Tuesday, December 24, 2019

Puritan Discipline - 810 Words

Puritan Discipline The Puritans, arguably the most well-known group of early English colonists settled in the Massachusetts Bay colony in the 1600’s, and are considered catalysts to modern American culture. The Puritans are famous for their theological insights, advances in the sciences, and for the establishment of the first public schools in America. The Puritans however are infamous for their potentially brutal punishment, and harsh discipline. To the devout Puritan punishment was love, this was evident in the ways they raised children, punished criminals, and how they lived. These policies played a major role in shaping American society for many years and in part made America what it is today. Childhood in Puritan society was†¦show more content†¦However the Puritans are known to have severely punished people for specific crimes, †William Carlisle was convicted of passing counterfeit dollars and sentenced to stand one hour on the Pillory†¦ to have both ears cropped, and to be branded on both cheeks with†¦R†¦(Rouge† The Essex Gazette, Newport April 23, 1771. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s â€Å"The Scarlet Letter† an adulteress was doomed to wear an ‘A’ for Adulterer, and made routine visits to the pillory to be pelted with leftovers and insults by the local population. Sadly seventeen or more people found themselves on death row, convicted of witchcraft in the early Massachusetts society in the infamous Salem Witch Trials. Consequently the Puritans are now known for their severity and less of their admirable attempt to have a pure society. Order, this was one of the most valued aspects of Puritan society, after all the word Puritan can be defined as ‘one who is pure’. â€Å"Puritans needed to live a closely examined life.† Peace of the Elect, Illinois College. All actions and words were known to someone, being in such small communities the words of others were the way to the pillory or to the church, this is why Puritans are renowned for being a solemn people of littleShow MoreRelatedPuritans and the Scarlet Letter739 Words   |  3 PagesNathaniel Hawthorne was not a Puritan, but he had deep bonds back to this religion, and had ancestors that were in charge of the Salem Witch Trials, a fact that Hawthorne always felt remorse for. In choosing this time period as the setting for The Scarlet Letter, a classic story of love, betrayal and religion, he showcased both the weakness and strengths of this time period and religion. Like the Pilgrims, the Puritans were from England, and were dissatisfied with the church reform of England. SoRead MoreColonial America: Founding the Dream Essay example1742 Words   |  7 Pagescultures. Like the Pilgrims, the Puritans fled Europe for religious freedom in the New world, but their dream was. The Puritans were considered non-separatists; they did not wish to leave the Church of England but rather reform and reshape its borders and beliefs. Arriving in Massachusetts Bay in 1630 with six hundred followers and John Winthrop as their leader the Puritans desired to create a new society similar to the Dream that the Pilgrims had. The Puritans journey represents an Exodus fromRead MoreThe Truth Behind Puritanism : Puritanism1975 Words   |  8 Pagesprobably think of purity and cleanliness. However, the Puritan’s have a very interesting way of achieving purity. The Puritans believe that God has predestined the salvation of certain souls and one can do nothing to change this. They also believe there is zero credit for good works and that people by nature are wholly sinful and can only achieve goodness by severe discipline, but living a godly life is the result of being chosen as one of God’s â€Å"elect.† The â€Å"elect† are said to be saved from hellRead MorePuritanism And Its Impact On Society1508 Words   |  7 Pagesthe American society in a way everyone can see it nowadays takes roots in the times of British colonization. Puritans Migration The teaching of Puritanism arose in the British Isles around 1560, â€Å"when dissident members of the Church of England, still the mother church of the Anglican Communion today, attempted to â€Å"purify† it by removing all trace of its Roman Catholic past.†1 The Puritans were sure that the Church of England did not work enough on its reforms according to the fact that a lot ofRead MoreRoles Of The Puritan Society1137 Words   |  5 PagesRoles of the Puritan Society Puritans were English Protestants who were committed to â€Å"purifying† the Church of England. After being religiously persecuted in England, the Puritans fled to North America to start their new beginning. The Puritans maintained their Protestant beliefs with a patriarchal family. Their family roles differed from other colonists that settled in America. In my paper, I will describe the different roles that were established in the Puritan society. The Puritans society wasRead MoreThe Religious Convictions Of The Puritans1170 Words   |  5 PagesThe Puritans were a group of people from England who settled the New World (1) called America after the year of 1630. They went to America to be free to practice their religion without being persecuted because their beliefs were opposing the catholic’ one. The difference was that the Puritans tried harder to enforce the Ten Commandments but Americans were influenced by the moral, ethical, and religious convictions of the Puritans. The Puritans’ life was very hard in England so that they focused theRead MorePuritans Influence On Today s Society1599 Words   |  7 PagesToday, people describe the Puritans with their biased point of view. It is not unfathomable why people do not like the Puritans. The Puritans’ society and today’s society are very different. Puritan society was very