Locke on Language Essay Example for Free

Locke on Language Essay John Locke (1632-1704) is a great influential British philosopher, reputed by many as the first of the great English empiricists. He offered a comprehensive philosophy of language as well, which was the first of its kind in modern philosophy. In line with Descartes, he pushed reason to the forefront as a tool of philosophical enquiry and opposed authoritarianism and blind acceptance of dictates of religion or superstitions. Lockes masterpiece, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, concerns itself with determining the limits of human understanding and the legitimacy of knowledge claims. Specifically, Book III of the work investigates into language and its importance in the process of knowledge and epistemological enquiries. Let me brief the main aspects of his approach to language and the context from which it evolves out. Body of the Essay (Lockean Enquiry into Language) In the four Books of the Essay, Locke considers the sources and nature of human knowledge and as a part of it he takes up a study of language. (An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Locke, 1. 1. 7. , p. 47). Against Descartes, he claimed, that mind has no innate ideas (primary notions or inborn ideas). Human mind is a tabula rasa (clear slate) and experiences write on it. In holding this view he subscribes to the axiom of empiricism that ‘there is nothing in the intellect that was not previously in the senses’. Ideas are but materials, out of which, knowledge is constructed. Neither speculative or innate moral principles, nor ideas, such as God, identity, etc. , are there in the mind of the new-born. ‘Children and the idiots prove it’, Locke says. His theory of substratum and substance, and the distinction he makes between primary and secondary qualities are all someway connected to his theory of language. The distinction between real essences and nominal essences, which he makes, stems from his theories of substance and qualities. It seems Locke holds some version of the representational theory of perception, though some scholars dispute it. Locke is not at all skeptic about substances as did Hume. Since Berkeley, Locke’s theory of the substratum or substance has been attacked as incoherent. Since we have no such experience of such an entity there is no way to derive such an idea from experience, his critics argue. (cf. I. IV. 18. p 95) The real essence of a material thing is its atomic constitution. The atomic constitution is the causal basis of all the observable properties of the thing. If the real essences were known all the observable properties could be deduced from it. These real essences are quite unknown to us according to Locke. Ayer interprets: ‘substance in general’ means whatever it is that supports qualities, while the real essence means ‘the particular atomic constitution lying behind observable qualities. Ayer treats the unknown substratum as the same as real essence. This interpretation eliminates the need to explain particulars without properties. But it is to be accepted that such reductionism lacks textual support from Locke and it conflicts some of Locke’s own positions according to some critics. A theory of meaning (semantic theory) is central to any philosophical account of language Locke also develops one when he claims that our words (general terms) refer to our (abstract) ideas. Abstract ideas and classification are of central importance to Locke’s discussion of language. Words that stand for ideas can be distinguished as ideas of substances, simple modes, mixed modes, relations etc. Not all words are ideas, for example, particles that relate. In his analysis of language, Locke gives more attention to nouns than to verbs (II. 7. 1. p 471). Though Locke’s main semantic theory claimed that â€Å"Words in their primary or immediate signification signify nothing but the ideas in the mind of him that uses them†, it was vehemently criticized as a classic blunder in semantic theory. For J. S. Mill, Locke seems not distinguishing the meaning of the word from its reference. But as Norman Kretzmann rightly points out Locke distinguishes between meaning and reference (Tipton, 1977, pp. 123-140). In Locke’s discussion on substances, he says, physical substances are atoms and things made up of atoms. But we have no experience of the atomic structure of horses and tables. Horses and tables are known through secondary qualities such as color, taste, smell etc and primary qualities such as shape and extension. Hence he held that real essence cannot give meaning of names. Ordinary people are the chief makers of language, he believed. Conclusion Locke brought in a tradition in language theory that influenced James Campbell and I. A. Richards, rhetoricians like Edward P. J. Corbett, Condillac, Saussure and structuralists like Claude Levi-Strauss. Linguistic philosophy (logical positivism, logical atomism and so on) in 20th century had something to respond to Locke if not to receive from him. However, I wouldn’t reckon Locke as a linguist than an empiricist. References Locke, John (1995) An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. Aemherst, New York: Prometheus Books. Kretzmann, Norman (1977) â€Å"The Main Thesis of Locke’s Semantic Theory†. in Locke on Human Understanding,(ed) I. C. Tipton. pp. 123-140.

