Philosophy Essays Platonic Epistemology Socratic

Philosophy Essays Platonic Epistemology Socratic Platonic epistemology seeks answers to key questions regarding the nature of reality, man, mind/soul, knowledge, being and becoming. The nature of this paper allows only the broadest brush strokes across the Platonic canvas. However following a brief introduction in which I will discuss the Socratic method and its influence on Platonic philosophy. Plato like his predecessor and mentor Socrates, aimed to identify the world around him using a more in depth methodology, from others that had been employed previously. The more Humanistic nature of Socratic enquiry was in marked contrast to the pre Socratic Naturalist approach. In The Republic Plato sets about an examination of specific concepts presented as a serious of dialogues or in a dialectic style. Through various metaphors and dialectic prose Plato delineates theories of reality (including the world of forms and being), the doctrine of Recollection, the roles of dialectic and aporia, and the tripartite structure theories of man and state. Benjamin Jowett in his edition of The Republic suggests the greater aim of Platos work is the â€Å"search after justice† embodying the fields of reality, man and knowledge discussed â€Å"On the basis of proverbial morality by Socrates and Polemarchus then caricatured by Thrasymachus reduced to an abstraction by Glaucon and Adeimantus† all based on the constructs of man and state as delineated by Socrates Influenced by his mentor Socrates and other Greek thinkers mentioned by Jowett. Platos work is still applicable today in a priori philosophies; Idealists concepts such as the tripartite nature of Man and State would have remarkable relevance in modern political theories including Utilitarianism and Communisms. Andrew Levine in his book Engaging Political Philosophy postulates: â€Å"Rousseaus investigation in The Social Contract was the realm of Platonic ideas or forms in contrast to the world of appearances, where de facto legitimate states exists† Any discussion on Platonic epistemology must inevitably weigh the influence of the Socratic school. Platos Socrates is the key to understanding the complexity of Platos thought. Socratic contrarianism and its methodology of aporia, a sort of constant intellectual [foundational] doubting, left Socrates free to claim that he was the wisest of men and was at the same time ‘wise in no way great or small. Platos later theories and epistemology would develop with Socrates almost rebellious dialectical style, questioning the accepted traditional beliefs of Greek intellectual society. (The historic Socrates stood trial and was sentenced to death for preaching his philosophy publicly; he refused to discontinue the practise) Platos adoption of Socratic contrarianism pervades much of his writings, especially in concepts as fundamentally abstract as his denial of knowledge through empirical observation; As witnessed in the Theaetetus when the Socratic midwife prepares to assist the young Theaetetus with his labours while delivering a reply to Socrates question â€Å"what is knowledge.† When questioned Theaetetus equates knowledge with perception, after intense dialectical questioning, during which Socrates successfully refutes arguments that perception is (biconditional) knowledge Theaetetus finally agrees, (with restrictions) that perception is not knowledge. So commences the search for an answer to the question Socrates asks, â€Å" what is knowledge?† Plato rejected all empirical claims to understand the true nature of knowledge â€Å" Knowledge is not constituted by sense impressions, but by the inferences we make about them, by that means being and truth are attainable, in the other way it is impossible† In the Theaetetus Plato demonstrates the concept of being as â€Å"fundamental and universal† Socrates points to the specialization of bodily sense organs. If we ask which organs enable us to formulate opinions or judgements that range across more than one field of sense-experience, we cannot identify such a grouping. â€Å"the things you perceive by means of another for example, that objects of hearing can not be objects of the seeing and vice versa?† The possession of mathematical knowledge or the ability to formulate judgements does not reside in some empirical â€Å" Sorting office†, Socrates states in the Meno, â€Å"Then knowledge is related to what is and knows what is and is as it is. The objects of mind are eternal; those of the senses always changing. Knowledge never changes; opinion, which is not tied down, is subject to change.† It now seems clear that what the mind knows is being, that which is eternal and unchanging, while the senses inform us concerning the â€Å"intermediate flux† The realm of being is comprised of ideas or forms and that of becoming by changing things. â€Å"Aporia and refutative cross examination serve to purify ambiguous formulation by excluding false and misleading interpretations and opening the path to true ones† reflects Rosemary Desjardins, in Logos in Platos Theatetus. Platos dialogues may indeed be aporetic but by subjecting both his interlocutors and readers to elenchus and meiutic method he hopes to lead from gross perceptibility to finer cognition. The relentless inquisitiveness of the Socratic method in conjunction with aporia lends to a degree of abstraction in the nature of Platos philosophy (referred to in Jowetts introduction to The Republic) evidenced by the allegory of the cave, the doctrine of