The words context Essay Example for Free

The words context Essay When addressing this question its important that I explain what I understand by the words context and truth. My view of the word context is something (such as time or setting) that surrounds a particular event and that can alter its meaning. Truth is what happened in reality. There are two types of truth.  The first one is my truth: its what I believe its true. For example I might say that if we laugh a lot throughout the day well sleep better. That is my truth only, since someone else might not believe that. Whether or not the rest of the people believe this, the truth will always be mine. In this case I think that context does not influence what I believe in; therefore in this case context doesnt affect truth. The second type of truth is universal truth. This is the truth that everyone in the world believes in. In my opinion there are few if none universal truths since not everyone agrees on something and these truths all depend on the context. For example consider this statement. 10 out of 10 people die. According to scientists that statement is true to them. Its thought to be a universal truth. However in the world there will be someone who believes that we dont die. Maybe even in some region on Earth various people believe that we never die. We also have to take into account the period that the statement was written in. Maybe in the next centuries with advances in medicine, people will live forever therefore if this statement was written in that time it would be completely false! As we can see time is a very important aspect when stating if something is true. The most famous examples of this is the fact that people in the 15th century believed that the world was flat, it was the truth, due to the fact that the sea was flat and after a certain distance boats would suddenly disappear, and they also believed that the sun orbited around the Earth. Galileo and Copernicus with more information later proved that the Earth orbited around the sun but still some people disagree with both these scientists. Here we can see how peoples perception of truth about something changes with new information. Well theres something which is always or should always be true. That is the law. Consider this: if the law says: If you murder someone youll be sentenced to death the truth is If you murder someone youll be sentenced to death and most people will argue for this law. What if you kill someone in self-defense? Youre still murdering someone. In this case you will not be sentenced to death since the context has changed the truth of what happened. As we can see theres no real truth not even in the laws of a country. What about in History? In History theres no real truth since in my opinion in this subject context is all. But if theres no truth then there shouldnt be History, there should only be various myths and stories told by the conquerors of the various nations and continents. How many times have we listened to the same story but told by various different people? Then how do we know which one is telling the truth? People have different perceptions of things therefore each one of them has their own truth. A single truth for everyone doesnt exist. Consider this for example: Im at school and Im playing around with some friends and I punch one of them. At that instance a teacher sees me punching him. The truth according to her is that I was fighting and I punched him. The truth according to me is that I was playing with him and accidentally punched him. We have to look at the context behind what happened to establish a truth. As well as in History, in Literature context is also very important to establish what happened. When analyzing a literature work its important to focus on things such as where its set and in what period its set in order to understand why some of those things happened. If were reading a book that focus on racism in the south USA we have to take into account that its set in 1950 where racism was a big issue in the USA. Of course that most things that happen during the story wont be true to nowadays and we also have to take into account that probably those racist events wouldnt have happened in a country like Portugal. On the other hand if we move from literature to numbers, logically 2 plus 2 will always equal 4 and 2 times 2 will always equal 4 as well, in any part of the world at any period during time no matter what the context is. Not reallyIt depends on what youre talking about, the context. Consider this for example: (In Physics 20C=293K and 40C =313K). If today I have 20 (apples) and tomorrow I have 40 (apples) then tomorrow Ill have twice as many (apples). If the temperature yesterday was 20 (C) and the temperature today is 40 (C) the temperature is not twice as more since 313K is not twice 293K. As we can see its important to look at the context and see what were talking about! After thoroughly thinking about this issue Ive reached some very interesting conclusions. In general context is all theres no doubt about that, which means theres no truth, which in turn means that History shouldnt exist and it also means that 20 x 2 does not equal 40. However that doesnt apply to my personal truth of some things in life since I believe that my truth is not always affected by the context.

