Economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Economics - Essay Example In 2010 the government debt was at 1105.8 billion pounds, which was 76.1% of the GDP. Of that public sector net borrowing was 10.3 billion pounds in 2010 and the public sector net debt was at 58% of the total GDP (Economic Indicators, 2011). The growth predictions by IMF have been 1.75% in 2011 and the interest rates in 2011 have been at a record low at 0.5% (UK interest rate held at record low of 0.5%., 2011). The British Chancellor George Osborne has announced plans to reduce the government spending in public sector. Restrain will be enforced on government spending like benefits for the retired, higher education, flood defenses (Spending Review 2010: George Osborne wields the Axe., 2010). As part of the plan some surgery procedures will be restricted like cataract operation, some common orthopedic surgeries. Nursing homes for aged people will be closed and funds will be rationed for IVF procedure and obesity cures (Donnelly, L. ,2010). There will be other austerity measures like bu dget cuts for many facilities like libraries, trusts, theatres, counseling and advice centers on the country (Pubic Sector Cuts: Where will they Hit?, 2011). Prior to the budget the Chancellor had said that with this budget he wanted to take the country from a course of rescue to the course of reform. According to Cameroon the level of debt and the credit crunch are the main causes for the recession. So he preferred the strategy of monetary activities to control the recession. There was a tremendous opposition for the reduction in VAT by the Gordon Brown government, which led to a loss of revenue for the government facing a shortage of fund. On the contrary, the previous government relied on borrowing to increase government expenditure. According to them it would push the economy back on a path of growth. The Gordon Brown government strongly believed in adopting fiscal changes to tackle the recession. The key features announced by Gordon Brown were a 500 billion pound plan to save t he banks and 21 billion pound of tax cuts and increase in government expenditure (Sparrow, 2009). Gordon Brown reduced the VAT by 2.5% from 17.5% to boost the household consumption. This reduced 12.5 billion pounds of tax revenue from the treasury annually. The other cuts announced by the then Chancellor Alistair Darling included extending the 120 billion pound annual rebate for the people paying tax at basic rate. Increases in the excise duty for vehicles were delayed. To discourage the foreign companies from shifting their businesses abroad tax was exempted on foreign dividends. Billions of pounds were assigned to construct roads, schools and housing projects. All these policies were framed keeping in mind the Keynesian theory of Aggregate Demand. The Aggregate Demand is the total demand for goods and services in the economy. The right hand side of the following equation gives it. Y + T = C(Y-T) + G + I(r, (Y-T)) + (X – M) Where, Y = Real Income T= Tax C(Y – T) = Con sumption which is a function of real disposable income, i.e., difference between real Income and tax. G = Government Expenditure which Is Exogenous I = Investment which is a function of real disposable income and interest rate r = rate of interest which can be flexible (endogenous) or fixed (exogenous) X = Export Income M= Import Income Therefore, (X – M) = Balance of Payment. So if we consider the price level in the vertical axis and the national output in the horizontal axis and plot the aggregate demand curve, it will be downward

Contemporary & Future Challenges in HRM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Contemporary & Future Challenges in HRM - Essay Example They help an organization to form a competitive edge in which may be difficult for competitors to have. Therefore the function of the human resource department then becomes central to the operation of any organization. The department is given the role of hiring, supervising and organizing training and development of the workforce. Therefore it is important to the management and development of the workforce. In order to function properly, human resource department comes with particular policies and strategic plans that act as guidelines on how the organization is going to function. These policies and guidelines helps the organization to function properly in light of various workforce need for the organization. In order to ensure that these polices meets the needs for the organization and of the workforce, strategic human resource management (SHRM) has become the cornerstone for planning any human resource activities in an organization. Therefore SHRM has become the central focus to the operation of the human resource. SHRM implies the organized way in which the human resource department and in this case the whole organization comes up with strategies to manage the workforce. It involves taking into consideration a number of perspectives which are important of the operation of the department as a whole. ... It is a broader perspective of the HR department and its functions. One of the key components that have enabled the concept of SHRM to take root has been the changing wave of technology in the market. The use of modern technology has been one of the most important factors that have enabled the human resource department to implement various strategies that have been aimed at making its work easier. This paper will look into how technology has been used in the department and the future operations of the department in light of the changing technology in the market. Use of technology in the HRM department Human resource technology has been emerging in the market as the new discipline which has tried to integrate the use of technology in the function of the HRM