recollection, the nature of reality, the concept of the divided line, and the theory of forms. The allegory of the cave allowed Plato to postulate several ideas archetypal of Platonic philosophy. The allegory of the cave describes the limit placed on mankind, by an over reliance on sensory perception, and the subsequent systems of knowledge that relied on empirical evidence alone to deduct truths. For Plato, the resultant effect of mans self-shackling (empirical observation) is described in Book VII of The Republic. Plato views mankind as: â€Å"living in a underground [den] which has its mouth open towards the light and reaching all along the den; here they have been from their childhood, and have their legs and neck chained so that they cannot move, and can only see before them, being prevented by the chains from turning round their heads† Plato does not give a finite explanation of enlightenments form nor does he give an example of reality, what he demonstrates in the allegory of the cave is a clear method or path, that man and society must pursue to achieve deeper knowledge of reality. Like the prisoners emergence from the cave, enlightenment at first will be difficult to understand, like the temporary blindness they suffer when first exposed to sunlight, its an arduous path that takes time, patience, temperance and practice, with the temptation for a return to former ignorance always present. Ignorance when lifted will deliver us into the Real world of philosophy with man finally comprehending his own place on the path to true knowledge. Plato delineates this movement with mathematics through the image of a straight line. He divides this imaginary line into two unequal segments, the large segment represents the intelligible world, and the smaller the visible world. He further divides these segments in the same ratio as his first division. The division in the larger segment represents the world of higher and lower forms (ideas). The division in the visible world represent visible objects and the lowest segment represents their shadows and reflections (imagination). For Plato the line represents the levels of cognition available to man and society. Socrates avowed mission was to educate the Athenian populace up until the last days of his life. He likened his mission to that of a gadfly, ‘stinging the lethargic Athenian horse into wakefulness through the application of philosophical dialectic (Socratic method) Plato believed if entered into in good faith, this method would ensure a cognitive assent along the divided line. He believed until individuals and society, collectively questioned the political, ethical, and moral status quo, conciousness would remain in bondage much like the prisoners restricted mechanical life in the cave. Answering his critics regarding the phenomenon of knowledge Plato states that the soul is immortal â€Å" the soul, since it is immortal, and has been born many times, and seen all things both here and in the other world, has learned every thing that is† Plato offers proof of the souls immortality, in the Phaedrus he postulates that its the nature of the soul to initiate its own changes, in effect to be self moving, rather than moved by an outside agency. Therefore the soul cannot be destroyed nor can it come into being. ‘It was not, nor will be, but always is, one whole continuum. (Parmenides.) To contemporary ears the Platonic soul bears great similarities to the Christian Soul unlike his Doctrine of Recollection or anamnesis; Platos Socrates denies his own wisdom; in the Apology he states, â€Å" human wisdom is worth little or nothing† he merely asserts that he is a â€Å" midwife† assisting in the â€Å"rebirth† of knowledge lying dormant in the mind Opinions proven wrong in the course Socratic investigation, does not demonstrate lack of knowledge, but rather, the clouding of mind on account of sensory perception. Platos Socrates asserts that dialectical investigation (with its constant questioning) would lead the inquiring mind towards clues, allowing it a recollection of what was already known through the many cycles of rebirth. Although considered a Platonic absolute the Doctrine of Recollection cannot be contested or proved. Platonic abstraction, denies legitimate validity to Empirical investigation. The a priori solution given by the slave boy in the Meno to the mathematical question posed by Socrates, hardly resolves this problem. Tying into the Doctrine of Recollection and the minds compromised judgement on account of sensory perception, Platos Theory of forms plays a greater role in the Allegory of the cave, where the impressions cast on the caves wall are believed to be real. For Plato the shadows on the wall were a reflection of empirical reality, which in turn was a reflection of a Reality whos dwelling lay in the realm of Forms (ideas). Platos theory of Forms is base on the notion that all things in the world share in common with a greater abstract (ideas) that in turn embodies all things in the empirical world. For example a small red chair, sharing certain physical characteristics in common with a large white chair, is not a real chair, but the perception of the abstract â€Å"chair† in which the white chair and all other chairs mimic. Plato translated his notion of the intangible into the Tripartite nature of man; man Plato contended, was comprised of physical material (the body), and the abstract immaterial (soul and mind). While co-dependant, the two parts ¾ matter and form ¾, function separately of each other.

