdoms, which had, little by little, captured or otherwise absorbed the other kingdoms to establish the Empire. Trantor had been a world-girdling city, a metal-coated city. Pelorat had read of it in the works of Gaal Dornick, who had visited it in the time of Hari Seldon himself. Dornick's volume no longer circulated and the one Pelorat owned might have been sold for half the historian's annual salary. A suggestion that he might part with it would have horrified the historian. Of course, what Pelorat cared about, as far as Trantor was concerned, was the Galactic Library, which in Imperial times (when it was the Imperial Library) had been the largest in the Galaxy. Trantor was the capital of the largest and most populous Empire humanity had ever seen. It had been a single worldwide city with a population well in excess of forty billion, and its Library had been the gathered record of all the creative (and not-so-creative) work of humanity, the full summary of its knowledge. And it was all computerized in so complex a manner that it took experts to handle the computers. What was more, the Library had survived. To Pelorat, that was the amazing thing about it. When Trantor had fallen and been sacked, nearly two and a half centuries before, it had undergone appalling destruction, and the tales of human misery and death would not bear repeating – yet the Library had survived, protected (it was said) by the University students, who used ingeniously devised weapons. (Some thought the defense by the students might well have been thoroughly romanticized.) In any case, the Library had endured through the period of devastation. Ebling Mis had done his work in an intact Library in a ruined world when he had almost located the Second Foundation (according to the story which the people of the Foundation still believed, but which historians have always treated with reserve). The three generations of Darells – Bayta, Toran, and Arkady – had each, at one time or another, been on Trantor. However, Arkady had not visited the Library, and since her time the Library had not impinged on Galactic history. No Foundationer had been on Trantor in a hundred and twenty years, but there was no reason to believe the Library was not still there. That it had made no impingement was the surest evidence in favor of its being there. Its destruction would surely have made a noise. The Library was outmoded and archaic – it had been so even in Ebling Mis's time – but that was all to the good. Pelorat always rubbed his hands with excitement when he thought of an old and outmoded Library. The older and the more outmoded, the more likely it was to have what he needed. In his dreams, he would enter the Library and ask in breathless alarm, â€Å"Has the Library been modemized? Have you thrown out the old tapes and computerizations?† And always he imagined the answer from dusty and ancient librarians, â€Å"As it has been, Professor, so is it still.† And now his dream would come true. The Mayor herself had assured him of that. How she had known of his work, he wasn't quite sure. He had not succeeded in publishing many papers. Little of what he had done was solid enough to be acceptable for publication and what had appeared had left no mark. Still, they said Branno the Bronze knew all that went on in Terminus and had eyes at the end of every finger and toe. Pelorat could almost believe it, but if she knew of his work, why on Terminus didn't she see its importance and give him a little financial support before this? Somehow, he thought, with as much bitterness as he could generate, the Foundation had its eyes fixed firmly on the future. It was the Second Empire and their destiny that absorbed them. They had no time, no desire, to peer back into the past – and they were irritated by those who did. The more fools they, of course, but he could not single-handedly wipe out folly. And it might be better so. He could hug the great pursuit to his own chest and the day would come when he would be remembered as the great Pioneer of the Important. That meant, of course (and he was too intellectually honest to refuse to perceive it), that he, too, was absorbed in the future – a future in which he would be recognized, and in which he would be a hero on a par with Hari Seldon. In fact, he would be the greater, for how could the working out of a clearly visualized future a millennium long stand comparison with the working out of a lost past at least twenty-five millennia old. And this was the day; this was the day. The Mayor had said it would be the day after Seldon's image made its appearance. That was the only reason Pelorat had been interested in the Seldon Crisis that for months had occupied every mind on Terminus and indeed almost every mind in the Federation. It had seemed to him to make the most trifling difference as to whether the capital of the Foundation had remained here at Terminus, or had been shifted somewhere else. And now that the crisis had been resolved, he remained unsure as to which side of the matter Hari Seldon had championed, or if the matter under dispute had been mentioned at all. It was enough that Seldon had appeared and that now this was the day. It was a little after two in the afternoon that a ground-car slid to a halt in the driveway of his somewhat isolated house just outside Terminus proper. A rear door slid back. A guard in the uniform of the Mayoralty Security Corps stepped out, then a young man, then two more guards. Pelorat was impressed despite himself. The Mayor not only knew of his work but clearly considered it of the highest importance. The person who was to be his companion was given an honor guard, and he had been promised a first-class vessel which his companion would be able to pilot. Most flattering! Most – Pelorat's housekeeper opened the door. The young man entered and the two guards positioned themselves on either side of the entrance. Through the window, Pelorat saw that the third guard remained outside and that a second ground-car had now pulled up. Additional guards! Confusing! He turned to find the young man in his room and was surprised to find that he recognized him. He had seen him on holocasts. He said, â€Å"You're that Councilman. You're Trevize!† â€Å"Golan Trevize. That's right. You are Professor Janov Pelorat?† â€Å"Yes, yes,† said Pelorat. â€Å"Are you he who will – â€Å" â€Å"We are going to be fellow travelers,† said Trevize woodenly. â€Å"Or so I have been told.