Ethics of New Yorks Smoking Ban Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Ethics of New Yorks Smoking Ban - Essay Example The freedom of the smoker is not impinged in balance with the rights of the other patrons, as the smoker can go outside and all are free. Rawls - Ethical. If you are a smoker, you are negatively impacted and would find this unethical. Given the fact that the majority of people are non-smokers, you (PJ) are most likely to be a non-smoker and not want to breathe second-hand smoke; ergo, the ban is ethical because it benefits you. Kant - Ethical. The categorical imperative is the health of the people. It is universally agreed that smoking is harmful to the health of both the smoker and the breather of second-hand smoke. The right thing, or moral principle in keeping the health of the people as the prime objective, is to ban smoking. Egoists - Ethical/Unethical. If you are a smoker, the ban is unethical because it does not allow you to engage in your preferred behavior. If you are a non-smoker, the ban is ethical because you don't have to breathe smoke. The two forms are Act and Rule. In Act Utilitarianism, an action determines what is moral, and general rules can be distilled from the act. For example, if two people were in a burning building-say an elderly man and a small child-and you could only rescue one, you would rescue the child because she would have the higher potential for happiness in the future; the rule being that the higher degree of happiness wins out. In Rule Utilitarianism, a principle determines what is moral, and individual actions follow the general rules of morality. If the rule says that homicide is wrong, for example, killing Hitler in 1933 would still be wrong even though it would lead to the prevention of millions of deaths. 2. What do economists mean by the "declining marginal utility of money" This is a concept which is fairly intuitive. It means that a specific amount of money has proportional importance relative to the wealth of an individual. The amount of $ 5,000.00 given to a specific person would be an unimaginable amount of money for a welfare mother, a nice bonus for a mid-level corporate manager, and completely irrelevant for Warren Buffet. Conversely, the loss of $ 1,000.00 would be very painful for a college student, somewhat annoying to the average attorney, and unnoticed by Bill Gates. 3. Robert Nozick presents his entitlement theory as a function of three basic principles. What are these three basic principles These principles relate to the holdings or possessions of an individual and that person's justifiable right (entitlement) to have them. The Transfer Principle says that, for any particular item, a person is entitled to have it if they properly obtained it from someone who had the right to transfer it. If I purchased a watch from a retail store that had honestly acquired it, the transfer is valid. If I bought the same watch from an individual on the street who had stolen it from its owner, the transfer is invalid. Under the Acquisition Principle, a person who has something that was justly obtained is entitled to that item. In the watch example, my purchase from the retailer is just and I have the right to wear the watch; the street deal is invalid

Gulliver Travel Theme Essay Example for Free

Gulliver Travel Theme Essay Might vs. Right In Jonathon Swift’s Gulliver’s Travel there are many characters who have power over others, some of these characters abuse it other characters do not. Swift gives many details and examples of how the character uses or abuses his or her power. Swift relates many of his characters to real life people of his time The first occurrence of this theme happens when Gulliver washes up on the island of the Lulliputains after his boat was capsized by a huge storm. Gulliver awakens to his arm, legs, and body tied down and is unable to move. He is surrounded by a abundance of miniature like people. Though Gulliver showed no sign of aggression the Lulliputains, despite their small size, still took full advantage over Gulliver and attack him with arrows. The emperor who rules Luptin thinks he can control Gulliver and has him chained and guarded by soldiers. â€Å"The emperor is both a satire of the autocratic ruler and a strangely serious portrait of political power. †(Sparknotes. com). Swift uses The Emperor to represent King George I. Just like King George, The Emperor abuses his power and hires his ministers on how well he likes them rather then their suitability, wisdom, or virtue. The Emperor of Luptin also loves war and wants to use Gulliver’s size to enslave the neighboring island Blefuscu. Although Gulliver refuses to do so, this can be compared to King George I war on Spanish Succession. The Brobdingnagians could dominate with their superior size if they wished but for the must part they do not. Gulliver is taken by a farmer when he lands on the island of Brobdingnag who Gulliver estimates is around seventeen foot tall. The farmer at doesn’t take advantage of his great size but he eventually uses Gulliver as a display around Brobdingnag for money. In General the Brobdingnagians do not abuse their power. The King of Brobdingnag is offered the secret of gunpowder but he refuses to take this, even though gunpowder could vastly increase the power of his nation. The Queen of Brobdingnag finds Gulliver and buys him off the farmer for a thousand pieces of gold. The Queen finds Gulliver quite interesting and thinks of him not as a pet but as fellow Brobdingnagian. Throughout the story Swift likes to draw questions through his characters on why people hold power over others. A key example of this is how The Laputan King thinks he has the right to hold power over the Balnirbarbians simply because he is more devoted to abstract and theoretical knowledge then they are. A more ambiguous example of this power is how the Houyhnhnms control the Yahoos. The Houyhnhnms are intelligent, moral and virtuous people but it is still questionable on whether they should rule the Yahoos. â€Å"The Yahoos are greedy, beastlike humans who will fight over anything valuable and will eat enough food for ten. †(shmoop. com). Even though the Houyhmhnms are great creatures it is still inhuman that they should take control of the Yahoos who are less fortunate than them. Might vs. ight or, abuse or use of power, is a reoccurring theme in Gulliver’s Travels. Swift uses this theme to draw a deeper meaning into the story. The question of why people hold power over others is one that is asked throughout the novel. Swift puts you into each of leaders shoes and gets the reader to think of what they would do if they were in this situation. Would people use to power that was given to them to do great things or would people abuse their power to control and strip freed om from others.

