Goodness As A Simple And Indefinable Property Philosophy Essay

Goodness As A Simple And Indefinable Property Philosophy Essay Moores Principia Ehica was the first to claim that goodness is an indefinable non-natural property belonging to a simple intuition. For Moore a property is natural if, and only if, it is detectable by the senses1. Ever since Moore, the debate of what good is has become essential to moral philosophy and meta ethics. Moore, to understand the simple notion of good, puts forth an analogy of the simple notion of yellow. The notion of yellow can only be conceived by those who already understand it, the same applies to good. Moore is contrasting the indefinable understanding of goodness to the indefinable perception of a colors qualia. Qualia is defined as the subjective quality of conscious experience2. We can mention certain properties of yellow: its specific wavelength or frequency. But we cannot mention what the nature of the property of being yellow is. This is because colour is a simple property that cannot be analyzed. To experience colour, we must appeal to our experience. Complex notions, on the other hand, can be defined by their sub-parts and the relationships between those sub-parts. The property of being a horse is an example of a complex object that can be defined because it has many different qualities3. But it can only be defined until it has been reduced to its simplest terms beyond which those simple terms cannot be defined. Since simple terms cannot be reduced any further, they cannot be clarified to anyone who does not already understand them. Yellow and good are not complex, but are simple notions. Moore, in this sense, thinks good is indefinable. Good, as a concept does not correspond to the concepts of pleasure, desire or usefulness. Given that there are things that we call pleasurable as well as good, but we can call a thing pleasurable, desirable or useful and then ask, but is it good? The fact that we are able to ask such a question of a thing with particular qualities of pleasure, desire or usefulness is evidence, for Moore, that good cannot be identical to the concepts of pleasure, desire or usefulness. This is known as the open-ended question problem. Saying that something is pleasurable does not exclude the question, yes, but is it good? The Open Question Argument Moore backs his claim that good is simple and indefinable through the famous open question argument. He argues that good cannot be defined by considering the fact that whatever definition be offered, it may be always asked, with significance, of the complex so defined, whether it is itself good 4. What he means by this argument is that, if we, for instance, equate good with doing what is pleasurable (which seems reasonable) then, Moore points out, that it can still be asked is it good to do what is pleasurable? Therefore, it remains an open question (hence the name of the argument) whether something is good, irrespective of it being pleasurable. Moore accepts that the argument does not demonstrate that pleasure is not the only test for an actions goodness, all it demonstrates is that what is pleasurable cannot be known by simply inspecting the definition of good. What is good has to be known in another way. Moore also formulates the term naturalistic fallacy. Â  Naturalistic fallacy is defined as an intent to classify some things simply being the case to the case of it being good. If something is pleasurable then, this quality alone cannot tell us anything about its being good. The Naturalistic Fallacy According to Moore, if good is simple, indefinable, cannot be analyzed and what is good? remains and open question then an attempt to define the simple notion of good as any other naturalistic notion is to commit the naturalistic fallacy5. To clarify, Moore draws the yellow analogy. Yellow can be defined as a specific wave length but these waves are not yellow. To commit the naturalistic fallacy is a common mistake when attempting to define good. While it may be entirely possible that all things that are good can also be something else, just as yellow things have certain other properties, but to equate these properties to the definition of good is incorrect. Good as an intuition Moore claims that though good is indefinable, it is part of our everyday coherent language. This is because we identify good based on our intuition. MacIntyre objects to this view by saying, how, then, do we recognise the intrinsically good? The only answer Moore offers is that we just do 6. But this would make good a complex notion since for different people good would have different analyzable content. Furthermore, this would be contrary to Moores claim of good being a simple notion. Objections Philosophers such as Mackie, MacIntyre and Nagel do not essentially agree with the naturalistic fallacy or the validity of the open question argument. Mackie, presents an objection to Moore with his argument from queerness. He argues that there is no such thing as goodness and badness. Moreover, he claims, goodness and badness have no properties or qualities that can be reduced to simpler terms since they do not exist. Goodness and badness are meant to properties of objects but they are queerly different to other properties like weight, size or fabric. Mackie concludes that goodness and badness are prescriptive moral terms and intrinsic or inherent properties of things is simply not possible.7 Moore responds by arguing that good is a simple concept of ethics. And all other ethical concepts must be derived from it. Although good cannot be defined, what is good can be defined. Thus, while we do not know the definition of good we can identify which things are good. David Hume says it best, just because something is the case does not by that fact indicate to us that it ought to be the case. Â   Conclusion In my opinion, Moores claim of good being indefinable due to it being a simple and non natural property is an extreme argument to make. If Moore is right, then it would mean that there is no objective way of defining good and that the term is relative to the human species. This fact is hard to reconcile. There would be substantial implications for the way good is discussed at a practical and theoretical level of ethics. Many do not agree with Moores arguments, especially MacIntyre who says, more unwarranted and unwarrantable assertions are perhaps made in Principia Ethica than in any other single book of moral philosophy 8. But we have to accept that Moore has been responsible for raising many issue that have become central to meta ethics today. On the other hand, maybe good is so inherent and intrinsic to the human mind that we cannot completely define it. This would not be surprising as our language is not a rational or precise tool that can be used to comprehensively define one of the most important terms used in ethical discussions today.