department. In this case it has been working to ensure that there is application of appropriate technology in HRM in order to enhance the functioning the department. Technology has affected positively and negative to all the spheres of life. While it may have led to loss of jobs, it has been able to increase efficiency, accuracy and time completion of function. The modern technology especially the evolution in the use of computers can be held responsible for having created an effective work place. There has been reduction of errors as a result of manual computation and at the same time there has been increase effective and timely delivery of the needed data. Technology has found a place to be used in the while organizations. It has dictated the standards of an acceptable modern office whose efficiency is riveted on the amount of advanced technology equipment that have been installed. (Bates 2002, p. 82) The revolution of modern technology has affected all

Don Giovanni by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Analysis

Don Giovanni by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Analysis Were transported to seventeenth century Spain for what has been called the greatest opera ever composed Don Giovanni! From the initial thundering chords of the breathtaking overture, this opera is filled with sexual heat, thrilling music and dramatic action. Indeed more action takes place in scene one of Don Giovanni, than that of most operas. Within the first fifteen minutes alone; a disgruntled servant, an attempted rape, a dual, a murder, a grieving daughter, and an oath of vengeance ensnare the audience! Our story properly begins in the early seventeenth century, when the character Don Juan made his stage debut in a three act play titled El burlador de Sevilla y convidado de piedra (The Trickster of Seville and the Stone Guest) the play was first performed in Madrid around 1624, but published in 1630. It appears under the name of a playwright named Tirso de Molina; however this was actually the pseudonym of a Roman Catholic monk named Gabriel Tà ©llez. It was most likely written to present the issue of morality in relation to Don Juans amorous excesses. In seventeenth century Italy, it was a favorite story of the commedia dellarte. Molià ¨re wrote a play on the subject in Paris in 1655. And rather go on decade be decade, well hop forward to 1787. A key year, not for Mozarts Don Giovanni, but for the first performance in the city of Venice of an opera called Don Giovanni Tenorio, o sia Il convitato di pietra (Don Giovanni and the Stone Guest) the composer of this 1787 version was Gi useppe Gazzaniga and the Libretto was by Giovanni Bertati. The next person Id like to introduce to this picture is Lorenzo da Ponte; the great court poet in Vienna. Mozart had known of Da Ponte for a while. Four years earlier in 1783, when Mozart was relatively new in Vienna, he writes home to his father from Vienna that hes after Da Ponte to write a libretto for him, but he is so busy writing original opera libretti for some composers and adapting pre-existing libretti for other composers, it would be actually more than two years before Mozart could pin down Da Ponte to work with him. When he did, Da Ponte provided him with the libretto for their first collaboration the Marriage of Figaro. It was composed between October of 1785 and April 1786 and was premiered in Vienna. It received success for a limited time, before other productions came to take its place. But as interest in Figaro waned in Vienna, there was another city that was crazy about the Marriage of Figaro and that city is Prague. (Which at that time, it was the second most impor tant musical centre in Europe) Mozart went to Prague in January of 1787; it marked the beginning of a passionate relationship between him and Prague. Among other things Mozart conducted a performance of Figaro at the Opera house during his stay. On the seventeenth of January he writes to his friend and student Baron Gottfried von Jacquin he says; I saw with the greatest pleasure all the people in the ballroom dancing with such delight to the music of my Figaro. For here in Prague nothing is talked of but Figaro, nothing is played sung or whistled but Figaro No opera is drawing like Figaro. Nothing, nothing but Figaro. Certainly a great honor for me! On foot of the success of Figaro, comes a commission of an opera for the following season (nine months time). That opera would be Don Giovanni, which was written to be premiered in Prague as part of the celebrations for the marriage of the Archduchess Maria Theresa (niece of the Emperor Joseph II) to Prince Anton Clemens of Saxony. Mozart was delighted to accept this new commission and, naturally asked Da Ponte to join him on the project. As it happened, Da Ponte was already heavily committed, working on two librettos Tarare (for Salieri) and Larbore di Diana (for Martin y Soler). But he too was greatly attracted by the occasion and he was strongly drawn to the subject matter (his friendship with Casanova, was now about to pay dividends) this is what Da Ponte himself says about his choice of subject for Mozart For Mozart I chose Don Giovanni a theme which appealed to me enormously. In working on Don Giovanni, I shall think of Dantes hell This is a wonderful image, the great Lorenzo da Ponte, court poet of Vienna, the great operatic librettist. You picture him sitting, inspired by, reflecting on, and plunging into the depths and the mysteries of Dante. The very simple fact is, he was probably thinking a lot more about the libretto that Bertati had written for Gazzaniga in Venice. Da Ponte knows about that libretto and its very clear that he draws very freely from it, hes not about to write something from scratch if he doesnt have to. But in fairness to Da Ponte everything