Graduation Speech -- Graduation Speech, Commencement Address

A wise person once said something to this effect: "Quotes are just another way of masking one's true feelings." I'd tell you the person who wrote it, but I can barely even remember it word for word. It's funny I crossed paths with this quote just days before I was informed I would be speaking at commencement. Someone or something, maybe a higher power, meant for this quote and I to meet. The irony of the whole situation is that the author's quote was turned into a quote, which is most likely the opposite of their intentions. My reasoning for bringing up this situation is simple. When first given the task of writing this speech, I was at a loss for ideas. Mr. Troll told me to begin with a quote or say something profound - a task that was a lot easier said than done. In all honesty, it was such a hard task that it kept me thinking until the night before the speech was due, which is when I actually began working on it. All of a sudden I remembered, "What about that quote that disses quotes!?" Then it hit me - take it and run. Instead of disguising my voice with fancy, long words I don't even understand, I decided to just be me. After all, me is really all I can be. I'm going to make my own quotes with the help from a few so someone can bite from my original thoughts, not vice versa. People kept telling me to find a central topic to focus on and work around. Yeah, I tried that, but of course, it didn't work. So I eventually decided to say whatever came to mind. This is how I came to recite the words, which are now flowing through the complex workings of your inner ears. Freshmen year was a blast. As soon as I walked through the doors of the hallowed halls of Kennedy, I knew all would be fine. Before entering I was told man... ...s not trying to ruin my life or make me hate him, he was only trying to mold me into a successful student. I will forever be grateful to him for doing what he did. Some call it making one tough, others call it tough love, but I call it devotion. He was so devoted to my education that he would not let me slip up. For this, I would like to say thanks. Thanks Vick! I owe you one. In conclusion, I want to say that I hope you take something away from the words I have said. If you do, great, and even if you don't, I'm not worried because it is not the end of the world. To the graduating class of 2003, I have one final tidbit to say: "We made it, and no one can take this day away from us." The very last thing I have to say is, "Thanks Mom! One day I'll be able to invest in you all that you have invested in me. I mean that both financially and emotionally. I love you!" Graduation Speech -- Graduation Speech, Commencement Address A wise person once said something to this effect: "Quotes are just another way of masking one's true feelings." I'd tell you the person who wrote it, but I can barely even remember it word for word. It's funny I crossed paths with this quote just days before I was informed I would be speaking at commencement. Someone or something, maybe a higher power, meant for this quote and I to meet. The irony of the whole situation is that the author's quote was turned into a quote, which is most likely the opposite of their intentions. My reasoning for bringing up this situation is simple. When first given the task of writing this speech, I was at a loss for ideas. Mr. Troll told me to begin with a quote or say something profound - a task that was a lot easier said than done. In all honesty, it was such a hard task that it kept me thinking until the night before the speech was due, which is when I actually began working on it. All of a sudden I remembered, "What about that quote that disses quotes!?" Then it hit me - take it and run. Instead of disguising my voice with fancy, long words I don't even understand, I decided to just be me. After all, me is really all I can be. I'm going to make my own quotes with the help from a few so someone can bite from my original thoughts, not vice versa. People kept telling me to find a central topic to focus on and work around. Yeah, I tried that, but of course, it didn't work. So I eventually decided to say whatever came to mind. This is how I came to recite the words, which are now flowing through the complex workings of your inner ears. Freshmen year was a blast. As soon as I walked through the doors of the hallowed halls of Kennedy, I knew all would be fine. Before entering I was told man... ...s not trying to ruin my life or make me hate him, he was only trying to mold me into a successful student. I will forever be grateful to him for doing what he did. Some call it making one tough, others call it tough love, but I call it devotion. He was so devoted to my education that he would not let me slip up. For this, I would like to say thanks. Thanks Vick! I owe you one. In conclusion, I want to say that I hope you take something away from the words I have said. If you do, great, and even if you don't, I'm not worried because it is not the end of the world. To the graduating class of 2003, I have one final tidbit to say: "We made it, and no one can take this day away from us." The very last thing I have to say is, "Thanks Mom! One day I'll be able to invest in you all that you have invested in me. I mean that both financially and emotionally. I love you!"