† â€Å"But you're not a historian.† â€Å"No, I'm not. As you said, I'm a Councilman, a politician.† â€Å"Yes, Yes, But what am I thinking about? I am a historian, therefore what need for another? You can pilot a spaceship.† â€Å"Yes, I'm pretty good at that.† â€Å"Well, that's what we need, then. Excellent! I'm afraid I'm not one of your practical thinkers, young man, so if it should happen that you are, we'll make a good team.† Trevize said, â€Å"I am not, at the moment, overwhelmed with the excellence of my own thinking, but it seems we have no choice but to try to make it a good team.† â€Å"Let's hope, then, that I can overcome my uncertainty about space. I've never been in space, you know, Councilman. I am a groundhog, if that's the term. Would you like a glass of tea, by the way? I'll have Moda prepare us something. It is my understanding that it will be some hours before we leave, after all. I am prepared right now, however. I have what is necessary for both of us. The Mayor has been most co-operative. Astonishing – her interest in the project.† Trevize said, â€Å"You've known about this, then? How long?† â€Å"The Mayor approached me† (here Pelorat frowned slightly and seemed to be making certain calculations) â€Å"two, or maybe three, weeks ago. I was delighted. And now that I have got it clear in my head that I need a pilot and not a second historian, I am also delighted that my companion will be you, my dear fellow.† â€Å"Two, maybe three, weeks ago,† repeated Trevize, sounding a little dazed. â€Å"She was prepared all this time, then. And I†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He faded out. â€Å"Pardon me?† â€Å"Nothing, Professor. I have a bad habit of muttering to myself. It is something you will have to grow accustomed to, if our trip extends itself.† â€Å"It will. It will,† said Pelorat, bustling the other to the dining room table, where an elaborate tea was being; prepared by his housekeeper. â€Å"Quite open-ended. The Mayor said we were to take as long as we liked and that the Galaxy lay all before us and, indeed, that wherever we went we could call upon Foundation funds. She said, of course, that we would have to be reasonable. I promised that much.† He chuckled and rubbed his hands: â€Å"Sit down, my good fellow, sit down. This may be our last meal on Terminus for a very long time.† Trevize sat down. He said, â€Å"Do you have a family, Professor?† â€Å"I have a son. He's on the faculty at Santanni University. A chemist, I believe, or something like that. He took after his mother's side. She hasn't been with me for a long time, so you see I have no responsibilities, no active hostages to fortune. I trust you have none – help yourself to the sandwiches, my boy.† â€Å"No hostages at the moment. A few women. They come and go.† â€Å"Yes. Yes. Delightful when it works out. Even more delightful when you find it need not be taken seriously. – No children, I take it. â€Å"None.† â€Å"Good! You know, I'm in the most remarkable good humor. I was taken aback when you first came in. I admit it. But I find you quite exhilarating now. What I need is youth and enthusiasm and someone who can find his way about the Galaxy. We're on a search, you know. A remarkable search.† Pelorat's quiet face and quiet voice achieved an unusual animation without any particular change in either expression or intonation. â€Å"I wonder if you have been told about this. Trevize's eyes narrowed. â€Å"A remarkable search?† â€Å"Yes indeed. A pearl of great price is hidden among the tens of millions of inhabited worlds in the Galaxy and we have nothing but the faintest clues to guide us. just the same, it will be an incredible prize if we can find it. If you and I can carry it off, my boy – Trevize, I should say, for I don't mean to patronize – our names will ring down the ages to the end of time.† â€Å"The prize you speak of – this pearl of great price.† â€Å"I sound like Arkady Darell – the writer, you know – speaking of the Second Foundation, don't I? no wonder you look astonished.† Pelorat – leaned his head back as though he were going to break into loud laughter but he merely smiled. â€Å"Nothing so silly and unimportant, I assure you.† Trevize said, â€Å"If you are not speaking of the Second Foundation, Professor, what are you speaking of?† Pelorat was suddenly grave, even apologetic. â€Å"Ah, then the Mayor has not told you? – It is odd, you know. I've spent decades resenting the government and its inability to understand what I'm doing, and now Mayor Branno is being remarkably generous.† â€Å"Yes,† said Trevize, not trying to conceal an intonation of irony, â€Å"she is a woman of remarkable hidden philanthropy, but she has not told me what this is all about.† â€Å"You are not aware of my research, then?† â€Å"No. I'm sorry.† â€Å"No need to excuse yourself. Perfectly all right. I have not exactly made a splash. Then let me tell you. You and I are going to search for – and find, for I have an excellent possibility in mind – Earth.† Trevize did not sleep well that night. Over and over, he thrashed about the prison that the old woman had built around him. Nowhere could he find a way out. He was being driven into exile and he could do nothing about it. She had been calmly inexorable and did not even take the trouble to mask the unconstitutionality of it all. He had relied on his rights as a Councilman and as a citizen of the Federation, and she hadn't even paid them lip service. And now this Pelorat, this odd academic who seemed to be located in the world without being part of it, told him that the fearsome old woman had been making arrangements for this for weeks. He felt like the â€Å"boy† that she had called him. He was to be exiled with a historian who kept â€Å"dear fellowing† him and who seemed to be in a noiseless fit of joy over beginning a Galactic search for – Earth? What in the name of the Mule's grandmother was Earth? He had asked. Of course! He had asked upon the moment of its mention. He had said, â€Å"Pardon me, Professor. I am ignorant of your specialty and I trust you won't be annoyed if I ask for an explanation in simple terms. What is Earth?† Pelorat stared at him gravely while twenty seconds moved slowly past. He said, â€Å"It is a planet. The original planet. The one on which human beings first appeared, my dear fellow.† Trevize stared. â€Å"First appeared? From where?