restrained; people could only believe in God and the Bible was the law. Unlike Puritan society, today’s society does not restrain religion. Even though Puritans had bad influences on today’s society, Puritans played a pivotal role in constructing the USA. If you look around more carefullyRead MoreWorlds Colliding : Hypocrisy, Rules And Punishments1446 Words   |  6 PagesTwo Worlds Colliding: Hypocrisy, Rules and Punishments In two not so different societies, the Puritan people and the people of The Church of Fire and Brimstone learn to live a life under the fear of God. Both societies share the similarity of living a life of holiness on land so that they may be taken into the Kingdom of God. In order to do so, these people put themselves through strict rules and harsh punishment that are near inhumane. Each of these people live out their lives in fear of being leftRead MoreTheme Of Patriarchy In The Crucible1601 Words   |  7 Pagesso often throughout this play seem to be connected to the downfall of this small Puritanical town. Today I will bring to light the biased views and sexual repression that led this small town to its untimely demise. This paper will delve into the puritans daily way of life and beliefs and expose that sexual repression and patriarchy were the real killers in this play based on real events. To achieve this goal I have organized this paper into 3 main sections, which will each explain the sexual biasRead MoreComparing The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthrone and The Crucible by Arthur Miller1021 Words   |  5 Pages The Puritans had a heavily important part in the formation of early America, as well as a religion that influenced our early American society. This society has been the target which many authors have picked to set their novels in. The topic of Puritan life contains a broad list of aspects that can be easily compared to one another in several different books. Two selections that go into detail about some of the different aspects of the Puritan people are The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, and The Scarlet

Monday, December 16, 2019

Was Joseph Conrad a Rascist Free Essays

Is it fair to call Joseph Conrad a Thoroughgoing Racist? To call someone a thoroughgoing racist is to say that they are a person who completely and knowingly considers one race of humans superior to others. This is precisely what Chinua Achebe is accusing Joseph Conrad of. It is Achebe’s opinion that Conrad wrote his ‘Heart of Darkness’ from a racist point of view intentionally to belittle Africa and its people and to raise up Europe and its people. We will write a custom essay sample on Was Joseph Conrad a Rascist or any similar topic only for you Order Now While I agree that Joseph Conrad may have been a racist and that ‘Heart of Darkness’ certainly has racism in it, I believe it unfair to call Conrad a thoroughgoing racist. Conrad is simply a victim of his time, having lived from 1857-1924 when the racism against Africans was widespread, even considered normal. He was not intentionally trying to be racist. â€Å"It is the desire- one might even say the need- of Western psychology to set up Africa as a foil to Europe, as a place of negations at once remote and vaguely familiar, in comparison with which Europe’s own state of spiritual grace will be manifest† (Achebe, 1). In other words, Europeans want to directly compare Africa to Europe in a way that the ‘darkness’ of Africa makes Europe seem lighter. This shows that Conrad may even not have been racist at all. He could be simply writing a novel that the people wanted at that time. Achebe even briefly states this as a possibility: â€Å"It might be contended†¦ that the attitude to the African in ‘Heart of Darkness’ is not Conrad’s but that of his fictional narrator, Marlow, and that far from endorsing it Conrad might indeed be holding it up to irony and criticism† (Achebe, 4). This is my opinion of Conrad. He was not actually a racist. He was a brilliant storyteller of fiction that knew the people who would be reading the book. In that time period, most readers were racist against Africans. That was OK back then. Conrad didn’t agree with it but he wrote a short novel highlighting it to appease the masses, while subtlety showing how wrong racism is. â€Å"Heat of Darkness projects the image of Africa as â€Å"the other world,† the antithesis of Europe and therefore of civilization, a place where man’s vaunted intelligence and refinement are finally mocked by triumphant bestiality. The book opens on the River Thames, tranquil, resting, peacefully â€Å"at the decline of day after ages of good service done to the race that peopled its banks. But the actual story will take place on the River Congo, the very antithesis of the Thames. The River Congo is quite decidedly not a River Emeritus. It has rendered no service and enjoys no old-age pension. We are told that â€Å"going up that river was like back to the earliest beginnings of the world. † (Achebe, 2). The Heart of Darkness men tions ‘the race that peopled its banks’ on the River Thames and then later talks about the people who people the banks of the River Congo. â€Å"There you could look at a thing monstrous and free. It was unearthly and the men were†¦ No they were not inhuman. Well, you know that was the worst of it- this suspicion of their not being inhuman. It would come slowly to one. They howled and leaped and spun and made horrid faces, but what thrilled you, was just the thought of their humanity- like yours- the thought of your remote kinship with this wild and passionate uproar. Ugly. Yes, it was ugly enough, but if you were man enough you would admit to yourself that there was in you just the faintest trace of a response to the terrible frankness of that noise, a dim