Computer Operating System Essay

The Windows series of operating systems produced by the Microsoft Corporation primarily make use of two file systems: the File Allocation Table (FAT) and the New Technology File System (NTFS). Additionally, some versions of Windows NT also support the use of the High Performance File System (HPFS), a result of Microsoft’s joint developer involvement with IBM to produce the OS/2 operating system. (Duncan, 1989; Custer, 1994) Initially released with DOS, FAT makes use of a table which indexes information on which sections of the storage medium are free, unusable or taken up by files. Disk space is partitioned into distinct units known as sectors or clusters. There is no real organization to the directory structure of FAT, and as such free disk space can become distributed across many different sectors, resulting in file space being allocated in discontiguous sectors. As such, data is highly fragmented and increases seek times. (Microsoft, 2007; Duncan 1989) HPFS was first introduced with OS/2. It improved over the core functionality of the FAT system by introducing additional room for metadata attributes. Allocation units were changed from clusters to physical sectors of 512 bytes each, optimizing the disk space used for each file. HPFS directory entries also hold more attribute data: they possess single sector FNODEs that serve as the control structure for each directory. Fragmentation is drastically reduced by allocating as much of a file in contiguous sectors. However, the HPFS is dependent on a Super Block which contains the control structures of the root directory – essentially the root FNODE. The Super Block is thus vulnerable to corruption or loss from a bad sector which can compromise an entire partition’s useability. (Microsoft, 2007; Duncan, 1989) NTFS was designed to meet the growing demand for network servers and file sharing capabilities and it borrowed many of its concepts from the HPFS. (Kozierok, 2001) It is a journaling file system which permits greater recoverability by reverting files back to a useable state in the event of power failures and system crashes that occur during file transactions. Additionally, it also makes use of an expanded meta-data system which allows administrators to set a wider variety of access and use controls to files. The NTFS also optimizes data by storing small files into the Master File Table of the NTFS itself. The larger system format limit provides means that allocation units are much more refined as well. (Microsoft, 2004; 2007) Memory management on Windows has an access limit of up to 4GB of physical memory, and as such, the allocation of memory to processes is limited by this cap. By using paging to transfer pages of data between main memory and an auxiliary storage device such as a hard drive, it can overcome some of the limitations of physical RAM and enable system processes to have their own 4GB logical address space. Additionally, Windows accords memory protection to process in such a manner as to prevent access to one another, which is crucial to ensure that processes can operate simultaneously without compromising their functionality. (Garg, 2008) Microsoft Windows is essentially an operating system that is built with multi-tasking in mind, which in effect, allows multiple programs to be executed simultaneously. Each application is composed of one or more processes, each of which provides the resources needed to execute a program. Processes are composed of threads, a discrete unit by which processor time is allocated and a single thread, called the primary thread initiates the process. Each thread may execute any portion of code in the process, including those already being executed by another thread. Virtual address space and system resources are shared by threads of a single process, though exception handlers, scheduling priority and other components that determine a thread’s importance and role within the context of a process. (Microsoft Developer Network, 2008) Windows possesses many of the essential features crucial to basic security such as authentication and access control, encryption schemes and protection profiles. However, the API for cryptography is easily compromised by the fact that it easily trusts multiple keys in certifying authority of access. As such, only one code key is necessary to render a system vulnerable. Such a compromise is possible either through accidental disclosure of the private key or when the certifying authority mistakenly issues a certificate. On the level of network security protocol, Windows makes use of IPSec, a cryptographic IP-level protection system which is an open standard in the industry, which functions not only through data encryption and verification of hosts but by detecting modifications made to data during network transit. (Quardt, 2004) Windows security is at its most problematic with regards to applications and non-operating system products. Part of the problem is that for the purposes of consumer convenience, Microsoft Windows continues to be reliant on legacy applications that contain security threats that were of trivial matter during their initial release. Furthermore, the signature architecture of Microsoft programs is to mix application code and data, such as ActiveX for example, can allow untrusted data from outside the system to activate code. (Quardt, 2004) Also, Windows approves digitally signed code even if it is supplied from outside of the system, which means that a system administrator must implicitly trust whoever has signed the code to have subjected it to appropriate code review. In essence, the problem with Windows security is that trust and certification is so decentralized as to deny systems administrators total control and authority over the trustworthiness of code.   