† â€Å"From nowhere. It's the planet on which humanity developed through evolutionary processes from lower animals.† Trevize thought about it, then shook his head. â€Å"I don't know what you mean.† An annoyed expression crossed Pelorat's face briefly. He cleared his throat and said, â€Å"There was a time when Terminus had no human beings upon it. It was settled by human beings from other worlds. You know that, I suppose?† â€Å"Yes, of course,† said Trevize impatiently. He was irritated at the other's sudden assumption of pedagogy. â€Å"Very well. This is true of all the other worlds. Anacreon, Santanni, Kalgan – all of them. They were all, at some time in the past, founded. People arrived there from other worlds. It's true even of Trantor. It may have been a great metropolis for twenty thousand years, but before that it wasn't.† â€Å"Why, what was it before that?† â€Å"Empty? At least of human beings.† â€Å"That's hard to believe.† â€Å"It's true. The old records show it.† â€Å"Where did the people come from who first settled Trantor?† â€Å"No one is certain. There are hundreds of planets which claim to have been populated in the dim mists of antiquity and whose people present fanciful tales about the nature of the first arrival of humanity. Historians tend to dismiss such things and to brood over the ‘Origin Question.'† â€Å"What is that? I've never heard of it.† â€Å"That doesn't surprise me. It's not a popular historical problem now, I admit, but there was a time during the decay of the Empire when it roused a certain interest among intellectuals. Salvor Hardin mentions it briefly in his memoirs. It's the question of the identity and location of the one Planet from which it all started. If ,we look backward in time, humanity flows inward from the most recently established worlds to older ones, to still older ones, until all concentrates on one – the original.† Trevize thought at once of the obvious flaw in the argument. â€Å"Might there not have been a large number of originals?† â€Å"Of course not. All human beings all over the Galaxy are of a single species. A single species cannot originate on more than one planet. Quite impossible.† â€Å"How do you know?† â€Å"In the first place.† Pelorat ticked off the first finger of his left hand with the first finger of his right, and then seemed to think better of what would undoubtedly have been a long and intricate exposition. He put both hands at his side and said with great earnestness, â€Å"My dear fellow, I give you my word of honor.† Trevize bowed formally and said, â€Å"I would not dream of doubting it, Professor Pelorat. Let us say, then, that there is one planet of origin, but might there not be hundreds who lay claim to the honor?† â€Å"There not only might be, there are. Yet every claim is without merit. Not one of those hundreds that aspire to the credit of priority shows any trace of a prehyperspatial society, let alone any trace of human evolution from prehuman organisms.† â€Å"Then are you saying that there is a planet of origin, but that, for some reason, it is not making the claim?† â€Å"You have hit it precisely.† â€Å"And you are going to search for it?† â€Å"We are. That is our mission. Mayor Branno has arranged it all. You will pilot our ship to Trantor.† â€Å"To Trantor? It's not the planet of origin. You said that much a while ago.† â€Å"Of course Trantor isn't. Earth is.† â€Å"Then why aren't you telling me to pilot the ship to Earth?† â€Å"I am not making myself clear. Earth is a legendary name. It is enshrined in ancient myths. It has no meaning we can be certain of, but it is convenient to use the word as a one-syllable synonym for ‘the planet of origin of the human species.' just which planet in real space is the one we are defining as ‘Earth' is not known.† â€Å"Will they know on Trantor?† â€Å"I hope to find information there, certainly. Trantor possesses the Galactic Library, the greatest in the system.† â€Å"Surely that Library has been searched by those people you said were interested in the ‘Origin Question' in the time of the First Empire.† Pelorat nodded thoughtfully, â€Å"Yes, but perhaps not well enough. I have learned a great deal about the ‘Origin Question' that perhaps the Imperials of five centuries back did not know. I might search the old records with greater understanding, you see. I have been thinking about this for a long time and I have an excellent possibility in mind.† â€Å"You have told Mayor Branno all this, I imagine, and she approves?† â€Å"Approves? My dear fellow, she was ecstatic. She told me that Trantor was surely the place to find out all I needed to know.† â€Å"No doubt,† muttered Trevize. That was part of what occupied him that night. Mayor Branno was sending him out to find out what he could about the Second Foundation. She was sending him with Pelorat so that he might mask his real aim with the pretended search for Earth – a search that could carry him anywhere in the Galaxy. It was a perfect cover, in fact, and he admired the Mayor's ingenuity. But Trantor? Where was the sense in that? Once they were on Trantor, Pelorat would find his way into the Galactic Library and would never emerge. With endless stacks of books, films, and recordings, with innumerable computerizations and symbolic representations, he would surely never want to leave. Besides that – Ebling Mis had once gone to Trantor, in the Mule's time. The story was that he had found the location of the Second Foundation there and had died before he could reveal it. But then, so had Arkady Darell, and she had succeeded in locating the Second Foundation. But the location she had found was on Terminus itself, and there the nest of Second Foundationers was wiped out. Wherever the Second Foundation was now would be elsewhere, so what more had Trantor to tell? If be were looking for the Second Foundation, it was best to go anywhere but Trantor. Besides that – What further plans Branno had, he did not know, but he was not in the mood to oblige her. Branno had been ecstatic, had she, about a trip to Trantor? Well, if Branno wanted Trantor, they were not going to Trantor! – Anywhere else. – But not Trantor! And worn out, with the night verging toward dawn, Trevize fell at last into a fitful slumber. Mayor Branno had had a good day on the one following the arrest of Trevize. She had been extolled far beyond her deserts and the incident was never mentioned. Nevertheless, she