Redbull Marketing Communications Essay

Redbull Marketing Communications Digital Campaigns Clarisonic launched a campaign in October 2010, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, in which the company promised to donate 1$ for every new like they received on their facebook fan page. Clarisonic used Facebook advertising, email blasts, twitter, youtube and even their own blog â€Å"Sonic Chatter† to spread the word about their new ‘like’ campaign. Clarisonic objectives included adding a thriving social media section to Clarisonic’s traditional cause marketing for nonprofit. Furthermore, Clarisonic wanted to increase awareness of their brand and products, as well as increase awareness of their Facebook page. Another objective, which was the most direct objective, was to raise money for â€Å"Look Good†¦Feel Better. † Attaching their name to this cause also allowed them to increase sales for their specialized products like Pink Clarisonic, which also benefits the â€Å"Look Good†¦Feel Better† charity. Clarisonic also aimed at marketing beyond their typical target audience of women in their late 20s-50s. Some limitations that were faced was that it was only a two month project and although it attracted a lot of views, interactions, and new Facebook fans, they would have to constantly engage the new fans that were outside their target market, who may not be interested in their actual products being sold. Partnering with â€Å"Look Good†¦Feel Better† was a perfect fit for this campaign because both companies focused on transmitting a message of empowerment. Redbull: On October 14, 2012 the world witnessed a breathtaking experiment; Red Bull Stratos. It took viewers to the edge of space and it was all organized by a private organization, Red Bull. The Red Bull Stratos mission was a record breaking event, one which saw Felix Baumgartner free fall from more than 23 miles above the earth, breaking a free falling world record while becoming the biggest digital live event on record. It reignited a yearning for the extreme, and created a distinct association with what was Extreme and Redbull. The objectives of Redbull marketers was to reach a lot of people, to excite them, give them something to talk about and look forward to and then to directly relate this â€Å"coolness† to drinking their product. They wanted to break world records, not only in the actual freefalling aspect but the hype around the event. This hype could then be translated hopefully in an increase of brand awareness and in turn, an in crease in sales for Redbull. Clarisonic: Clarisonic targeted current consumers of their product by advertising about the campaign on their blog, which users of their product read, as well as non users by making the campaign goal not just relevant for women or those that are in their 20s, 30s. The campaign therefore targeted a much broader audience, those that frequent charity events and support a good cause, not simply women in the beauty care sector. By making their campaign about much more than a physical beauty care product but something that benefits the greater cause, they were able to target men and women of all ages who support cancer organizations and link this support of a good cause with their brand. Redbull: The audience that was targeted in the Redbull campaign was extreme sport enthusiasts as well as the entire world that would also be excited to watch a world record breaking event. The target audience was broad and expanded past extreme sport enthusiasts which most of Redbulls marketing targets. Clarisonic: Clarisonic campaign was extremely ethical as it raises awareness of a certain cancer fund, donates money to the fund, and through these actions is able to also increase awareness of their brand and better their image. Had most of this money not gone to a cancer organization, and just gone to supporting the brand, perhaps it would be less ethical. Redbull: One could argue that the risk involved in this campaign was too much to be considered an ethical campaign for Redbull. Yes, it attracted a lot of new consumers and created record-breaking brand awareness but it was at the risk of being at the cost of a human life, which is unethical. Clarisonic: They were extremely successful in one of their main objectives, which was to raise money for the Look Good†¦Feel Better cancer organization seeing as they raised $1 million dollars and increased awareness of this great organization. â€Å"Likes† as well as interaction on their Facebook page continued to grow even after the two month campaign and n 2010 alone, their selling of their â€Å"Hope† Mia skincare brush more than doubled compared the previous year. Clearly no one can know for sure if it was directly because of the â€Å"like† campaign but it is safe to say that the increased awareness did contribute to an increase in sales of Clarisonic products. The like campaigne increased Clarisonics fan page by 80 percent. Redbull: Without a doubt Redbull achieved its objectives of showi ng the world something that has never done before and reemphasizing their brand motto â€Å" Redbull gives you wings. This event had a huge brand impact on Redbull. Not only did this campaign beat records and was unprecedented scientifically, it was also beating records in a brand marketing perspective. 