REFERENCES Microsoft Corporation. (2007, May 7) Overview of FAT, HPFS and NTFS File Systems. Retrieved August 9, 2008 from: http://support. microsoft. com/kb/100108 Microsoft Corporation (2004, May 5) Local File Systems for Windows. Retrieved August 9, 2008: http://download. microsoft. com/download/5/b/5/5b5bec17-ea71-4653-9539-204a672f11cf/LocFileSys. doc Duncan, R. (1989, September) Design goals and implementation of the new High Performance File System. Microsoft Systems Journal, 4, 5, 1-13. Custer, H. (1994) Inside the Windows NT File System. Washington: Microsoft Press. Kozierok, C. M. (2001, April 17). Overview and History of NTFS. PCGuide. Garg, P. â€Å"Windows Memory Management. † Intellectual Heaven. Retrieved August 10, 2008 from: http://www. intellectualheaven. com/Articles/WinMM. pdf Microsoft Developer Network (2008, August 7). â€Å"About Processes and Threads. † Retrieved August 10, 2008 from: http://msdn. microsoft. com/en-us/library/ms681917(VS. 85,printer). aspx Hart, J. M. (2004) Windows System Programming, 3rd Edition. Boston: Addison-Wesley Professional. Quandt, S. (2004, May 25) â€Å"Linux and Windows security compared. † Linux. com Retrieved August 11, 2008 from: http://www. linux. com/articles/36273? page=2

Activity-based costing Essay

There are many different types of cost systems a company can choose from when calculating their costs. Two of the most frequently used cost accounting systems are a volume based cost system and an activity based cost (ABC) system. Each system has their own advantages and disadvantages and some are more common among certain industries. Wilkerson, like many other companies, used a simple/volume based cost accounting system. Under this system, Wilkerson was inappropriately allocating their costs by assigning the overhead expenses based on direct labor, thus calculating their total costs and operating income incorrectly. If Wilkerson continues to operate their company ignoring the fact that their costs are inaccurate, it is possible that they may make poor business and pricing decisions in the future. Although Wilkerson’s costs are currently being calculated incorrectly, if they decide to use an activity based costing system, they may achieve more accurate results. Using a simple cost accounting system is often easier and less time consuming than an activity based costing system, but it is also less accurate. Wilkerson’s implementation of an ABC system would most likely be very beneficial to the company in terms of both determining their costs more precisely and making overall better pricing and business decisions. An ABC system at Wilkerson would look very different than their current volume based system. Wilkerson’s ABC system would use machine-related expenses, setup labor cost, receiving and production control, engineering, and packaging and shipment as the cost pools. The revised per unit product costs under this system would be $46.17/valve, $58.20/pump, and 115.38/flow controller and the margins would be 46.3%, 33.1%, and -9.9%, respectively. The results when calculating product costs are so different depending on the cost system because we are now actually determining the costs per unit with multiple cost pools because each resource uses a different amount of the indirect resources rather than assigning the manufacturing overhead cost solely based on the direct labor costs. Based on this new accounting information I would recommend that Wilkerson try to make an improvement in their flow controller product. Since the gross margin for this line is negative, if adjustments are made but there is no improvement in its profitability, I would tell Wilkerson to consider dropping the line completely. Although Wilkerson would lose $420,000 in sales, their costs would be reduced by more than this amount, ultimately increasing overall profits for the company. Unfortunately, there are some limitations in our analysis of Wilkerson’s alternative cost systems. One limitation is that we are unable to easily assess how the market will react to a change in the flow controller line. A second limitation that we have to consider when looking at our analysis is that although our cost allocations are much more accurate than before, these costs are still the averages for each product, which could impact how accurate we are in determining the costs. However, if we are able to look past these limitations, our analysis of Wilkerson is beneficial in shaping how the company can more accurately calculate costs as well as be more profitable in general.