bb king :: essays research papers

B.B. King Back in 1951, a young blues guitarist named Riley King had his first hit song titled "3 O’clock Blues.'' The song was so great, promoters whisked the young man from his Memphis, Tennessee home to the big top of New York City, where he shortened his stage name from Beale Street Blues Boy to "B.B.'' Boogie woogie pianist Robert "H-Bomb'' Ferguson recalls the first time he met B.B. King before the legendary guitarist's first show at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. "When I saw B.B., man, I laughed. This cat came out on stage with a purple suit, red shirt and green tie,'' says Ferguson. King agrees with Ferguson's memory, but notes that the color scheme was different. " It was a red suit with a red tie with red shoes. Red and black sock and black shoes,'' notes King. Over the past forty years, King has established himself as the indisputable king of blues guitarists. His creative style of blending gospel, jazz, and deep Delta blues has influenced two generations of blues and rock guitarists. Unabashedly, King admits that he's an original: "There's a whole lot of things I don't do as well as other people, but I can do and do very well being B.B. King.'' King launched his career as a professional musician on the streets of Memphis during the 1940s. He played gospel and blues on street corners for tips. Standing in-between blues and gospel, King took the path offering the promise of more financial rewards. At 66, King remains indefatigable. He does about 300 concert dates annually. Few artists who have attained the success that King has continue to drive themselves at such a grueling pace. The force pushing King to stay in front of the spotlight is simple. He wanted to be remembered. "If you're out there, people never forget you. That is one of the things I believe in today, never being forgotten. I would like to be remembered as a person that loved people and wanted to be loved by them''. King has wrought a unique style of blues often imitated, but never duplicated. Despite an unorthodox approach to the music, King has helped to shape the blues by bringing it into the mainstream. He hates when people label the blues as sad music. "Blues to me is many things,'' notes the King. "It has to do with people, places and things.