he touches gets better, which in artistic circles is what you like to see happening he borrows and repays the debt with interest. So back to the chronicle of Don Giovanni and its main character; this is a particularly concise sketch of the quintessential Don Juan character; he is the epitome of the modern age, an expansive type who is determined to enjoy the world, Immeasurably self aware, defiant of all forms of authority and opposed to all higher order he is in effect a corporate C.E.O.! Beethoven although he greatly admired the music of this opera, he very famously stated the he could not bring himself to write an opera on a subject so immoral as either Figaro or Don Giovanni .However. this is not to say that Mozart shared Don Giovannis moral values. In a letter Mozart writes to his father shortly after he arrives in Vienna he says the voice of nature speaks as loud in me as it does in others, louder perhaps, but I simply cannot live as most men do these days, in the first place; I have too much religion, in the second place; too great a love of my neighbor and too high a feeling of honor to seduce an innocent girl and then in the third place; I have too much horror and disgust, too much dread and fear of diseases Mozart; an eighteenth century practitioner of safe sex.who knew? Now, taking a look at the opera, theres been a lot of critical discussion over the years. Musicologists and critics of all types have written extensively about Don Giovanni and one central issue that always seems to appear is the question Is it a tragic opera? (opera Seria) or is it a comic opera?(opera Buffa) and the simple fact is that what it really comes down to is that it is both! And the strength is that it can be both of them, the juxtaposition of the tragic and the comic heightens the effect of both. This said, its not simply the alternation between tragic and comic but the fact that Mozart is often able to have both facets displayed simultaneously. In this regard he has the ideal collaborator in the form of Lorenzo Da Ponte, because Da Ponte is often praised by his admirers for his ability to interweave the tragic and the comic elements. Its interesting to note that Mozart himself labeled this opera as a drama giocoso (Playful drama) which reflects what he understands the op era to be. To give an example of the juxtaposition between the tragic and the comic I first have to give you a sense of Mozarts gifts of characterization, because that is what a great opera composer has to have at his or her disposal. The ability not only to delineate a character in music, sometimes in the instrumental music even before they open their mouths to sing, but also the ability to somehow express different emotional states of that character in the course of the opera. So to give an example of a contrast of emotional states; the duet that follows the death of the Commendatore, his daughter Donna Anna is quite understandably upset and agitated. Her betroved Don Ottavio is much more in control and in their music you hear their emotional states she is agitated and he is calmer. Heres what they sound like in their duet: Track 1 You dont have to understand what theyre singing in Italian to realize that shes agitated and hes calmer because you hear it reflected in what they sing. If you talk about the expression of powerful emotions in music, which is something that also matters here. To begin with one thing you should know about Mozart, is that he was very much a man of the classic period; in which elegance, balance, restraint and proportion were the stock and trade of the composer. This also extended to his representation of strong emotions. Theres a famous letter that he writes to his father, when he is composing his first Viennese stage work The abduction from the soraleo in which there is a surly gate keeper at the poshes palace whose name is Ozmide, he has an aria of rage directed at a man whos trying to rescue his girlfriend form the heron and Mozart writing to his father says yes the emotions that are expressed here are extreme, but the music must never lose itself Thats one thing you have to recognise, there will be later operatic composers who will go over the top with their music, when the emotions go over the top, but the musical range within whic h Mozart operates, suggests that even at the most extreme, emotions never lose the propriety of the music that is expressing them. The musical range is different from what you might encounter in Wagner or in Twentieth century but Mozart knows exactly what hes doing and the shading of these levels is what its all about. Now in act two of Don Giovanni its Don Ottavio who swears vengeance for the death of the Commendatore he sings the aria il mio tesoro the text begins go and console my treasure and try to dry the tears from her lovely eyes. I mention this aria because I want you to hear a little of what many consider to be the finest recording of it ever made, which is interesting because it was recorded in 1916 by the great Irish tenor John McCormack: Track 2 Weve really set the stage now for what I mentioned earlier about the juxtaposition of the tragic and the comic elements. After the duet you heard earlier, Don Giovanni and Leperello (Dons Servant) return to the stage and we return to the Opera Buffa style. Donna Elvira then sings a very serious and dramatic aria, its important to note that in every aria except this one by Donna Elvira, the singer is addressing someone else on the stage. This makes her aria the operatic equivalent of a dramatic soliloquy. It is intense, and yet the intensity is undercut by the fact that the fact that Don Giovanni and Leperello are off to the side of the stage eavesdropping and making comments about what she has to say: Track 3 What makes this convention even more elegant is that the places