British American Tobacco Implementation of SWOT Analysis

According to the economic theory (firm theory), a firm’s utmost objective is to maximize its profit. Hence during the initial stages of the enterprise growth, managers use financial metrics such as cash flows, revenue, and pre-tax profit to evaluate performance of their firm.However, these metrics only tell of past events and therefore can not be used for strategic management, with time the market conditions change. As a result, a firm will tend to invest more to develop capabilities and customer relationships on a long-term basis.Customer relationship is becoming critical for the firm and therefore as the firm embarks on the financial metrics; it must also add consumer satisfaction metrics for it to remain successful. Hence in this new environment over reliance on the financial metric is not enough in evaluating the path to be followed by companies to increase value through investing in employees, consumer, technology and innovation. In order to address the insufficiency of t hese metrics, business information consultants have put forward several strategic management tools and models.Some of these models and tools include the SWOT analysis, Balanced Scorecard (BSC) analysis etc. The BSC has four aspects namely, the customer perspective, internal business perspective, innovation and learning perspective and financial perspective.The SWOT analysis evaluates the weakness, strength, opportunities and threats involved in company's operations. Strengths and weaknesses are internal to the firm and evaluate the internal capability while Opportunities and threats are out-offing business control and refer to how the business is affected by the external environment.Strengths refer to areas where the business can excel in, for example business's competence and resource utilization. Weaknesses is what the company cannot do and managers should consider areas which need improvements, areas which the company do poorly and what should be avoided.Opportunities refer to th e market attractiveness and threats are the potential challenges which hinder business operation. British American Tobacco’s (BAT) goal is to build a long-term shareholder value through development of new brands and products.The company has used the SWOT analysis to implement strategic management and performance evaluation to achieve this goal. BAT is multinational company that manufactures tobacco products and it has many branches around the world.The implementation of business management tools is aimed at shifting management from quality performance to corporate performance. Strengths The company manufactures markets and sells cigarettes and other tobacco products. By the end of year 2007 the company had more than 300 brands and a work force of about 53,907 employees both in UK and internationally.Its revenue base for the period stood at $ 20,054 million. It offers adult consumers products of high quality and also assists them to make sure that they choose their product ove r those of competitors.Continued improvements in productivity have helped the company develop more brands hence increase earnings: for instance it has introduced smokeless cigarettes aimed at reducing smoke related diseases. To remain competitive in the market, the British American tobacco has embarked on cost reducing strategies and complexities in its supply chain.In 2004 the company made the commitment to reduce overheads cost and other indirect costs by $ 200 million annually by the end of 2007 through implementation of a single procurement processes within its area of operation.The company also offers from time to time training to its workers so as to make them adapt to the changing business environment. Threats The company's operations have been affected by the tobacco regulation policies across the world. One of them is the suggestion by the World Health Organization to have all products packaging be plain or unbranded.Removing colors and trademarks familiar to consumers is a critical challenge because consumers will not able to differentiate cigarettes from BAT and those of its competitors or the genuine products and fake ones.The company has strongly opposed the idea of plain packages claiming that there is no evidence that suggest that plain packs would have effect on smoking by children. In addition restriction of corporate trademarks by any government is a breach of intellectual property rights in international trade.The issues of counterfeit product harm the company's revenue and there have been cases of trade in illicit tobacco globally. In order to reduce the cases of cigarette smuggling, the company has supported various governments, world custom organizations and world trade organization in seeking ways to eliminate illicit tobacco trade. WeaknessesThe main internal challenge that has faced the company is the inability to produce less harmful products. However, for some years now the company has embarked in search for less harmful products.Hig h overhead costs have been another threat to the market competitiveness of the company's product. Before the implementation of single procurement system in 2003, the indirect costs had been too high which resulted to high cost of its tobacco products.Opportunities British American tobacco has more that 30 branches across the world and about 180 markets and has opening new factories in more countries. The demand for tobacco products has been rising as more and more youths have started smoking.The company has utilized this opportunity provided by the market through development of more products to satisfy the market demand. The company has decentralized its factories across the globe to increase it market share and position their product for the consumer who have decided to buy tobacco products.Bibliography BAT, consumer and trade, retrieved on 13 December 2008, from http://www. bat. com/group/sites/uk__3mnfen. nsf/vwPagesWebLive/DO6ZXMRV opendocument&SKN=1BAT, plain packaging, retriev ed on 13 December, 2008, from http://www. bat. com/group/sites/uk3mnfen. nsf/vwPagesWebLive/DO7J7DCZ?Opendocument&SKN=1 Capgemini, ‘5-year procurement target at British American Tobacco,' 2003, retrieved on 13 December 2008, from www. at. capgemini. com/m/at/cs/ss_British_American_Tobacco. pdf.Dickson Vicky, Balance Score Card as strategic management tool, 2005, retrieved on 13 December 2008 from http://www. betterlocalization. com/index. php? itemid=44.