knew well that the Council would soon emerge from its paralysis and that questions would be raised. She would have to act quickly. So, putting a great many matters to one side, she pursued the matter of Trevize. At the time when Trevize and Pelorat were discussing Earth, Branno was facing Councilman Munn Li Compor in the Mayoralty Office. As he sat across the desk from her, perfectly at ease, she appraised him once again. He was smaller and slighter than Trevize and only two years older. Both were freshmen Councilmen, young and brash, and that must have been the only thing that held them together, for they were different in all other respects. Where Trevize seemed to radiate a glowering intensity, Compor shone with an almost serene self-confidence. Perhaps it was his blond hair and blue eyes, not at all common among Foundationers. They lent him an almost feminine delicacy that (Branno judged) made him less attractive to women than Trevize was. He was clearly vain of his looks, though, and made the most of them, wearing his hair rather long and making sure that it was carefully waved. He wore a faint blue shadowing under his eyebrows to accentuate the eye color. (Shadowing of various tints had become common among men these last ten years.) He was no womanizer. He lived sedately with his wife, but had not yet registered parental intent and was not known to have a clandestine second companion. That, too, was different from Trevize, who changed housemates as often as he changed the loudly colored sashes for which he was notorious. There was little about either young Councilman that Kodell's department had not uncovered, and Kodell himself sat quietly in one corner of the room, exuding a comfortable good cheer as always. Branno said, â€Å"Councilman Compor, you have done the Foundation good service, but unfortunately for yourself, it is not of the sort that can be praised in public or repaid in ordinary fashion.† Compor smiled. He had white and even teeth, and Branno idly wondered, for one flashing moment if all the inhabitants of the Sirius Sector looked like that. Compor's tale of stemming from that particular, rather peripheral, region went back to his maternal grandmother, who had also been blond-haired and blue-eyed and who had maintained that her mother was from the Sirius Sector. According to Kodell, however, there was no hard evidence in favor of that. Women being what they were, Kodell had said, she might well have claimed distant and exotic ancestry to add to her glamour and her already formidable attractiveness. â€Å"Is that how women are?† Branno had asked drily, and Kodell had smiled and muttered that he was referring to ordinary women, of course. Compor said, â€Å"It is not necessary that the people of the Foundation know of my service – only that you do.† â€Å"I know and I will not forget. What I also will not do is to let you assume that your obligations are now over. You have embarked on a complicated course and you must continue. We want more about Trevize.† â€Å"I have told you all I know concerning him.† â€Å"That may be what you would have me believe. That may even be what you truly believe yourself. Nevertheless, answer my questions. Do you know a gentleman named Janov Pelorat?† For just a moment Compor's forehead creased, then smoothed itself almost at once. He said carefully, â€Å"I might know him if I were to see him, but the name does not seem to cause any association within me.† â€Å"He is a scholar.† Compor's mouth rounded into a rather contemptuous but unsounded â€Å"Oh?† as though he were surprised that the Mayor would expect him to know scholars. Branno said, â€Å"Pelorat is an interesting person who, for reasons of his own, has the ambition of visiting Trantor. Councilman Trevize will accompany him. Now, since you have been a good friend of Trevize and . perhaps know his system of thinking, tell me. Do you think Trevize will consent to go to Trantor?† Compor said, â€Å"If you see to it that Trevize gets on the ship, and if the ship is piloted to Trantor, what can he do but go there? Surely you don't suggest he will mutiny and take over the ship.† â€Å"You don't understand. He and Pelorat will be alone on the ship and it will be Trevize at the controls.† â€Å"You are asking whether he would go voluntarily to Trantor?† â€Å"Yes, that is what I am asking.† â€Å"Madam Mayor, how can I possibly know what he will do?† â€Å"Councilman Compor, you have been close to Trevize. You know his belief in the existence of the Second Foundation. Has he never spoken to you of his theories as to where it might exist, where it might be found?† â€Å"Never, Madam Mayor.† â€Å"Do you think he will find it?† Compor chuckled. â€Å"I think the Second Foundation, whatever it was and however important it might have been, was wiped out in the time of Arkady Darell. I believe her story.† â€Å"Indeed? In that case, why did you betray your friend? If he were searching for something that does not exist, what harm could he have done by propounding his quaint theories?† Compor said, â€Å"It is not the truth alone that can harm. His theories may have been merely quaint, but they might have succeeded in unsettling the people of Terminus and, by introducing doubts and fears as to the Foundation's role in the great drama of Galactic history, have weakened its leadership of the Federation and its dreams of a Second Galactic Empire. Clearly you thought this yourself, or you would not have seized him on the floor of the Council, and you would not now be forcing him into exile without trial. Why have you done so, if I may ask, Mayor?† â€Å"Shall we say that I was cautious enough to wonder if there were some faint chance that he might be right, and that the expression of his views might be actively and directly dangerous?† Compor said nothing. Branno said, â€Å"I agree with you, but I am forced by the responsibilities of my position to consider the possibility. Let me ask you again if you have any indication as to where he might think the Second Foundation exists, and where he might go.† â€Å"I have none.† â€Å"He has never given you any hints in that direction?† â€Å"No, of course not.† â€Å"Never? Don't dismiss the thought easily. Think! Never?† â€Å"Never,† said Compor firmly. â€Å"No hints? no joking remarks? no doodles? no thoughtful abstractions at moments that achieve significance as you look back on them?