suspicion of there being a meaning in it which you- you so remote from the night of the first ages- could comprehend. Conrad, 153). This passage is a direct comparison of the â€Å"savages† in Africa to the â€Å"civilized† in Europe. Yet there is a connection, a â€Å"kinship,† between these two beings. Conrad knows that Europeans love to view Africans as these uncivilized brutes in order to make themselves look better; but then he slips in that the two peoples a re actually of the same heritage, separated only by the flow of time. Africans may appear to be these black monsters incapable of speech, only a dialect of grunting and screaming; but they are actually the just as human as any one else. Conrad later depicts the African savages as ‘dogs’: And between whiles I had to look after the savage who was fireman. He was an improved specimen; he could fire up a vertical boiler. He was there below me and, upon my word, to look at him was as edifying as seeing a dog in a parody of breeches and a feather hat walking on his hind legs. A few months of training had done for that really fine chap. He squinted at the steam-gauge and at the hot water-gauge with an evident effort of intrepidity- and he had filed his teeth too, the poor devil, and the wool of his pate shaved into queer patterns, and three ornamental scars on each of his cheeks. He ought to have been clapping his hands and stamping his feet on the bank, instead of which he was hard at work, a thrall to strange witchcraft, full of improving knowledge. † (Conrad, 154). This is a very sudden and drastic change from just half of a page earlier when the African savages were â€Å"kin† to the Europeans. Now they’re dogs. Perhaps Conrad really is a thoroughgoing racist. However, one must remember that the Heart of Darkness is a story within a story. It is Conrad writing of a man in London called Marlow who is recounting his experience in Africa on the River Congo. So it is not Conrad who is the racist; his fictional character Marlow is. This is a very different style of storytelling and it is easy to forget whose words we are reading. Sometimes we are reading Conrad’s words when we are on the River Thames; but usually we are reading Marlow’s words. Achebe contends, â€Å"Conrad appears to go to considerable pains to set up layers of insulation between himself and the moral universe of his history. He has, for example, a narrator behind a narrator. The primary narrator is Marlow but his account is given to us through the filter of a second, shadowy person† (Achebe, 4). One of Achebe’s main arguments is that â€Å"art is more than just good sentences; this is what makes this situation tragic. The man [Conrad] is a capable artist and as such I expect better from him. I mean, what is his point in that book [Heart of Darkness]? Art is not intended to put people down. If so, then art would ultimately discredit itself† (Phillips, 1). This statement simply isn’t true. Art is not exclusively a happy thing that only raises people up. There is such a thing as depressing art. The Bluest Eye is a great example of this. It too has tones of racism, being about a girl who hates herself because she is black and therefore ugly. The ending of that story is very sad and the conflict is not resolved. This means that, according to Achebe, The Bluest Eye does not qualify as art. It’s unfair of Achebe to only accept art that is happy and uplifting. The world is not a happy and uplifting place. There is darkness in the world. Conrad is attempting to point this out in the title alone, Heart of Darkness. He even suggests that London was once one of the dark places of the world. Achebe expects Conrad to be one of the artists who is â€Å"bigger than their times† (Phillips, 5). He says that that is what makes you a great artist. Being ahead of your time is not a requirement of great artistry. That’s not to say that there are no great artists who were ahead of their time; but there are plenty of great artists who weren’t. To be bigger than your time takes a highly innovative and rebellious mind, which is a rare thing. All great innovations are mocked upon first arrival. This is why they are called innovations; they go against the norm. One cannot expect a writer in a racist world to right a book that speaks out against racism. That being said, it can be argued that Heart of Darkness does speak out against racism from an ironical standpoint. The overreaching question is, what happens when one group of people, supposedly more humane and civilized than another group, attempts to impose itself upon its inferiors? In such circumstances will there always be an individual who, removed from the shackles of civilized behavior, feels compelled to push at the margins of conventional morality? What happens to this one individual who imagines himself to be released from the moral order of society and therefore free to behave as savagely or decently as he deems fit? How does this man respond to chaos? (Phillips, 4). When considering these questions, I am forced to recall the movie â€Å"Three Kings. † This whole movie seems to be based upon these questions. It takes place in Iraq right at the end of the Gulf War, Operation Desert Storm. A group of American soldiers discover a map leading to the Kuwaiti gold stolen by Iraq. One soldier asks â€Å"what is the most important thing in life?