where Don Giovanni and Leperello are making their side comments are exactly the places where you would normally have an orchestral refrain punctuating what shes saying. So hes using the conventional form, but hes twisting it slightly which again undercuts the dramatic intensity. Now back to the original play by Tirso de Molina, if you take a look at that you find that at the end Don Juan with his dying breath says that Elvira is virgo intacta (a virgin) which makes her the only woman in the original play who gets through untouched. In Da Pontes libretto though, things are very different. As a matter of fact another recurring theme in the critical analyses of this opera is; overwhelming lack of success on behalf of the title character. Legendary loverà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.wheres it happening? Heres a compilation of comments on this subject made through the years: 1924 The action portrays anything but a successful sexual adventurer 1867 The cheerful tone that runs through the whole opera depends chiefly on the repulses with which the hero is continually made on the field of the heroic deeds 1954 Of all the Don Juans of literature and of drama, that of Da Ponte is professionally the most futile Irvin Singer You can understand Don Giovanni as a professional Athlete with a very high batting average. That he encounters frustrations within the opera, simple shows how difficult the sport is 1967 Every time Don Giovanni is absent from the stage you should consider a conquest is taking place. We are accustomed to crime detection in prose; this is sin detection with all the major clues in the music and plenty of others in the Italian It would seem like the last authors interpretation is at odds with the intentions of our librettist Mr. Da Ponte, I say that because in that libretto that Giovanni Bertati wrote for Gazzaniga the conquests are explicit and overt. Lorenzo da Ponte decides that he will tone down the obviousness of the amorous conquests in his version of the story. We believe in his seductive powers by virtue of what he says and how he sings it, which of course is what opera is all about. The duet la ci darem la mano is an example of Don Giovannis seductive capabilities: Track 4 A man named Edward Dent (Who wrote a famous book on Mozart Operas) he says After Don Giovanni himself, by far the most interesting character would be Donna Elvira One of her finest moments is very interesting musically because it is Mozart specifically stepping out of the style of his time and stepping back to the style of Handel. Often you would find a composer in any period to be somewhat conservative in their musical style if theyre writing sacred music; the idea of reaching back and evoking a certain timelessness and archaic quality that serves the text. Well here were in the course of an opera, but its clear that he probably wants to make this come across like a sermon because what shes singing is flea the traitor, dont listen to what he says, his lips are lying ones, his eyes deceiving and he crafts it in the style of a Handel aria: Track 5 And then just another indication of the music variety you find here a very simple tune Batti Batti (Beat me, beat me) is rendered less trivial by an obligato solo cello: Track 6 The effectiveness of that cello leads us into the whole question of orchestral colour. When we think of the drama and the power of Mozarts music the first thing of course that comes to mind of course is melody, the most inescapable part of an operas score. But then theres the harmony which we sometimes dont think about as much as the melody but also exerts a powerful influence, but also orchestration; the use of varying colours in varying situations, which even if were not thinking about consciously exerts a very powerful subliminal effect on us. Heres a very nice example; orchestral colour used to literally paint an island of repose in the trio proteggia if giusto cielo (may just heaven protect my determined heart) the strings drop out and the singers are accompanied only by the winds. You can really get the sense that you are somewhere else: Track 7 But the most important instrumental point of interest has to do with trombones. In Mozarts time, trombones generally belonged to church music and not to the theatre. As far as their use in symphonic music it is not until Beethovens fifth symphony (twenty one years later) that the trombone made its first appearance in a symphony. So to put yourself in the shoes of the Prague audience I know trombones but I think of them as belonging to the church so how does he use them here? Mozart associates them with the statue of the commendatore, the statue that is going to come to life, and when it comes to life in the graveyard scene thats when the trombones appear. You can be sure the audience in those days were terrified: Track 8 And when the statue comes to Don Giovannis banquet he brings his trombones: Track 9 When the statue that has come to life shows up with his trombones, the music is not new to us because weve already heard it in the overture, and what is very, very significant about this; it is the only time in Mozarts entire operatic career that he writes an overture that begins with a slow introduction. The obvious reason why he does it in this case is because he wants to give us a taste of that terrifying music at the very beginning: Track 10 Its interesting to note that the night before the premiere of Don Giovanni; Mozart had to stay up all night to write the overture which according to a member of his orchestra had not even been sketched! Another wonderful point of interest, a very famous passage in Don Giovanni, which is a reflection of Mozarts experience writing dance music for the ballrooms of imperial Vienna that is where he simultaneously gives us three