Einstein :: essays research papers

Albert Einstein, a famous scientist. Everyone knows that. But how much do you really know about him. Well, this article is to   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Albert Einstein was born on March 15, 1879, in the town of Ulm, in Southern Germany. That town was located at the foot of the Swabian Alps. His address was 135 Bahnhofstrasse but that house was later destroyed in a World War II bombing run. His parents were Hermann and Pauline Koch Einstein. Both of them were Jewish, but didn’t strongly practice the religion. Therefore, â€Å"Israelitic† was written on the Religion section of Einstein’s birth certificate. Two years after Einstein’s birth, Einstein’s sister, Maria, was born. Einstein could talk in whole sentences at the age of three. Einstein’s mom, Pauline Einstein, loved music so Einstein took Violin lessons from age six to thirteen. Einstein’s father wasn’t a successful businessman. He then started a plumbing/electrical engineering company with his brother in Munich, hoping that would be a success. Albert spent the next 14 years of his life there. Albert was supposed to go to a Jewish school, but his parents thought that he would get a better education at a Catholic School. He hated the school’s military tradition and atmosphere. Einstein wasn’t very intelligent during this time. At the age of twelve, he went to a gymnasium, Luitpold Gymnasium to be more exact, which is like a middle school and a high school combined. During then, he was starting to read books on science. He met a poor scholar who helped Einstein in his studies. The scholar’s name was Max Talmud. To boost Einstein’s knowledge, he gave Einstein several hard problems. One of them was to prove the Pythagorean theorem. (See Diagram 1.) In 1894, Einstein’s family moved to Milan, Italy, but Einstein had to stay in Munich to finish his studies. Before the end of the school year, which was six months after his parents left, he was told to leave the gymnasium because of his disrespect to his teachers. He then moved to Italy, which was a surprise to his parents because they weren’t expecting him in Italy. When he was 16 ½, he took a test to get into the Eidgenossische Technische Hochschule (ETH). You didn’t need a high school diploma to get into the ETH. Instead, you need to pass a very hard test. The ETH also played another important role in Einstein’s life: it admitted women. Einstein :: essays research papers Albert Einstein, a famous scientist. Everyone knows that. But how much do you really know about him. Well, this article is to   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Albert Einstein was born on March 15, 1879, in the town of Ulm, in Southern Germany. That town was located at the foot of the Swabian Alps. His address was 135 Bahnhofstrasse but that house was later destroyed in a World War II bombing run. His parents were Hermann and Pauline Koch Einstein. Both of them were Jewish, but didn’t strongly practice the religion. Therefore, â€Å"Israelitic† was written on the Religion section of Einstein’s birth certificate. Two years after Einstein’s birth, Einstein’s sister, Maria, was born. Einstein could talk in whole sentences at the age of three. Einstein’s mom, Pauline Einstein, loved music so Einstein took Violin lessons from age six to thirteen. Einstein’s father wasn’t a successful businessman. He then started a plumbing/electrical engineering company with his brother in Munich, hoping that would be a success. Albert spent the next 14 years of his life there. Albert was supposed to go to a Jewish school, but his parents thought that he would get a better education at a Catholic School. He hated the school’s military tradition and atmosphere. Einstein wasn’t very intelligent during this time. At the age of twelve, he went to a gymnasium, Luitpold Gymnasium to be more exact, which is like a middle school and a high school combined. During then, he was starting to read books on science. He met a poor scholar who helped Einstein in his studies. The scholar’s name was Max Talmud. To boost Einstein’s knowledge, he gave Einstein several hard problems. One of them was to prove the Pythagorean theorem. (See Diagram 1.) In 1894, Einstein’s family moved to Milan, Italy, but Einstein had to stay in Munich to finish his studies. Before the end of the school year, which was six months after his parents left, he was told to leave the gymnasium because of his disrespect to his teachers. He then moved to Italy, which was a surprise to his parents because they weren’t expecting him in Italy. When he was 16 ½, he took a test to get into the Eidgenossische Technische Hochschule (ETH). You didn’t need a high school diploma to get into the ETH. Instead, you need to pass a very hard test. The ETH also played another important role in Einstein’s life: it admitted women.