†¦ Necessity†¦ As in people do what is most necessary to them at an given moment† (Clooney, Three Kings). This is the answer to Phillips’ question â€Å"how does this man respond to chaos? He does whatever he needs to do, not whatever he wants to do. In Heart of Darkness each man is thrown into his own chaos and they all respond differently, but each man does what he feels is the most necessary. The idea of necessity can be applied to Conrad as well. What was most necessary to a writer living in the early 20th century? For Conrad, it was to stick to the status quo, to write a book that uses Africa as a foil, which portrays Africans as savage beasts. This does not make him a racist, merely a man who is following the trend of society. Assuming that Conrad wasn’t a racist, what if he had written Heart of Darkness without any racism? He would have been mocked, perhaps even cast out or discredited. Today he would be revered as one of the great futuristic minds of his time of course; but he has no way of knowing that. So he took the safe route and wrote Heart of Darkness from a more racist point of view. This does not make Conrad a thoroughgoing racist, as Achebe would accuse him. Arguments could be made either way; that Conrad was racist or that he wasn’t. If he was not a racist at all then that’s the end of it. However, if he was a racist it becomes more complicated. Although due to the time and society in which Conrad was born and raised, his racism is therefore not intentional. He is not a racist in a non-racist society; he is simply another racist just like nearly everyone else. Works Cited Achebe, Chinua. â€Å"An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s ‘Heart of Darkness’† Massachusetts Review. 18. 1977. Clooney, George, Perf. â€Å"Three Kings† Warner Bros Pictures. 1999. Film. Conrad, Joseph. â€Å"Heart of Darkness† 1902. Phillips, Caryl and Chinua Achebe. Personal Interview. 21 February 2003. How to cite Was Joseph Conrad a Rascist, Essay examples

Sunday, December 8, 2019

ICT Ethics IT Consultancy Project

Question: Discuss about theICT Ethics for IT Consultancy Project. Answer: Introduction This paper attempts to understand various forms of ethical issues that can arise in ICT projects by exploring one case of an IT consultancy project and identifying various kinds of issues. It would assess the issues considering the code of ethics to determine how these may be resolved considering ethical codes of conduct. Case Study A IT consultancy organization need to take interviews of the employees of the client organization to understand their current knowledge of working and business processes which could be used for understanding the organization such that appropriate ICT tools can be suggested for implementation. However, this personal interaction between the design company professionals and the company employees could also result into disclosure of personal or organisational weaknesses. An employee may even talk about shortcomings in the client organization. In the process, people interviewed may also make personal remarks about their seniors that could be negative. This can raise an issue of privacy if the interviewers are asked by senior managers to disclose the responses of individual employees(Ferguson, et al., 2005). Ethical Issue(s) The case can be analyses considering the ACS codes of ethics that requires an organization to adhere to codes of ethics related to priorities and social implications: Priorities: As per ACS code, the interest of community must be placed over the interest of individuals. Thus, the consultancy staff must ensure that the responses obtained from the client staff remain confidential. In case any conflicts of interests are identified between staff of the client, the client may be advised on ways to resolve them. Social Implications: The code requires that a consultancy organization must work towards enhancement of the lives of people affected by their services. This requires maintenance of privacy of all the people who would be affected by the survey in the present case. An equal treatment must be given to employees or people working on the project with due respect and no unfairness against stereotypes(Stahl, 2012). Thus, in order to maintain the codes of ethics, an ICT company is required to understand and resolve issues that could be related to confidentiality and disclosure, privacy and respect. Confidentiality Disclosure: Confidentiality as per ethical codes talks about how the information, that is been disclosed by an individual due to the trusted relationship established between two individuals interacting, is treated. Confidentiality is about protection of data that can be used for identifying an individual and it is maintained with an agreement established between interested parties on the extent of the use of private information. In the current case, if the consultant discloses the responses of the employees interviewed to the senior manager of the company for some personal benefit then it would be the breach of confidentiality clause. The interview is intended to understand the working of the company and individual as a part of the unit and not about understanding the individual preferences of emotional relationships(Johnson, 2015). Privacy respect: Privacy is defined by the control that an individual has on sharing personal information with others. It is about people who have the right to get protection from disclosure of private information to wrong people who may misuse the information for their benefit. For instance, in the current case, if the personal details of one of the employees of the client organization is received which may benefit another organization or individual in some way and if the consulting organizations employees shares the same then it would be an invasion of privacy. The client organization can take the private details of the person such as about the family and can use the same for own benefit to invade on the privacy. A persons privacy has to be given respect and thus, should not be disclosed or misused for any other purpose than what the interview was intended for. Stakeholders Stakeholders of a consultancy project would include client management, its employees, and