Warning, This Post May Be Stolen

Warning, This Post May Be Stolen Warning, This Post May Be Stolen Warning, This Post May Be Stolen By Maeve Maddox A lot of writing sites link to posts on the DailyWritingTips site. We like that. Sometimes they run a brief quotation followed by a link to the rest of the article on our site. I see nothing wrong with that. Sometimes, however, they post an entire article on their sites, followed by attribution and a link to DWT. Apparently they are acting in good faith, imagining that including attribution makes it all right to reproduce the entire post. It isn’t. That’s copyright violation. This week I happened across a site that not only publishes our posts in their entirety, but does so without attribution: leestringer.net (not linked for obvious reasons). Some of my posts are attributed to â€Å"Sweet Jane.† There is a â€Å"Go to Source† link that appears after a Twitter icon at the far bottom of the posts. Perhaps that’s intended as a defense in case of being called on it. The way our material is integrated into the overall design of the poaching website, the site’s readers probably don’t even notice the buried â€Å"source† link. It took me a while to find it, and I was looking. Naturally this experience got me thinking about plagiarism. Plagiarism is theft. It’s from Latin plagiarius meaning â€Å"kidnapper† or â€Å"plunderer.† Inexperienced writers sometimes commit plagiarism unintentionally by paraphrasing badly, misquoting, or failing to attribute a quotation to its source. Unscrupulous writers do it intentionally, in order to profit from the work of others. Anyone who writes, or makes use of the writing of others, needs to become informed about copyright and fair use. An excellent discussion of copyright infringement is Brad Templeton’s 10 Big Myths about copyright explained. An academic take on plagiarism useful to students can be found on the University of Wisconsin-Platteville library site. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Writing Basics category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:70 "Home" Idioms and Expressions50 Latin Phrases You Should KnowThe Difference Between "Shade" and "Shadow"

The 12 Best Creative Writing Colleges and Programs

The 12 Best Creative Writing Colleges and Programs SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Finding a dedicated creative writing program at a school you're excited about can be a real challenge, and that's even before you start worrying about getting in. Nonetheless, there are some great options. In order to help you find the best school for you, this list rounds up some of the best colleges for creative writing in the United States. The Best Creative Writing Programs: Ranking Criteria You should never take college rankings as absolute truth- not even the very official-seeming US News ones. Instead, use these kinds of lists as a jumping-off place for your own exploration of colleges. Pay attention not to just what the rankings are but to how the rankings are determined. To help with that, I'll explain how I came up with this highly unscientific list of great creative writing colleges. I started by narrowing my searchdown to schools that offered a specific creative writing major. (If you don't see a school you were expecting, it's likely because they only have a minor.) // In ranking the schools, I considered five major criteria: #1: MFA Ranking- If a school has a greatgraduate creative writing program, it means you'll be taught bythose same professors and the excellent graduate students they attract. Schools with strong MFA programs are also more likely to have solid alumni networks and internship opportunities. However, many schools with great undergrad programs do not offer MFAs, in which case I simply focused on the other four options. // #2: General School Reputation - The vast majority of your classes won't be in creative writing, so it's important that other parts of the school, especially the English department, are great as well. // #3: Extracurricular Opportunities - One of the key advantages of majoringin creative writing is that it can provide access to writing opportunities outside the classroom, so I took what kind of internship programs, author readings, and literary magazines the school offers into consideration. #4: Diversity of Class Options - I gave extra points to schools with a variety of genre options and specific, interesting classes. // #5: Alumni/Prestige - This last criterion is a bit more subjective: is the school known for turning out good writers? Certainly it's less important than what kind of education you'll actually get, but having a brand-name degree (so to speak) can be helpful. The Best Creative Writing Schools Now, let's get to the good stuff: the list of schools! The exact numbering is always arguable, so look atit as a general trend from absolutely amazing to still super great, rather than fixating on why one school is ranked #3 and another is ranked #4. #1: Northwestern University Northwestern's undergrad creative writing program boasts acclaimed professors and an unparalleled track record of turning out successful writers (including Divergent author