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Biography of Samuel Alito, Supreme Court Justice

Samuel Anthony Alito Jr. (born on April 1, 1950) is a Supreme Court justice who has served on the court since January 31, 2006. He is known for being one of the most conservative justices in modern history. His nickname is Scalito because his political views and judgments are similar to that of the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Fast Facts: Samuel Alito Occupation: Justice of the Supreme Court of the United StatesBorn: April 1, 1950 in Trenton, New JerseyParents: Samuel Alito and Rose (Fradusco) AlitoEducation: Princeton University, AB, 1972; Yale University, JD, 1975Key Accomplishments:  National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) Special Achievement Award for Public ServiceSpouse: Martha-Ann (Bomgardner) Alito  Children: Philip and LauraOffbeat Fact: Alito is a  longtime fan of the Philadelphia Phillies. Early Life and Education Samuel Alito Jr. was born to Samuel Alito Sr. and Rose (Fradusco) Alito on April 1, 1950 in Trenton, New Jersey. His father was an Italian immigrant and his mother was  Italian-American. Both of them worked as schoolteachers. As a child, Samuel Alito Jr. grew up in the suburbs and attended a public school. He participated in a wide range of clubs and was the valedictorian of his senior class. After high school, he attended Princeton University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in history and political science. Alito then enrolled in Yale Law School and graduated with a Juris Doctor in 1975. Early Career Alito had dreams of sitting on the Supreme Court when he was still at Princeton, but it would be quite a few years before he achieved that goal. Between 1976 and 1977, Alito worked as a law clerk for Leonard I. Garth, a Nixon-appointed judge on the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. In 1977, Alito took a job as the Assistant US Attorney for the District of New Jersey, and in 1981, he began serving as the Assistant to the US Solicitor General. Alito held this job until 1985, when he became Deputy Assistant to the US Attorney General. In 1987, President Ronald Reagan appointed Alito as the US Attorney for the District of New Jersey. Alito continued to climb the ranks in the courts. In 1990, he was nominated to the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Newark, New Jersey by President George H.W. Bush. A few months after the nomination, the Senate unanimously confirmed Alito with a voice vote. He would serve as a judge on this court for 16 years. During that time, he had a record of issuing conservative opinions. For example, he was of the opinion that women should be required to notify their husbands about planned abortions and was the only dissenting voice in a 3rd Circuit ruling that struck down a Pennsylvania law, known as the Pennsylvania Abortion Control Act of 1982. Supreme Court Nomination Sandra Day OConnor, the first woman to serve on the US Supreme Court, retired in 2006. She was a conservative, Reagan-nominated Justice. Although she sided with the other conservative justices in most cases, she wasnt always predictable in her decisions and was commonly viewed as the swing vote. When OConnor announced her retirement, Republicans hoped for a more conservative replacement. President George W. Bush originally nominated John Roberts for the seat, but withdrew the nomination. Harriet Miers was President Bushs second nomination, but she withdrew when it became evident that there was widespread opposition to her nomination. President Bush nominated Samuel Alito for OConnors seat on October 31, 2005. The American Bar Associations Standing Committee on Federal Judiciary gave Alito a well-qualified rating, which is the highest rating that can be received. Many conservatives and pro-life advocates applauded the nomination, but not everyone supported Alito. Democrats expressed concern that he was a hard right conservative, and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) formally opposed the nomination. The Senate eventually confirmed Alitos nomination in a 58-42 vote. Alito was sworn in as an associate justice to the US Supreme Court on January 31, 2006. Legacy During his tenure as a Supreme Court justice, Alito has proven to be a reliable conservative vote. He has used his interpretation of the law and his political ideologies to shift the law to the right in several areas, including womens reproductive rights and religious liberty. Some of the biggest cases he has worked on during his Supreme Court tenure include Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, Morse v. Frederick, and Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, Inc. Each year, the Supreme Court takes on blockbuster cases related to some of the most divisive issues in the country. This means that Justice Samuel Alito has plenty of opportunities to add to his legacy and leave his ideological mark. Sources Gorod, Tom Donnelly Brianne. â€Å"None to the Right of Samuel Alito.†Ã‚  The Atlantic, 30 Jan. 2016, www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/01/none-to-the-right-of-samuel-alito/431946/.Houck, Aaron M., and Brian P. Smentkowski. â€Å"Samuel A. Alito, Jr.†Ã‚  Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica, 29 June 2018, www.britannica.com/biography/Samuel-A-Alito-Jr.â€Å"Samuel Alito Fast Facts.†Ã‚  CNN, Cable News Network, 28 Mar. 2018, www.cnn.com/2013/02/03/us/samuel-alito-fast-facts/index.html.