different dances representing three different levels of society. Mozart who we all know could work things out in his head and spew it out on the paper without effort actually made sketches for this, it was something he actually had to think about. Its the same effect that Charles Ives is going to create somewhat later. The idea of standing in a certain place with different ensembles playing, you hear them simultaneously and the soundscape is the composite of three different elements. This is what it sounds like in Don Giovanni: Track 11 Now thats simultaneous combination, Id like to also tell you about a kind of consecutive juxtaposition of things which is very interesting, it represents a little of the in humour of whats going on here; we are almost at the end of the opera, and were in the banquet hall of Don Giovanni whose own personal orchestra is playing. The first tune they play is the act one finale of Martin y Solers (one of Mozart contemporaries, and another composer asking Da Ponte for a liberetto) opera Una cosa rara so youll hear the acknowledgement of cosa rara: Track 12 Then they play an excerpt from an opera of another one of his contemporaries named i due littiganti by Sarti. Leperello cheers the selection, Don Giovanni simply tells him to pour more wine: Track 13 There is a basic rule of humour or comedy writing that is; set up, set up and punch line, Mozart knows how to do that! We have something by Martin, something by Sarti, the third thing that Don Giovannis orchestra plays is non piu andrai from the Marriage of Figaro. Now of course every single person in that audience in Prague would have immediately recognised it from the first few notes because as we know these were the tunes to which they were singing, whistling, humming, dancing etc. these were the tunes that took over Prague before Don Giovanni! How does Leperello respond he says I know that tune troppo (too well): Track 14 Since Ive already given away the ending of the opera, I will play some of the music that accompanies Don Giovannis descent into hell.through a trap door in the stage, which is a lesson to all of us to beware of trap doors in stages, because you know where they lead! Again with orchestral effects and an offstage chorus, it absolutely terrified the audiences of Mozarts time: Track 15 Theres a famous story told of a somewhat out of shape Don who got stuck in the trap door on the way down, and no matter what he did, he couldnt push himself either way, at which point someone in the audience yelled out Hurray boys, hells full! Id like to close by posing and answering a question, obvious in the light of the history that Ive provided you with, and that is; after it was performed in Prague, how did Don Giovanni fair in Vienna? Well seven months after the triumphant performances in Prague, it premiered in Vienna, but unfortunately the reception was somewhat cool. The Emperor said to Da Ponte The opera is divine, I would even venture that it is more beautiful that Figaro but such music is not meat to the teeth of my Viennese and the story goes that Da Ponte relayed this message back to Mozart and his reply was well let them chew on it. So Happy Chewing!

South African Diamond Trade: Enforcement and Perpetuation of Apartheid

South African Diamond Trade: Enforcement and Perpetuation of Apartheid, Past and Present I. Introduction South Africa was a rich country with a beautiful landscape and a rich culture. There were tremendous natural resources in South Africa and spectacular beauty. South African society was fluid and accepting, allowing people to move from one tribe to the next, without discrimination. This accepting and truly benevolent moral system, perhaps turned out to be a fatal flaw, manipulated and abused by European colonists who arrived in 1652 and have left an indelible legacy on the nation of South Africa (Thompson, 33). Upon their arrival, the Dutch and then the English systematically exploited black South Africans, taking advantage of their welcoming demeanor. Blacks began to be pushed off their land and natural resources monopolized by whites. Then on a fateful day in 1866, a new discovery by Erasmus Jacobs took the manipulation and exploitation of South Africa to all new heights. On this day, the Eureka diamond was discovered on the banks of the Orange River. The Eureka was 21.25 carats rough and confirmed earlier rumors of diamonds in South Africa and ignited the diamond rush (debeers.com). With this rush came the advent of large mining corporations such as Anglo American Corporation and DeBeers, who created an intricate system that kept the Africans they employed in poverty, while destroying traditional African society, all the while earning tremendous amounts of money. These companies, De Beers in particular, are depicted today as the benevolent liberal foreign company, but in reality they systematically exploited South Africans and their resources. They are applauded throughout the world for their cu... ...ngering presence of the stark inequalities that curse South Africa. However, if this is recognized and acknowledged, perhaps South Africa can take a critical step towards true equality, not just with words, but with economic opportunity. Works Cited De Beers Group. De Beers History. 5 March 2005. www.debeersgroup.com/debeersweb/About+De+Beers/De+Beers+History/. Ferguson, James. â€Å"Introduction to Humanities: Encounters and Identities.† Stanford University. Stanford. 14 February 2005 and 3 March 2005. Mathabane, Mark. Kaffir Boy. Free Press (Simon & Schuster): New York, 1986. Moodie, T. Dunbar. Going for Gold. University of California Press: Berkeley, CA, 1994. Summa, John. â€Å"Anglo-American Corporation.† Multinational Monitor. Vol. 9: 9. September 1988. Thompson, Leonard. A History of South Africa. Yale Nota Bene: New Haven, 2001.