VeronicaRoth and short-story writer Karen Russell). Outside the classroom, you can work on the student-run literary journal, intern at a publication in nearby Chicago, or submit to the Department of English's yearly writing competition.The university is also home to a top journalism program, so if you want to try your hand at non-fiction as well, you'll have plenty of opportunities to do so. // #2: Columbia University Like Northwestern, Columbia is home to both a world-class creative writing program and a top journalism school (plus one of the best English departments in the country), so you have a wide range of writing-related course options. Columbia also benefits from its location in New York City, which is bursting at the seams with publishing houses, literary journals, and talented authors. Columbia University's Low Library (Wally Gobetz/Flickr) #3: University of Iowa TheUniversity of Iowa's big draw is the infrastructure of itsgraduate Writers' Workshop, which is often considered the best MFA program in the country. As an English and Creative Writing major here, you'll take classes from great young writers and established professors alike, and get to choose from a wide range of topics. This major provides transferable skills important for a liberal arts major with a creative focus.You'll also have access to the university's impressive literary community, including frequent readings, writing prizes and scholarships, and the acclaimed literary journal The Iowa Review. #4: EmoryUniversity Emory is renowned for its dedicated undergrad creative writing program, which draws the very best visiting scholars and writers. Students herehave the chance to attend intimate question-and-answer session with award-winning authors, study a range of genres, compete for writing awards and scholarships, and work closely with an adviser to complete an honors project. #5: Oberlin College A small liberal arts school in Ohio, Oberlin offers very different advantages than the schools above do. You'll have fewer opportunities to pursue writing in the surrounding city, but the quality of the teachers and the range of courses might make up for that. Moreover, it boasts just asimpressive alumni, including actress and writer Lena Dunham. // #6: Hamilton College Hamilton is another small college, located in upstate New York. It's known for giving students the freedom to pursue their interests and the support to help them explore topics in real depth, both inside and outside the classroom.Hamilton's creative writing program takes full advantage with small classes and lots of opportunities to intern and publish; italso has one of the best writing centers in the country. #7: Brown University Brown's Literary Arts programoffers one of the top MFAs in the US as well as an undergraduate major. For the major, you must take four creative writing workshops andsix reading-intensive courses, which span an array of departments and topics,from music and literature to Middle East studies and Egyptology. Part of Brown University's campus(Chuck Roberts/Flickr) #8: Washington University in St. Louis Washington University has an excellent creative writing MFA program, lots of super specific class options, and a number of scholarships specifically earmarked for creative writing students. #9: Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT might not be a school you generally associate with writing, but it actually has an excellent program that offers courses in digital media and science writing, as well as creative writing, and provides plenty of guidance on how graduates can navigate the tricky job market. Not to mentionthe school is located inCambridge,a haven for book lovers and writers of all kinds.Still, MIT is probably not the best place for you if you hate science of all kinds. #10: University of Michigan University of Michigan is one of the best state universities in the country and has a top-notch MFA program. If you're looking to attend a big school with a great creative writing major, this is a fantastic choice. #11: Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins is another school that's known morefor engineering than it is for writing, but, like MIT, it has a dedicated writing program. As a major here, you must take not only courses in prose, poetry, and literature, but also classes on topics such as philosophy and history. #12: Colorado College Colorado College is a small liberal arts school known for its block plan,which allows students to focus on one class per three-and-a-half-week block. The creative writing track of the English major includes a sequence of four writing workshops and also requires students to attend every reading of the VisitingWriters Series. Bonus School: New York University I didn't include NYU in the main list because it doesn't have a dedicated creative writing major, but it's a great school for aspiring writers nonetheless, offeringone of the most impressive creative writing faculties in the country and all the benefits of a Manhattan location. Washington Square Park at NYU How to Pick the Best Creative Writing School for You // Just because Northwestern is a great school for creative writing doesn't mean