The Purpose Of Transformational Leadership

The Purpose Of Transformational Leadership What is leadership? In the world today, people are getting neglect of the word leadership and abuse the power of the leadership. Few examples of abuse power such as screaming at staff, threatening the staff, setting excessive expectation and demands from staff. When leaders are not using their power correctly, it might lead to a way of bullying. Leadership is a motivating process whereby he or she influences a group to achieve a common goal (Williams McWilliams 2010). Good leaders help the team and direct them to the right way, when the team members feel motivated by their leaders, eventually they will try their best and contribute themselves in their own team. There are many types of leadership, the aim of this essay is to determine the difference between transformational leadership and transactioanl leadership. Transformational leadership define as an approach where it brings changes in a group or team. It is carried out by motivating members of the group to achieve beyond what they could otherwise do. The purpose of transformational leadership is to change and improve a team and transform into a better team to perform better in their work. Besides managing daily work, a transformational leader also work their strategies out for their team to a better performance and success. Transformational leadership is positively related to performance (Jens Rowold, Anette Rohmann, 2009) Transformational leaders also set their targets to push their work team to a greater performance stages and in the time giving chances for personal and professional improvement for all members. A transactional leader motivates subordinates by exchanging rewards for services rendered ( Ming Alan 1990 ). In the other hand, transactional leadership is define as an approach where it requires an exchange process between the leader and followers. Rewards will be awarded to all members who excel in their performance and punishments will given to poor performers. A transactional leader uses disciplinary power and an appropriate amount of rewards to boost team members performance for the best result. Transactional point out that leaders motivate their followers by replacing their results with rewards. Transactional leaders usually only care and make sure everything goes successfully. Transactional leadership is positively related to performance (Jens Rowold, Anette Rohmann, 2009) Transformational leadership and transactional leadership are very important for leading a team to success. Transformational leadership are the point to strategic development of a business and helps to reach to success via the team-building skills and the vision of the leader. Transactional leader gives different benefit depends on their capability. Transactional leader deal with all the informations that collected together to set up a strong and powerful fame in a marketplace and yet maintaining the working team productivity at the best status.Burns (1978) argues that transactional leadership entails an exchange between leader and follower (Deanne et al. 1997). Followers receive certain valued outcomes (e.g. wages, prestige) when they act according to their leaders wishes (Deanne et al. 1997). The differences between transformational leadership and transactional leadership is transformational leadership offer beyond exchanges, rewards and punishment. It is said to have a closer supervisory relationship. For transactional leadership, it has a distant relationship and leaders are alert of the link between performance and reward. Other than that, transformational leadership creates a vision and may motivate followers to strive beyond what they could do, where it brings innovation whereas transactional leadership is more of a straight-forward approach by practicing standards. Moreover, transformational leadership is more active and forms new expectation in employees and transactional leadership is more responsive and the main point is dealing current problems. Furthermore, transformational leader not only stimulates employees to understand and settle the issues, it also creates a learning opportunities and motivate their employees to work smart for targets that go beyond self interest. Transactional leader encourages employees by setting aims and promising bonus for required performance. Tan Sri Anthony Francis Fernandes which also known as Tony Fernandes, is a perfect example of a transformational business leader in Malaysia. Tony Fernandes shown his transformational leadership qualities as a founder of Tune Air SDN BHD. Air Asia became successful and the best airline in asia after Tony Fernandes managing and handling it. This shows that Tony Fernandes is a great leader. The reason why Tony Fernandes is a great transformational leader because during work, he was totally commited to his followers and his business and approachable to the media. Besides that, he wore his companys official cap and T-shirt to most of the official function. He also gave his contact number to the media that he talked to and he did participated himself in an advertisement for his company. By this way he can tighten the relationship between his employees and himself. To be a good leader, brave to take a risk is not enough. Tony Fernandes also made a big changes in AirAsia. He gathered a lot of new and innovative ideas, example of travel insurance, medical care, online booking and etc. He also changed the original concept of the company and replaced with low-cost and no-frills strategy. Directly, this will lower the value of chain. Several indicators has shown that the productivity of the company was excellent compared to the other low-cost market segment company. Tony Fernandes not only fight for his company, his own benefit and his profit, he also fight for environmental friendly as well. Because of him, AirAsia was fighting against paper waste and carbon emissions. In addition, Tony Fernandes succeeded in persuading his employees to unite on his project. He invested on the new aircraft and new type of fuel-efficient Airbus 320 to pull down the cost of maintenance and fuel. Because of that, the cost of marketing was also decreased and his effectiveness of the allocating channel which led him became a good leader towards his followers. He even convince his suppliers to purchase aircraft at a lower price compare with other companies. His performance led rapidly to major profit and this made his employees in the company faithful and loyal to him. From here, this shows that he was totally gained respectful and appreciated by his followers. In overall, transformational leadership nurture the importance of team work, mutual admiration and thinking. Leader should be more intructive, directive and authoritatibe. Type of leadership being used in an organisation does not really matter, what important is how one uses its leadership to achieve its goals and how one proves their productivity, efficiency and credibility.