Central Secretariat

The Central Secretariat system in India is based on two principles: (1) The task of policy formulation needs to be separated from policy implementation. (2) Maintaining Cadre of Officers operating on the tenure system is a prerequisite to the working of the Secretariat system. The Central Secretariat is a policy making body of the government and is not, to undertake work of execution, unless necessitated by the lack of official agencies to perform certain tasks. The Central Secretariat normally performs the following functions: (1)  Assisting the minister in the discharge of his policy making and parliamentary functions. 2)  Framing legislation, rules and principles of procedure. (3)  Sect oral planning and programme formulation. (4)  (a) Budgeting and control of expenditure in respect of activities of the Ministry/department. (b)  Securing administrative and financial approval to operational programme and their subsequent modifications. (c)  Supervision and control over the execution of policies and programmes by the executive departments or semi-autonomous field agencies. (d)  Imitating steps to develop greater personnel and organizational competence both in the ministry/department and its executive agencies. e)  Assisting in increasing coordination at the Central level. | Structure of Central Secretariat Structure of Central Secretariat is such that the entire system is divided into a number of secretaries, deputy secretaries, joint secretaries and so on. The division of posts is hierarchical in nature. | | | | | | | | The Central Secretariat is a collection of various ministries and departments. But the Cabinet Secretariat, which is in reality a ministry comprising more than one department, is still known as the secretariat. A ministry is the charge allotted to ministers.This may include one or more departments depending upon administrative convenience, each under the charge of a secretary. A department on the other hand is an organizational unit consisting of a secretary to government together with a part of the central secretariat under his administrative control on which the responsibility of performing specific functions has been conferred. Thus technically, a department should be identified with a secretary`s charge and a ministry with a minister`s charge. However, this distinction is not always maintained.Thus, if a ministry has more than one department within itself, it may have more than one secretary in which case there will arise the need for making one secretary superior to other secretaries who will represent the ministry. A ministry is responsible for the formation of the government policy within its sphere of responsibility as well as for the execution of that policy. Thus in terms of internal organisation, a ministry is divided into the following segments within an officer in charge of each of them to expedite matters:Department- Secretary/Additional/Special Secretary Wing- Joint/Additional Secretary. Di vision- Under Secretary. Section- Section Officer The lowest of such units is the section in charge of a Section Officer and consists of a number of assistants, clerks, â€Å"Daftaries,† typists and peons. It deals with the work relating to the subject allotted to it. It is also referred to as the Office. Two sections constitute the branch which is under the charge of an under secretary, also known as the Branch Officer.Two branches ordinarily form a division which is normally headed by a deputy secretary. When the volume of work in a ministry exceeds the manageable charge of a secretary, one or more wings are established with a joint secretary in charge of each wing. At the top of the hierarchy comes the department which is headed by the secretary himself or in some cases by an additional/ special secretary. In some cases, a department may be as autonomous as a ministry and equivalent to it in rank. | | | FUNCTIONS

Critical Analysis of The Apology of Socrates by Plato Essay

Socrates was an orator and philosopher whose primary interests were logic, ethics and epistemology. In Plato’s Apology of Socrates, Plato recounts the speech that Socrates gave shortly before his death, during the trial in 399 BC in which he was charged with â€Å"corrupting the young, and by not believing in the gods in whom the city believes, also being a busybody and intervene gods business†. The name of the work itself is not mean what it is appeared; here, Socrates is not apologizing, but merely speaking in defense of his beliefs and actions – the word apology is used in the context of its original meaning. During this apology, Socrates attempts to explain himself and the decisions that led to his action, educating his audience in the philosophical questions he chooses to pose. Socrates does not try to avoid death in the trial; instead, his goal is to enlighten the public for the last time before his own passing. Socrates was always fascinated with the solving of questions, both big and small; his approach was to use the Socratic method of inquiry, wherein he would break the problem down into several questions, and then systematically find the answers to each question in order to find the larger answer. It was a methodical and practical approach to show his ultimate quest for seeking the true knowledge. He says, â€Å"His wisdom is truly