† â€Å"None. I tell you, Madam Mayor, his dreams of the Second Foundation are the most nebulous starshine. You know it, and you but waste your time and your emotions in your concern over it.† â€Å"You are not by some chance suddenly changing sides again and protecting the friend you delivered into my hands?† â€Å"No,† said Compor. â€Å"I turned him over to you for what seemed to me to be good and patriotic reasons. I have no reason to regret the action, or to change my attitude.† â€Å"Then you can give me no hint as to where he might go once he has a ship at his disposal?† â€Å"As I have already said†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"And yet, Councilman,† and here the lines of the Mayor's face so folded as to make her seem wistful, â€Å"I would like to know where he goes.† â€Å"In that case, I think you ought to place a hyper-relay on his ship.† â€Å"I have thought of that, Councilman. He is, however, a suspicious man and I suspect he will find it – however cleverly it might be placed. Of course, it might be placed in such a way that he cannot remove it without crippling the ship, and he might therefore be forced to leave it in place†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"An excellent notion.† â€Å"Except that,† said Branno, â€Å"he would then be inhibited. He might not go where he would go if he felt himself free and untrammeled. The knowledge I would gain would be useless to me.† â€Å"In that case, it appears you cannot find out where he will go.† â€Å"I might, for I intend to be very primitive. A person who expects the completely sophisticated and who guards against it is quite apt never to think of the primitive. – I'm thinking of having Trevize followed.† â€Å"Followed?† â€Å"Exactly. By, another pilot in another spaceship. See how astonished you are at the thought? He would be equally astonished. He might not think of scouring space for an accompanying mass and, in any case, we will see to it that his ship is not equipped with our latest mass-detection devices.† Compor said, â€Å"Madam Mayor, I speak with all possible respect, but I must point out that you lack experience in space flight. To have one ship followed by another is never done – because it won't work. Trevize will escape with the first hyperspatial jump. Even if he doesn't know he is being followed, that first jump will be his path to freedom. If he doesn't have a hyper-relay on board ship, he can't be traced.† â€Å"I admit my lack of experience. Unlike you and Trevize, I have had no naval training. Nevertheless, I am told by my advisers – who have had such training – that if a ship is observed immediately prior to a jump, its direction, speed, and acceleration make it possible to guess what the jump might be – in a general way. Given a good computer and an excellent sense of judgment, a follower might duplicate the jump closely enough to pick up the trail at the other end – especially if the follower has a good mass-detector.† â€Å"That might happen once,† said Compor energetically, â€Å"even twice if the follower is very lucky, but that's it. You can't rely on such things.† â€Å"Perhaps we can. – Councilman Compor, you have hyper-raced in your time. You see, I know a great deal about you. You are an excellent pilot and have done amazing things when it comes to following a competitor through a jump.† Compor's eyes widened. He almost squirmed in his chair. â€Å"I was in college then. I am older now.† â€Å"Not too old. Not yet thirty-five. Consequently you are going to follow Trevize, Councilman. Where he goes, you will follow, and you will report back to me. You will leave soon after Trevize does, and he will be leaving in a few hours. If you refuse the task, Councilman, you will be imprisoned for treason. If you take the ship that we will provide for you, and if you fail to follow, you need not bother coming back. You will be shot out of space if you try.† Compor rose sharply to his feet. â€Å"! have a life to live. I have work to do. I have a wife. I cannot leave it all.† â€Å"You will have to. Those of us who choose to serve the Foundation must be prepared at ail times to serve it in a prolonged and uncomfortable fashion, if that should become necessary.† â€Å"My wife must go with me, of course.† â€Å"Do you take me for an idiot? She stays here, of course.† â€Å"As a hostage?† â€Å"If you like the word. I prefer to say that you will be taking yourself into danger and my kind heart wants her to stay here where she will not be in danger. – There is no room for discussion. You are as much under arrest as Trevize is, and I am sure you understand I must act quickly – before the euphoria enveloping Terminus wears off. I fear my star will soon be in the descendant.† Kodell said, â€Å"You were not easy on him, Madam Mayor.† The Mayor said with a sniff, â€Å"Why should I have been? He betrayed a friend.† â€Å"That was useful to us.† â€Å"Yes, as it happened. His next betrayal, however, might not be.† â€Å"Why should there be another?† â€Å"Come, Liono,† said Branno impatiently, â€Å"don't play games with me. Anyone who displays a capacity for double-dealing must forever be suspected of being capable of displaying it again.† â€Å"He may use the capability to combine with Trevize once again. Together, they may†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"You don't believe that. With all his folly and naivete, Trevize goes straight for his goal. He does not understand betrayal and he will never, under any circumstances, trust Compor a second time.† Kodell said, â€Å"Pardon me, Mayor, but let me make sure I follow your thinking. How far, then, can you trust Compor? How do you know he will follow Trevize and report honestly? Do you count on his fears for the welfare of his wife as a restraint? His longing to return to her?† â€Å"Both are factors, but I don't entirely rely on that. On Compor's ship there will be a hyper-relay. Trevize would suspect pursuit and would search for one. However Compor – being the pursuer – will, I assume, not suspect pursuit and will not search for one. – Of course, if he does, and if he finds it, then we must depend on the attractions of his wife.† Kodell laughed. â€Å"To think I once had to give you lessons. And the purpose of the pursuit?† â€Å"A double layer of protection. If Trevize is caught, it may be that Compor will carry on and give us the information that Trevize will not be able to.