1,000,000 distinct user accounts were involved in the conversation regarding RedBull Stratos with a suggested audience of this content being up to 90,000,000. 2,000,000 new accounts were subscribed for Red Bull updates within a span of 15 days surrounding the event, these updates included all brand presences in the digital world. These represent engaged consumers that could possibly one day turn into paying consumers of RedBull. Most campaigns, much like Clarisonic are dominated mostly by likes or â€Å"neutral commentary† yet Red Bull Stratos had unmatched positivity and meaningful interaction from people around the world; more specifically 820,000 pieces of extremely positive content was created in regards to Redbull Stratos. 50,000 distinct links were shared about Red Bull Stratos. More than 8 million concurrent live streams of the Redbull Stratus jump on YouTube was had which was the largest in Youtube’s history. This kind of huge reach transcends RedBull Stratos and reaches Red Bull branding in almost ever single comment or interaction, which till this campaign and to this extent was unheard of. According to Vocus, sales of Redbull increased by 55% in the first few months following the campaign so already here we can see that not only did this boost brand awareness and image, it had a direct impact on offline consumer behavior. Clarisonic was always tied to cancer awareness funds in the past, their product line, Pink Clarisonic previously donated some proceeds to the Feel good, look better fund so this new â€Å"like† campaign wasn’t a trigger of some outside market force, it was more an expansion of what was already underway internally in their brand image and concept of empowerment. Furthermore Breast Cancer awareness month was also somewhat of a trigger to tie their brand with this month awareness. Clarisonic competitors are low priced beauty products such as Olay Pro X which did not stray from their traditional marketing ways despite the success of Clarisonics like campaign. Personally, I would make this marketing communication campaign longer than two months, allowing the attention that Clarisonic was receiving to be exploited further. I would also allow fans that mentioned Clarisonic on twitter to receive small samples of new products Clarisonic has, thereby engaging target consumers with the actual product at hand. Timing of this campaign was definetly in Clarisonics Favor. Breast cancer awareness month is a time where many want to donate themselves to the cause and this like campaign allowed them to do so effortlessly and without their own money, simply their participation in a brand they may not have been aware of. Connecting themselves with Breast Cancer Awareness month also lends greatly to a better image for Clarisonic. Twitter did not participate greatly in this campaign other than to advertise for the campaign on facebook. Salespeople were not utilized in this champagne either which also could have further helped promote their products as well as their like digital campaign. Redbull: Redbull was always tagged with an idea of extreme sports, they sponsored athletes, had their own extreme sport web episodes, and could be found at most sporting events. Therefore, the fact that this was the company that decided to do something so extreme and create so much digital hype around this event was definetly no surprise considering past records of RedBull. It was not triggered by stunts pulled by their competitors. The Redbull Stratos was able to reach millions more than their usual marketing antics. I would not recommend a thing to the Redbull Stratos campaign, I think everything they did digitally to boost this campaign was genius. The message was simple; Redbull gives you wings and with a record-breaking free fall, they proved this. Millions will always associate the feeling of â€Å"cool† and â€Å"extreme† with drinking RedBull, and that in my opinion, can only be done by indirect selling of their drinks. No commercial or online campaign could create such brand association by simply telling consumers how cool their drink is.