worthless†; this is indicative of his unending search for more and more knowledge (Apology 23b). According to him, philosophy starts by admitting that you are ignorant of the truth, which is what he does here. It is with this approach to philosophical questions and dilemmas – the use of Socratic irony – that Socrates chooses to engage with his audience and demonstrate why he did what he did. The Socratic method of dialectical investigation utilized arguments to try and determine ethics and truth. Two techniques were primarily used by Socrates: first, he would create a hypothesis, and then he would investigate any potential conflicts with that hypothesis. Assumptions and presumptions would be challenged in order to discover what was true. Socrates focused on valuing thought above all else. His primary method was asking questions, developing hypotheses, and testing them to see if the evidence supported them. Socrates, for the most part, values the integrity of society, and feels as though a group of people coming together to form a community should be respected by honoring the social contract. At the same time, there are aspects of the self that are more important than a communal whole, and a society must be made up of individuals that follow the principles shared by the whole. One should not be forced to behave in a manner inconsistent with their beliefs; an ideal society is comprised of individuals who may all subscribe to the different philosophies but are able to listen and except others idea the same time. As Socrates mentioned in the text that a person should be judge by what he have down, not by his behavior. It is only then that justice can be really served. Socrates’ approach to the trial is admirable; instead of expressing panic or desperation at the prospect of his life ending, the man instead maintains his calm and simply, effectively explains his position. He presents himself as the ideal philosopher, being unwavering in his justification for his actions and wishing to inspire his audience. Using his own use of figure of speech and his Socratic principles, he breaks down discussions he has with characters such as the Delphic oracle, Meletus, and more to expound his ideas. The beginning of Socrates’ argument relies on the aforementioned acknowledgement of Socratic irony – the most philosophical man is the one who admits his ignorance, and is able to point out the ignorance of others. When the oracle of Delphi told Chaerephon that no one is wiser than Socrates, he chose to go on a journey to deal with this paradox; he knew he was ignorant, so he could not be wiser than everyone else. To that end, he questioned politicians, poets and craftsmen, it coming to the ineffable conclusion that none of them knew what they were talking about either. At that end, Socrates claims he began to see himself as a representative of the oracle’s words; instead of pretending to know a great deal, he chose to profess his ignorance and be honest with himself about it (23e). To that end, he was able to act as himself and maintain his integrity. During the trial, Socrates holds everyone else to the same standard; when he talks about Meletus, his accuser, he calls him out on not actually caring about what he professes to care about – namely, the charges against Socrates. Through the trial, Socrates has proved not only Meletus do not care about the matter he mentioned in the charge, also he has no idea what is he talking about either a lot or a little, Socrates cleverly seduced Meletus go into his trap, by using the anger that Meletus hold against Socrates. Because obvious there are some much better answers for Meletus to answer. Socrates had very specific ideas regarding what constituted ‘the good life. ‘ To him, the most important value a person has is virtue, and the good life is spent looking for the Good. This was known as the love of wisdom. Socrates had little regard for worldly affairs, and the material or pleasurable things that many people might consider to contribute to ‘the good life’; instead, he thought that the best thing to do in life is to â€Å"pursue the love of wisdom,† instead of â€Å"money, and reputation, and public honor† (Apology 29d-30b). He defended this by living the philosophy, and emphasizing certain virtues that were purported to be the best things that humanity could offer itself. By avoiding the search for wealth and instead growing as people, Socrates attempted to build a community of better individuals. Socrates firmly believed that a higher order should be followed when conducting one’s life; whenever divine authority conflicts with human authority, one must follow divine authority first. â€Å"Gentlemen, I am your grateful and devoted servant, but I owe a greater obedience to God than to you; and as long as I draw breath and have my faculties I shall never stop practicing philosophy† (Apology). He feels he has a duty, as a philosopher, to constantly question and examining the world around him to find answers, since his professed ignorance frees him from pretending he already knows said answers. All of these arguments comment heavily on the charges against Socrates; in essence, people hated his questioning and argumentation, as well as the perception that he was insulting those whom he was interrogating. Socrates lamented the focus on