employees of the IT consultancy and the customers of the client organization. How each of these stakeholders may be affected by the ethical standards, practices and breaches is explained in the table below: Stakeholders Ethical Dilemmas Management - Senior Employees of Client Senior management would be sharing company processes, working and some confidential information with the ICT consultant that can be used against the organization is leaked to the competition by the consultant. Thus it raises the concerns of disclosure Employees of Client Employee personal information can be leaked or misused. Also, their personal responses can get disclosed to higher management that can affect their professional lives. This raises a concern of confidentiality. Employees of consulting organization Employees of the consulting organization must get accurate data from the employees interviewed failing which wrong interpretations may be made and wrong suggestions would go to client spoiling their reputation. Thus, this raises concerns of accuracy. Customers While exploring the data for assessing ICT systems, the consultant can gain access to the information about the customers of the client organization which can be stolen, leaked or misused. Breaches in Standards Various forms of ethical breaches that can occur in an ICT project in the case discussed can be related to ownership, control, accuracy and security. Ownership: When working with a client organization that an ICT consulting organization would be providing services, the consultant is likely to receive access to much internal and confidential information about a company. This could be related to the product, designs, and execution strategies and so on. If such information is leaked into the market, especially to competition then it can harm the strategic position of the organization. Thus, an agreement should be made between the organization and consultant on nondisclosure for the information that is not owned by the consultant. Control: a company may establish control over what activities a consultant may perform when assisting the client organization. This would involve monitoring of the consultant staff to have an understanding of how the organizations IT assets are being used. This monitoring may include the watch on websites visited, use of email system and access to private information about internal employees(Doridot, 2013). Accuracy: Accurate information brings the power for efficient decision making and thus, an organization must ensure that the information provided to the consultant for suggesting improvements or establishments in ICT infrastructure is accurate. The responsibility of providing accurate information would lie on the employees who would be interviewed to gather the requirement for the ICT project. Security: the systems used by the organization for any ICT project must be protected from security breaches such that personal data of employees do not get leaked to hackers affecting their private or professional lives. This would need company to establish systems for monitoring ICT infrastructure and identify if they are exposed to any forms of security threats such that the same can be resolved preventing their impacts on employees and systems of the organization. Consequences ICT systems have become integral parts in any organizations and they require significant investments to be made. In case any ethical breaches are faced then it can cause the liability for an organization as a consequence. For instance, if the customer data provided to ICT consultant gets leaked into the market, it will result into the loss of image for the client organisational as well as loss of the customer. In such a case, if the customer spreads a bad word of mouth, it would also prevent other people from taking products or services of client organizations leading to loss of sales. Conclusion This paper involved exploration of various types of ethical issues that may arise on an ICT project for which ethical standards and related issues like confidentiality and privacy were discussed. For this, a case study of an IT consulting organization catering to a client organization was taken and based on the case; stakeholders were identified to understand how ethical issues can impact each of the stakeholders. Possible ethical breaches in the ICT projects were also identified and their consequences were determined. References Doridot, F., 2013. Ethical Governance of Emerging Technologies Development. s.l.:IG Global. Ferguson, S. et al., 2005. Case studies and codes of ethics: the relevance of the ACS experience to ALIA , s.l.: Canberra Education. Johnson, L., 2015. Human Rights and Ethics: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications .... s.l.:IGI Global. Resnik, D. (2016). What is Ethics in Research Why is it Important?. Retrieved 26 August 2016, from https://courses.washington.edu/bethics/Homepage/What%20is%20Ethics%20in%20Research%20%20Why%20is%20it%20Important_.pdf Stahl, B., 2012. Incorporating Ethics into Research and Innovation, s.l.: EU Research. Singal, R. Kamra, G. (2016). Ethical Issues in Advertising. Retrieved 26 August 2016, from https://www.ijmser.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Paper7689-694.pdf Thomson, A. Schmoldt, D. (2016). Ethics in computer software design and development. Retrieved 26 August 2016, from https://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/VT_Publications/01t7.pdf VICTOR, S. (2016). Ethics In Advertising And Marketing In The Dominican Republic: Interrogating Universal Principles Of Truth, Human Dignity, And Corporate Social Responsibility.illinois.edu. Retrieved 26 August 2016, from https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/bitstream/handle/2142/42418/Salvador_Victor.pdf?sequence=1a