You’Re a Contract Painkiller

In You Are a Contract Painkiller (1997, p. 111), author Maureen Littlejohn makes extensive use of personification to describe the functioning of Aspirin in our body, its various properties to fight pain, and its evolution over the years. Littlejohn describes how Aspirin claimed celebrity status as one of the world’s most popular, inexpensive painkillers by relieving headaches, sprains, blows, burns, swelling and fever. Furthermore, she added that Aspirin could also be used to reduce the risk of stroke and heart attack.The author supports the main idea by describing how the aspirin when taken with a modest stream of water or ginger ale, passed to the stomach through the esophagus and undergoes a series of chain reactions to disable the enzyme that converts the acid in cell membranes into prostaglandins (responsible for the pain). In a similar fashion it also helps bring fever down. Moreover, the author gives a brief history about the evolution of the modern day Aspirin from alm ost a thousand years ago when Hippocrates first discovered the property of willow leaves to help relieve pain.The author concludes the essay by highlighting the useful properties of Aspirin and the various ailments it provides relief from. â€Å"You have achieved renown by destroying headaches but you are equally effective in countering sprains, burns, or blows. † (You Are a Contract Painkiller, 1997, p. 112). According to me, this sentence sets the tone for the entire essay. It describes the purpose of using Aspirin and the different ailments that it provides relief from. It basically highlights why and about what the essay is written.It furthermore, sets the stage to write details about the composition and mechanism of Aspirin and also the various ways by which it has meliorated our lives by relieving pain. It puts the entire essay in perspective. â€Å"In the 1800s, two Italian chemists confirmed that willow bark contains one of your main ingredients, the antipyretic (fev er-reducing) salicin. A Swiss pharmacist then found that meadowsweet, a shrub in the spirea family, has ever more of the magic substance than willow bark.In 1893, Felix Hoffmann at the Bayer AG Chemical Works in Germany purified and stabilized you, and that’s when your first claimed celebrity status as one of the world’s most popular, inexpensive pain relievers. † (You Are a Contract Painkiller, 1997, p. 111). The reason I chose this quote is because, it provides a lot of credibility to the essay, by describing how the Aspirin has evolved and also, it gives a perfect example why Aspirin has become so popular all over the world. By describing its formation and development, it gives an overview about what makes Aspirin what it is today.The main idea of this essay revolves around the painkiller called Aspirin. The purpose of this essay is to describe the remarkable properties of Aspirin, to help relieve from different types of pain, and how Aspirin has formed and th e mechanism by which it provides instant relief from the pain. This essay is written for a general audience, to educate them about the useful benefits of aspirin followed by providing detailed information about how an aspirin works to provide relief.This would help people to better understand the pros and cons of aspirin and erase any misconceptions. I really like the way how Littlejohn has written the essay. By using personification method, she has depicted the various aspects of Aspirin in an interesting way rather than just quoting some scientific facts about it. By this, it has really help understand the overall functioning and mechanism of an aspirin in an uncomplicated way.

M. Butterfly, a Play by David Henry Hwang

M. Butterfly, a Play by David Henry Hwang M. Butterfly is a play written by David Henry Hwang. The drama won the Tony Award for Best Play in 1988. The Setting The play is set in a prison in present-day France. (Note: The play was written in the late 1980s.) The audience travels back to 1960s and 1970s Beijing, via the memories and dreams of the main character. The Basic Plot Shamed and imprisoned, 65-year-old Rene Gallimard contemplates the events that led to a shocking and embarrassing international scandal. While working for the French embassy in China, Rene fell in love with a beautiful Chinese performer. For over twenty years, they carried on a sexual relationship, and over the decades, the performer stole secrets on behalf of the Chinese communist party. But heres the shocking part: the performer was a female impersonator, and Gallimard claimed that he never knew he had been living with a man all those years. How could the Frenchman maintain a sexual relationship for over two decades without learning the truth? Based on a True Story? In the playwright notes at the beginning of the published edition of M. Butterfly, it explains that the story was initially inspired by real events: a French diplomat named Bernard Bouriscot fell in love with an opera singer whom he believed for twenty years to be a woman (quoted in Hwang). Both men were convicted of espionage. In Hwangs afterward, he explains that the news article sparked an idea for a story, and from that point the playwright stopped doing research on the actual events, wanting to create his own answers to the questions many had about the diplomat and his lover. In addition to its non-fictional roots, the play is also a clever deconstruction of the Puccini opera, Madama Butterfly. Fast Track to Broadway Most shows make it to Broadway after a long period of development. M. Butterfly had the good fortune of having a true believer and benefactor from the beginning. Producer Stuart Ostrow funded the project early on; he admired the finished process so much that he launched a production in Washington D.C., followed by a Broadway premiere weeks later in March of 1988 - less than two years after Hwang first discovered the international story. When this play was on Broadway, many audiences were fortunate enough to witness the incredible performance of BD Wong starring as Song Liling, the seductive opera singer. Today, the political commentary may fascinate  more than the sexual idiosyncrasies of the characters. Themes of M. Butterfly Hwangs play says much about humanitys propensity for desire, self-deception, betrayal, and regret. According to the playwright, the drama also penetrates the common myths of eastern and western civilization, as well as the myths about gender identity. Myths About the East The character of Song knows that France and the rest of the Western world perceive Asian cultures as submissive, wanting - even hoping - to be dominated by a powerful foreign nation. Gallimard and his superiors grossly underestimate China and Vietnams ability to adapt, defend, and counterattack in the face of adversity. When Song is brought forth to explain his actions to a French judge, the opera singer implies that Gallimard deceived himself about his lovers true sex because Asia is not considered a masculine culture in comparison to Western Civilization. These false beliefs prove detrimental to both the protagonist and the nations he represents. Myths About the West Song is a reluctant member of Chinas communist revolutionaries, who see the westerners as domineering imperialists bent on the moral corruption of the East. However, if Monsieur Gallimard is emblematic of Western Civilization, his despotic tendencies are tempered with a desire to be accepted, even at the cost of supplication. Another myth of the west is that nations in Europe and North America thrive by generating conflict in other countries. Yet, throughout the play, the French characters (and their government) constantly wish to avoid conflict, even if it means they must deny reality in order to attain a facade of peace. Myths About Men and Women Breaking the fourth wall, Gallimard frequently reminds the audience that he has been loved by the perfect woman. Yet, the so-called perfect female turns out to be very male. Song is a clever actor who knows the exact qualities most men desire in an ideal woman. Here are some of the characteristics Song exhibits to ensnare Gallimard: Physical beautyShrewdness which gives way to submissivenessSelf-sacrificeA combination of modesty and sexinessThe ability to produce offspring (specifically a son) By the end of the play, Gallimard comes to terms with the truth. He realizes that Song is just a man and a cold, mentally abusive one at that. Once he identifies the difference between fantasy and reality, the protagonist chooses fantasy, entering into his own private little world where he becomes the tragic Madame Butterfly.