material wealth and power, at the expense of eschewing internal exploration and philosophy. â€Å"Are you not ashamed that you give your attention to acquiring as much money as possible, and similarly with reputation and honor, and give no attention or thought to truth and understanding and the perfection of your soul? † (Apology). Here, he is condemning his audience (and the people of Athens) for not working toward the greatest good, which is the study of self and the world around them; this is the reason for his interrogating, and the very thing they are punishing him for. If he has to be irritating and annoying to his peers, so be it; he will not stop until he improves the lives of the people he lives with, â€Å"and all day long I will never cease to settle here, there and everywhere, rousing, persuading, and reproving every one of you† (Apology 30e). This is a bold statement that proves his use of his defense to educate the people of Athens as to their own problems. In his second speech, after the jury voted guilty, He provided his version of penalty that he thinks he deserves. Obvious there could be a better way to persuade the jury, unfortunately it is not how Socrates wants it to down. He keeps denying the penalty and showed no respect to the jury. The conclusion to his action is Socrates knows the life he will have will never be the same, and if the life is not turn out as he wanted, then it is not worth to living. He believes what he does is the best life for human being, and he was tried to teach the audiences a lesson. He notes that it might have been possible for him to save his life by begging the court’s mercy and appealing to them. However, he did not do this; this was not out of ignorance or ineffectiveness in his approach, but he wanted to be honest and truthful about his opinions – namely, that the jury and those who were charging him were afraid of his criticism. To Socrates, it is better to die as an honest man who is unafraid of his convictions than to live having sacrificed them. Because of that, he wants to make an example of himself to the jury, proving a life lived honestly is one which brings greater peace. In his final argument, when the jury votes to execute Socrates, he regarding his impending death plays into his central thesis. According to Socrates, there are two kinds of death: death as annihilation (you go to sleep and feel and experience nothing more) and death as transmigration (where you have a soul which goes somewhere else). Definition is defended by Socrates; the annihilation should be looked forward to like you would finally going to sleep, and transmigration would simply allow him to talk to other great figures like Homer and Odysseus and learn from their wisdom. Again he use this argument to reiterate his central idea, such as people think they know about death but they actually not, and people needs keep examining, questioning, until the end of their life. In the end, Socrates even wishing his enemy well; he feels that, if you are a good man, you have nothing to fear in the life or the afterlife. He does not begrudge or hate his accusers and merely wishes to teach others to place the human good over the materialism and that corrupting his peers. His last words are, â€Å"Well, now it is time to be off, I to die and you to live; but which of us has the happier prospect is unknown to anyone but God† (42a). After all Socrates is one of the best philosophers in the human history, unfortunate he is fail to enlightening the most people in his age, the method of his is full of satirize, harsh, and direct to the sensitive position of people’s mind, it may solve the â€Å"problem†, but come with huge consequence. However, he understood it, he knows what he have down, may someday bring him to the trial even death, the determination of him pursuing the goodness is unparalleled. Even many people thought his ideas is incomprehensible, and he said in the text that he is not a good citizen, still he is as good as a human being can be. After I read the Crito, his death sentence, to him, was the unfortunate but understandable result of living in a society that oversaw its peers. Despite his innocence, and the belief that the Athenian government was in desperate need of change, he still abided by its rules; he believed that one can change the system from within, but you must still adhere to the decisions that society makes. In conclusion, Socrates’ defense at the trial, portrayed in Plato’s Apology, was simply another platform by which he sustain his philosophies about the virtue of thinking, self-improvement, and acting as a part of a greater whole of civilization. He was punished and put to death for asking too many questions and corrupting the young, when in fact he was simply wishing to point out the ignorance of his peers (which he also shares). The principle of Socratic irony, wherein people are most philosophical when they admit they know nothing, was something that Socrates was trying to get other people to admit; despite their professed knowledge, they truly were ignorant, and so they were learning nothing by not reconciling this attitude. While the trial did not save his life, Socrates did not care – his intent was to show people the true meaning of living a human life, as well as demand greater examination of themselves.