† â€Å"One more question. What if, by some chance, Trevize finds the Second Foundation, and we learn of it through him, or through Compor, or if we gain reason to suspect its existence – despite the deaths of both?† â€Å"I'm hoping the Second Foundation does exist, Liono,† she said. â€Å"In any case, the Seldon Plan is not going to serve us much longer. The great Hari Seldon devised it in the dying days of the Empire, when technological advance had virtually stopped. Seldon was a product of his times, too, and however brilliant this semimythical science of psychohistory must have been, it could not rise out of its roots. It surely would not allow for raid technological advance. The Foundation has been achieving that, especially in this last century. We have mass-detection devices of a kind undreamed of earlier, computers that can respond to thought, and – most of all – mental shielding. The Second Foundation cannot control us for much longer, if they can do so now. I want, in my final years in power, to be the one to start Terminus on a new path.† â€Å"And if there is, in fact, no Second Foundation?† â€Å"Then we start on a new path at once.† The troubled sleep that had finally come to Trevize did not last long. A touch on his shoulder was repeated a second time. Trevize started up, bleary and utterly failing to understand why he should be in a strange bed. â€Å"What – What – ?† Pelorat said to him apologetically, â€Å"I'm sorry, Councilman Trevize. You are my guest and I owe you rest, but the Mayor is here.† He was standing at the side of the bed in flannel pajamas and shivering slightly. Trevize's senses leaped to a weary wakefulness and he remembered. The Mayor was in Pelorat's living room, looking as composed as always. Kodell was with her, rubbing lightly at his white mustache. Trevize adjusted his sash to the proper snugness and wondered how long the two of them – Branno and Kodell – were ever apart. Trevize said mockingly, † Has the Council recovered yet? Are its members concerned over the absence of one of them?† The Mayor said, â€Å"There are signs of life, yes, but not enough to do you any good. There is no question but that I still have the power to force you to leave. You will be taken to Ultimate Spaceport†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Not Terminus Spaceport, Madam Mayor? Am I to be deprived of a proper farewell from weeping thousands?† â€Å"I see you have recovered your penchant for teenage silliness, Councilman, and I am pleased. It stills what might otherwise be a certain rising twinge of conscience. At Ultimate Spaceport, you and Professor Pelorat will leave quietly.† â€Å"And never return?† â€Å"And perhaps never return. Of course,† and here she smiled briefly, â€Å"if you discover something of so great an importance and usefulness that even I will be glad to have you back with your information, you will return. You may even be treated with honor.† Trevize nodded casually, â€Å"That may happen.† â€Å"Almost anything may happen. – In any case, you will be comfortable. You are being assigned a recently completed pocket-cruiser, the Far Star, named for Hober Mallow's cruiser. One person can handle it, though it will hold as many as three with reasonable comfort.† Trevize was jolted out of his carefully assumed mood of light irony. â€Å"Fully armed?† â€Å"Unarmed but otherwise fully equipped. Wherever you go, you will be citizens of the Foundation and there will always be a consul to whom you can turn, so you will not require arms. You will be able to draw on funds at need. – Not unlimited funds, I might add.† â€Å"You are generous.† â€Å"I know that, Councilman. But, Councilman, understand me. You are helping Professor Pelorat search for Earth. Whatever you think you are searching for, you are searching for Earth. All whom you meet must understand that. And always remember that the Far Star is not armed.† â€Å"I am searching for Earth;† said Trevize. â€Å"I understand that perfectly.† â€Å"Then you will go now.† â€Å"Pardon me, but surely there is more to all of this than we have discussed. I have piloted ships in my time, but I have had no experience with a late-model pocket-cruiser. What if I cannot pilot it?† â€Å"I am told that the Far Star is thoroughly computerized. – And before you ask, you don't have to know how to handle a late-model ship's computer. It will itself tell you anything you need to know. Is there anything else you need?† Trevize looked down at himself ruefully. â€Å"A change of clothing.† â€Å"You will find them on board ship. Including those girdles you wear, or sashes, whichever they are called. The professor is also supplied with what he needs. Everything reasonable is already aboard, although I hasten to add that this does not include female companions.† â€Å"Too bad,† said Trevize. â€Å"It would be pleasant, but then, I have no likely candidate at the moment, as it happens. Still, I presume the Galaxy is populous and that once away from here I may do as I Please.† â€Å"With regard to companions? Suit yourself.† She rose heavily. â€Å"I will not take you to the spaceport,† she said, â€Å"but there are those who will, and you must make no effort to do anything you are not told to do. I believe they will kill you if you make an effort to escape. The fact that I will not be with them will remove any inhibition.† Trevize said, â€Å"I will make no unauthorized effort, Madam Mayor, but one thing†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Yes?† Trevize searched his mind rapidly and finally said with a smile that he very much hoped looked unforced, â€Å"The time may come, Madam Mayor, when you will ask me for an effort. I will then do as I choose, but I will remember the past two days.† Mayor Branno sighed. â€Å"Spare me the melodrama. If the time comes, it will come, but for now – I am asking for nothing.†

Marriage and Family Therapy Essay