you should set your heart on going there. (The football fans are completely terrifying, for one thing.) So where should you go then? Here are some questions to ask yourself when looking at creative writing programs to help you determine the best school for you: Does It Have Courses You’re Interested In? Look at the course offerings and see whether they interest you. While you can't predict exactly what classes you'll love, you want toavoid a mismatch where what you want to study and what the program offers are completely different.For example, if you want to writesonnets but the school focuses more on teaching fiction, it probably won't be a great fit for you. Also, don't forget tolook at the English courses and creative writing workshops! In most programs, you’ll be taking a lot of these, too. What Opportunities Are There to Pursue Writing Outside of Class? I touched on this idea in the criteria section, butit's important enough that I want to reiterate it here.Some of the best writing experience you can get is found outside the classroom,so seewhat kind of writing-related extracurricularsa school has before committing to it. Great options include getting involved with the campus newspaper, working on the school’s literary journal, or interning at the university press. Who Will Be Teaching You? Who are the professors? What kind of work have they published? Check teacher ratings on Rate My Professors (but make sure to read the actual reviews- and always take them with a grain of salt). If you’re looking at a big school, there’s a good chance that a lot of your teachers will be graduate students. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing: a lot of the best teachers I had in college were graduate students.Just take into consideration what kind of graduate program the school has. If there’s a great creative writing MFA program,then the graduate students are likely to be better writersand more engaged teachers. What Are the Alumni Doing Now? If you have a sense of what you want to do after you graduate, see if any alumni of the program are pursuing that type of career. The stronger the alumni network is, the more connections you'll have when it comes time to get a job. What About the Rest of the School? Don’t pick a school for which you like the creative writing program but dread everything else about it. Most of your time will be spent doing other things, whether hanging out in the dorms, exploring off campus, or fulfilling general education requirements. Many schools require you to apply to the creative writing major, so make doubly sure you'll be happy with your choice even if you aren't accepted to the program. What's Next? Are you sure a creative writing major is the right fit for you?Read our post on the pros and cons of the majorto help you decide what path to take in college. For more general advice about choosing a college,check out our complete guide to finding the right school for you. Some major factors to consider include deciding whether you're interested ina small college or a big university, an in-state or out-of-state institution, and a public or private school. Want to improve your SAT score by 160points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Aristotle Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Aristotle - Assignment Example Nicomachean ethics derives its name from Aristotle’s son, Nicomachus, for whom the books were dedicated. The central point in Nicomachean ethics is the question of the nature of a good life and how best man ought to live a good life on earth (Kraut, 2006). Aristotle’s answer to this was very fundamental in the development of virtue ethics in modern day philosophy. Nicomachean ethics begins by reflecting on whether there is an ultimate goal that all human life aims at. This goal is the ultimate good that all men hope to enjoy in their lifetime. According to Aristotle, such a goal must be complete, self sufficient, final and continuous. Aristotle concluded that the ultimate good upon which all human life should be based in happiness. The main objective of Aristotelian ethics is to find out how best one can achieve happiness. Human beings can achieve happiness when they live a virtuous lifestyle. Aristotle defines virtue as a disposition for one to act in the right way for the right reasons and derive happiness from acting rightly. Virtue is a mean between deficiency and excesses in ones actions. Actions must also be done voluntarily in order for them to be judged to be either good or bad actions. Virtue must emanate from an individual’s conscious choice and must have a purpose. In Nicomachean ethics, Aristotle discusses various virtues including courage, justice, temperance, patience and moderation (Kraut, 2006). Nicomachean ethics discusses various themes such as virtue and happiness, moral education, friendship, and the doctrine of the mean (May, 2010). These themes are spread across all the ten books that make up Nicomachean ethics. Virtue and happiness form the largest part of the discussion on ethics. Virtue leads to attainment of the ultimate goodness of human life, happiness (May, 2010). Another important part of Aristotle’s ethics is moral