How to Answer Salary Questions in an Interview -TheJobNetwork

How to Answer Salary Questions in an Interview -TheJobNetwork There’s a bunch of things you’re not really supposed to talk about in interviews. Politics, religion, that weird growth you noticed on your arm this morning. Ideally, we could add salary to that list as well; more specifically salary questions. The job application process has a number of separate stages: applying, interviewing, job offer, then salary negotiation and acceptance. Most employers stick to this, and let the money talk wait until things are further along. But if they jump the gun and ask you up front for a) your current salary or b) desired salary, what do you do?DON’T bring up salary firstIt can be tempting to wrap up a great interview with, â€Å"So what would my salary be?† The interview is about selling yourself, and packaging yourself, so keep the emphasis on your awesomeness as a candidate. Putting a dollar figure on that awesomeness comes later, after they decide they want to hire you, so it’s best not to appear too eager. Also, it shifts the focus away from your skills and qualifications, and puts a price tag square on your forehead. And the interviewer just might not be the appropriate person to discuss salary in the first place. Many companies keep the financial negotiation part limited to HR, while your interview might be with someone who has little control over that aspect.DON’T feel obligated to talk numbers.If they ask you what you expect the salary to be for this position, it’s okay to defer by saying, â€Å"I’m sure the company offers a fair range, and I look forward to discussing that in the future.† Answering the question directly can be risky: go too high, and they may stop considering you. Go too low, and you may get low-balled on the salary after you get a job offer, if they know they can get away with a lesser amount.DO keep things vague.If the interviewer asks you what your current salary is, you can estimate a range, and bump it up slightly to include any benefits you might have. Don’t lie- if you tack on $10K to what you’re currently making, the true numbers will likely come up later, making you look look both foolish and shifty.DON’T bust out your W-2 from last year.Even if you’re asked about your current salary, it’s not really appropriate for anyone to ask you for specific documentation at that point.DO shift focus away from money as quickly as possible.Emphasize that while the salary is obviously an important part of any job, you’re more concerned about opportunity and growth. You can say that right now, you’re more interested in talking about how you’d fit in with this position.DO some research up front, and have a number in mind.Even though there shouldn’t be extensive talk about the salary at this point, you should already have a good idea of the range, whether it’s from the initial job description or some basic research about the job title or company. That way, if the subject does come up and you name a number because you feel put on the spot, you’re working with reasonable figures.In an interview, the focus should be on you, not on the financial bottom line. But if it does come up, being prepared to deflect it and move on like the smooth operator that you are will help you get through an awkward moment.