Theory Of Conversational Implicature To Recognize Meaning English Language Essay

Theory Of Conversational Implicature To Recognize Meaning English Language Essay Introduction To understand an utterance is to go beyond the literal meaning interpretation. It is also to go beyond proposition analysis. This implies the existence of unity of what is said and what is implicated. The theory of conversational implicature by Grice is a theory that provides an account of the possibility to give a meaning that extend beyond the literal expressions that are uttered by the conventional sense. Through this theory, it will be available to catch the attention of the speaker and catch the figure of speech within the literary work. It will be also possible to improve the communicative skill. Grice has distinguished between the sentence meaning and the speakers meaning. He looked into the differences between the literal meaning that is contextually dependent and the conversational implicature that is contextually determined. For instance, the statement of this expression He is a fine friend, may convey that fact that the speaker is communicating ironically as the speaker intends that He is not a good friend. To find out such details, it is something dependent on the particular context in which this statement is uttered. Therefore, in order to understand a message is to understand the meanings of the words that are uttered in the message and the grammatical relations between such meanings. This notion usually needs a particular degree of implicitness in the communication. This is what Grice has offered through the introduction of his principle that is called the Co-operative Principle (CP). Through this principle, it is to be aware of the entire communicative intentions as well as the conversational implicature. This is the mechanism to recognize meaning. The conversational implicature theory and its implications will be explored in the following line with reference to its capability in distinguishing meaning. Grices Theory of Conversational Implicature Grice (1975;42) has made a distinction between the meaning of the words, what the speaker literally reports when coming up with them, and what the speaker intends to mean by conveying such words. This is the notion that usually goes beyond what is said. For instance, when someone is asked to lunch and he replies that he has a one oclock class that he is not prepared for; by this, he has conveyed that he will not be coming to lunch, although hasnt literally said so. He wants the second party to understand that by giving a reason for not accepting to have lunch (the need to prepare the class) he intends to inform that he is not coming to lunch due to that reason. The study of such conversational implicatures is the main focus of Grices theory. To start with, the Grices theory of conversation provides a clear distinction between what someone says and what he implicates by conveying this utterance. The utterance that someone conveys is elaborated by the sentence conventional meaning as well as the processes of disambiguation of context and fixing the reference. The implication is connected with the presence of some rational principles and maxims regulating the conversation and this is what known as the conventional implicatures that will be explored in the later lines. The literal content of the utterance has been broadly identified as the direct interpretation of the utterance without reference to any other contextual implications. The implicature or what the speakers intends to convey or what is implied in the speakers utterance stands on different bases from what the speaker intentionally communicates. The Co-Operative Principle (CP) Grice suggests that speakers and hearers share a co-operative principle within the conversation. He proposed four maxims or four guidelines that control the efficient co-operative use of language. His co-operative principle states that it is to make a contribution as per the required levels in terms of the stage at which it occurs, the purpose of the talk, and the direction of talk exchange in which the speaker or hearer is engaged (Grice, 1975; 43). The four maxims As Grice conveyed, there are four maxims that guide the implementation of the co-operative principle in the plans of speakers and comprehension of listeners. These four maxims are as follows: Quantity This maxim implies that the speaker should avoid the inclusion of unnecessary information in what he contributes. Should the speaker go back and forth without providing anything new or informative; this is to make the listener lose interest in the discourse. The contribution is to be as informative as is required (for the present goals of the exchange). The contribution is not to be more informative than required. Quality This maxim implies that the speakers should provide all the information that the hearer is in need to understand. Should the speaker come over a significant piece of information, it will be difficult for the addressee to get what the speaker is attempting to convey. Relation The principle of relevance is so important in Linguistics. By, relevance, Grice means that, within the conversation, the speaker should involve the information that is relevant to the conversation subject. The principle of relevance is a matter of degree as there is a divergence between people as what is relevant and what is not relevant. It is not something absolute. As per the circumstances of separate situations, the particular application of the principle varies to great extents. Manner Politeness is a more moral principle than its grammatical