Marriage and Family Therapy Abstract The purpose of this paper is to examine the field of marriage and family counseling beginning with the history and development of the profession and its importance in the field of counseling. This paper will also evaluate five major themes relevant to Marriage and Family Therapy which include: roles of Marriage and Family Therapists; licensure requirements and examinations; methods of supervision; client advocacy; multiculturalism and diversity. The author will discuss significant aspects to the field of Marriage and Family Therapy such as MFT identity, function, and ethics of the profession. This paper will assess biblical values in relation to Marriage and Family Therapists and to the field itself. In conclusion, the author will provide reflections on Marriage and Family Therapy and the personal commitment to provide counseling that is ethical, biblically grounded, and empirically based. Marriage and Family Therapy This paper is an examination of the history and development of the field of Marriage and Family Therapy. Education, licensure requirements, methods of supervision, client advocacy, and cultural sensitivity are the focus of the evaluation with specific attention given to counselor identity, function, and ethics. History and Development The field of Marriage and Family Therapy is an emerging profession with roots dating back to the late 1940’s. In 2009 licensure for Marriage and Family Therapists was attained for all 50 states and the District of Columbia but this dream began in 1949 when the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (originally called the American Association of Marriage Counselors) joined forces with the National Council on Family Relations to form a committee to create the standards that would one day regulate the practice of marriage and family counseling (Northey, 2009). Marriage and family counseling was once thought of as a subset of other helping professions but now Marriage and Family Therapy is one of the major mental health professions in the United States with over 50,000 licensed therapists (Northey, 2009). The profession has its own accrediting body, COAMFTE, for accrediting graduate and doctorate programs in Marriage and Family Therapy. To further strengthen the profession, 128 core competencies have been identified with six primary domains and five subdomains (Miller, 2010). The six domains include: admission to treatment; clinical assessment and diagnosis; treatment planning and case management; therapeutic intervention; legal issues, ethics, and standards; and research and program evaluation. The subdomains relate to types of skills and are comprised of: conceptual, perceptual, executive, evaluative, and professional (Miller, 2010). According to the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy website, a marriage and family therapist is a highly trained professional working in the mental health field that brings a family-oriented perspective to health care (http://www. aamft. org). In order to help families and married partners accomplish this, marriage and family therapists assess what kinds of emotional and mental disorders, behavioral and health problems, and relationship issues are encountered and then a treatment plan is devised. Treatment of the problems that families and couples face often results in greater understanding as well as more effective communication between members and couples which can ultimately aid in the prevention of crises for the individual and family. A main aspect of marriage and family therapy is the focus on the here and now and what can be done to remedy these current situations.

Murder and manslaughter Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Murder and manslaughter - Essay Example or in the event that the offender causes death in the process of carrying out an illegal act.2 According to Sir Edward Coke, murder is applied where a person of sound memory and age unlawfully kills in any country another human being under King’s peace with malice, which is premeditated as expressed by the party or implied by the law such that the wounded person dies within an year and a day out of the same. 3 To conclude that the person should be held under actus reus, there first of all has to be unlawful killing and the act of the offender must have been the established cause of death of the victim.4 The killing must be of another human being and under queen’s peace which means stipulates that killing of an enemy in war is not murder. However, the death after an year and day was removed in the law reform act of 1996.5 Under this, there is the malice afterthought. In R v Moloney (1985), the House of Lords concluded that nothing less than the intention to kill or cause bodily harm would be seen as malice afterthought. Just foreseeing the death of a victim as probable was not sufficient. There are two things to be considered under Mens Rea, first the intention to kill where murder is identified as a crime of specific intent.6 The intent in this case could be direct or oblique. In direct intent, the offender desired the death. In oblique, the death is foreseen by the offender as virtually certain, however, not desired for its own sake. Secondly, the intention to cause grievous bodily harm which was accepted under as sufficient mens rea for murder since if the offender was willing to inflict serious body harm, then he had no way of knowing certainly knowing the victim will not die. Intentional body harm is evidence that a victim could die. 7 In the case of Anthony the political activist who set up bombs in order to get attention for what he was lobbying against, genetically modified crops, a couple of considerations can be identified in this case. First, in

Writer's choice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 32

Writer's choice - Essay Example However, there are other additional measures that can be used in determining the wellbeing. The majority of the areas picked are made of steel (review 350); consequently the heavier the post is, the more it will cost to buy. This shows that steel being heavy is preferred for the placement in the post of cantilever. This expresses that the lightest material of the three empty segments picked above will be the most practical to decide for the for the cantilever post. The rectangular and square blank areas measure the same in this way. This makes them obtain either one will have the same cost, however as the empty rectangular area has a higher component of wellbeing then that will be the most prudent methodology. As I would like to think, this task was done effectively. Most of the sensitive issures were put into consideration. As we decided the best measurements to get the best and most practical component of security for the cantilever post, the three best picked empty segment all have a variable of wellbeing. Over 1.5 which expresses that the undertaking was sufficient. As all the area selected are equipped for supporting the sign, we found that the most prudent empty segment post is discovered to be the "RHS(250 x 150 x 9)". This is as it has a high variable of wellbeing and light