Cooking: Water and Chicken Essay

Cooking has been my specialty since I was a child. This is one of my strongest talents. I can cook a variety of recipes from my local Ethiopian cuisines to the modern American recipes. Some of the foods I can boast off are â€Å"injera†, a local food of Ethiopians and spicy chicken sandwich but today I want to prepare chicken breast ready to be fried or baked. This is called simmering. Simmering is cooking the chicken with chicken broth or water. This makes the chicken tender and soft, ready to be fried. Firstly, rinse each chicken breast. If the breasts are frozen, allow them to fully defrost before boiling. The chicken breast can also be defrosted in the microwave, in the refrigerator, or by soaking it in a bowl of cold water. After defrosting the chicken is soaked in salt water it take the slimly taste out of it. Most Africans do this before cooking any poultry and dairy products After defrosting; fill a pot with water or chicken broth. The broth will be a better choice since it has a lot of flavoring. Place the chicken breasts in the pot, making sure that each piece is fully submerged under water or broth. Add more water or broth if necessary. Do not add more water or broth if not needed or this tends to make the chicken softer and even watery in extreme cases. If you want this to cook faster, cut the breasts into halves or in quarters. This is also a good way to ensure that the inside of the breast thoroughly cooks. Thirdly, place the pot on the stove. Bring water or broth with chicken to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer. The temperature must be right; this it must be too hot or lower. Cover the pot and allow the chicken to cook until the insides are no longer pink. Cook time will vary depending on the size and type of breast. Chicken breast can be skinless or boneless, either way; they should be cook for about thirty minutes. After thirty minutes, remove pot from the source of heat carefully to avoid getting burn. Drain liquid from the pot, and transfer breasts to a plate. Chicken should be white in color and be easily pulled apart with hands or a fork. At this point they are ready to be fried; baked or even eaten. Chicken that is boiled in only water can be very bland tasting. Adding vegetables and/or broth to the pot, and season your chicken with various cooking sauces and spices will give it some nice, warm taste. This is the most perfect time for to fry the chicken. Deep frying is my preferred choice but other methods include pan-frying or even baking. Either ways the chicken is well-prepared and ready to be eaten. The fryer should be a deep fryer so the chicken can be completely submerged in the fryer. Flour is used to coat the skin of the chicken; this gives the chicken its crispy coating and a fine layer of skin. Vegetable oil or olive oil is the best choice for frying. After the fryer is heated to the right temperature, the chicken is gently lowered into the pot to prevent the oil splashing around and causing burns. It takes of 30 minutes and above to get the chicken fully and wholly fried; during this time a watchful eye must be kept on it so it doesn’t burn. After this, they are ready to be served. They can be eaten with almost anything from stir-fries, fajitas to salads.

What is Interaction Design - 1861 Words

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It also demonstrates how digital techniques or automated/computerised procedures are repeatedly and frequently employed in the design execution of a professional. Interaction design was initially introduced few decades ago with the first appearance of digital interactive systems. As previously introduced, computerised platforms created for museums (adopted for example to plan and select a possible route to follow for a visitor, rather than displaying a certain range of informations in orderShow MoreRelatedWhat Is Interaction Design2260 Words   |  10 PagesInteraction Design Christophe De Pelsemaker 3BA - Grafische Vormgeving Sint-Lukas Brussel 2011-2012 Content What is interaction design? Designers My principles of (interaction) design Sources Tamer Nakisci Namahn p. 3 p. 3 p. 3 p. 4 p. 4 p. 6 What is interaction design? Interaction design is the structure and behavior of interactive systems. 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