Sustainable MARKETING campaign for Virginia Community Capital Inc Essay

Sustainable MARKETING campaign for Virginia Community Capital Inc - Essay Example More than the investments and the banking solution provided by the multi-million dollar enterprise, the services of the entity are directed to produce a positive impact on the community. The housing loans and investment solutions provided by Virginia Community capital Inc. for the housing and infrastructure development projects in the economy are aimed at benefit the economically weaker section of the community. The housing projects are also funded by the company in the geographically backward areas of the community. VCC was founded in 1995 and operated in micro lending projects in 3 countries till 2005. The organization transformed into a large multimillion dollar community development financial institution with its equity base rising to 17 million dollar. The capital base of the entity grew from 15 million dollar in 2005 to 19 million dollars in 2007 (Virginia Community Capital, 2013, p.1). The asset base grew to 28.3 million dollars by 2007. VCC has been involved in 23 housing pro jects aimed at community development in Virginia. The activities of VCC have created 623 housing facilities that are affordable to the economically weaker sections of the community. ... The company could plan to undertake activities of sustainable marketing campaign for delivering regulated community development financial services to this new market that has not been done earlier. The target market of Southside where VCC has planned to deliver funding solutions through savings programs and advisory services which had no or limited market penetration in the earlier stages have been shown in the map as given below (Virginia Community Capital, 2013, p.1). The Southside is the one of the vast regions of Virginia in which the Virginia Community Capital Inc. has provided investment solutions to the enterprises for carrying out economic housing development projects in order to create affordable housing facilities and increase the scope of employment in the region. The rationale behind choosing the customers of this market is to narrow the economic gap by increasing the purchasing power of the people through services like savings program, advisory services for fund investme nt in housing projects, etc. The savings programs would allow the economically downward sections of the communities of Southside to be able to purchase accommodation facilities that are already available at affordable prices in the economic housing development projects. Thus VCC would be able to play a crucial role in the stimulating the demand for the housing and facilities that are already available from the housing development projects. VCC: marketing campaign and its goals The three areas of interest for VCC in the marketing campaign are the people of the community, the planet or the communities in which VCC has the objective to achieve sustainable economic development through funding of housing projects

The Presence of Racism is Shakespeare's Othello Essay

The Presence of Racism is Shakespeare's Othello - Essay Example Therefore, after the Reformation, it represented an antagonistic political and religious force against Protestantism in England. At that time, Italy was the site of classical Roman history and civilization which paved the way for the "Renaissance" of European culture from the fifteenth to the seventeenth century. (Nostbakken, 2000) Differences matter. Othello was not a Venetian by birth and therefore his status is ambivalent: he both belongs and does not belong to the city of Venice. He belongs because he is Venice's military general whose main role was to defend the city from possible invaders, and he is a Christian who shared a common religion with his fellow Venetian citizens. However, he is also a real stranger from a strange country, a foreigner and an outsider. The play manifests the inherent tension which exists between the differences that set him apart and the qualities that allow him to play a respected and vital role in the city's day-to-day life. Cassio, another key character of this play, is an outsider but he is less of a stranger compared to Othello for he is a European gentleman. Cassio comes from the beautiful Italian city of Florence. Othello, in contrast comes from the unknown and misunderstood world of Africa. (Nostbakken, 2000) The courtesans of Venice were prostitutes serving an upper-c... In this play, Shakespeare presents the strong positive and negative impact of identity by exploiting many degrees of difference between various characters of the play as distinguished by their rank and status, and by their places of origin, adoption, or conquest. Shakespeare wrote this play for English audiences in the early seventeenth century and this play reflected and responded to problems, situations, and problems of the period. Hence, the play showed identities defined by differences as well as similarities. In a sense, the responses of English audiences were also influenced by their own sense of identity as a nation.Iago's character speaks for the corruption and intrigue in Venice. In the first scene, he implies the practice of political prejudice, as opposed to impartiality, by explaining that friendship gained Cassio the title of lieutenancy while Iago's attempts had failed. Iago acts as a model of self-interest rather than duty. Iago's advice to Roderigo to "put money in th y purse" exemplified the naked greed that foreigners identified with Venice's highly prosperous merchant economy. Iago is inherently revengeful, scheming, and manipulative. His dominance in the play mirrors the dark side of humanity and also the dark side of Venice. Iago is a true native of Venice and he belongs there in a way that Othello, the outsider, does not. (Nostbakken, 2000) Venetian women were perceived to be very deceptive. Desdemona was shown as a "super-subtle Venetian" and suspects practically every man and woman as being unfaithful, adulterous, or promiscuous. However, Desdemona does not fit the Venetian stereotype of infidelity and deception. She was a faithful woman.