significance in Linguistics. This maxim involves some sub-points; Avoiding obscure expressions. Avoiding ambiguous elements. Avoiding prolixity. To have the characteristic of delivering ordered utterances. To convey what is said in the manner that is most appropriate for any response that would be viewed as appropriate (Grice, 1975; 44). The request for politeness implies that the speaker should treat the hearer in the manner that he would like to be treated According to Grice, the principles that control the conversation are derived from the controls that regulate the cooperative actions of humans. Extensive discussions have been introduced regarding the co-operative principle and the maxims. The questions that can be raised here are that whether there is a need for more or not. It is to be argued that whether these principles are normative or descriptive. Also, it is to be argued whether these principles are assumed to be observed by the speakers or hearers in rational communications or that they are tools for rational construction. A later argument that can be raised is that whether the co-operative principle needs from the part of speakers or hearers cooperation towards a more common goal and not to be restricted to understanding of what is said. It is clear that Grice gives to these principles a vital role in both of the definition and the interpretation of conversational implicatures. According to Grice, coherence and purposefulness are two major characteristics of verbal exchanges. Verbal exchanges are not a continuum of disconnected remarks (Grice, 1975; 45). The participants who are engaged in the talk-exchange cooperate in terms of the goal and purpose of the exchange and their mutual grasp of the maxims or rules of conversation that bring out what is appropriate or inappropriate to the talk-exchange. Speakers may intentionally break the rules or maxims. For example, speakers may say things, in a talk-exchange, which they dont believe (violating the maxim of quality) or may render a weak judgment of what the hearer knows (violating the maxim of quantity). The crucial factor in distinguishing between conversational implicatures and conventional implicatures, according to Grice, is that conversational implicatures are calculable. Conventional implicatures are given by the meaning of particular particles such as but or therefore. The difference between (1) and (2) can be seen: He is an American, therefore he is open-minded. He is an American, and he is open-minded. His being open-minded comes from his being American. In (1) and (2), the speaker conveys the same meaning in accordance with Grice. But, there is a difference that with (1), the speaker implicates (3). This is what is called conventional implicature. This has to do with the conventional meaning and has nothing to do with the maxims of cooperation that extend beyond what is being said. Conventional implicature is the greatest part that has undergone argumentation in the theory of conversation. This can be attributed for many reasons. One reason is that its application to particular examples goes against common intuitions. Also, the notion of conventional implicatures sheds light on the distinction between what is informed, directed by the semantic conventions of the language, and what is implicated, usually conceived as a subject of inference to the speakers intentions through his sayings. The conventional meaning of a sentence has largely to do with what is said and this is essentially different from implicatures. Eventually, it positions the study of conventional meaning for certain utterances inside the boundaries of pragmatics that is interested in the study of implicatures, rather than semantics that is realized as the dwelling of conventional meaning. In addition to the notion of conversational implicatures, Grice distinguished between what are called particularized and generalized implicatures. The particularized are implicatures that are produced by saying something with reference to some specific features of the context. The generalized implicature takes place where the use of specific forms of words in an utterance will carry a sort of implicature (Bach, 1994; 162). The example that was provided by Grice; Y is meeting a woman this morning. In the absence of special conditions, it will be implicated that this woman is a woman other than Ys wife, mother, sister, or friend. In appropriate circumstances, this implicatures can be ignored due to the availability of some contextual information. On the other hand, particularized conversational implicatures export more than one application. Such applications include tautologies, metaphor, irony, and any non-conventional uses that can be accounted for through them. The theory of implicature is counted to be significant. It is a very important theory in pragmatics. Sentence meaning and speakers meaning Grice believes that speakers meaning is a fundamental concept in communication, and that the meaning of the sentence can be explained by means of it. This notion contrasts with what can be called the truth-conditional theory whose proponents believe that the meaning of a sentence can be given through truth conditions and this should have the priority in explaining the meaning conveyed by the speaker. Grice (1975) was much concerned with the types of meaning that can be existed in language. Two types of meaning have been identified; the natural meaning and the nonnatural meaning. This example is adopted from Grice (1975; 337) The three rings of the bell mean that the bus is occupied The three rings of the bell mean that the bus is occupied, and indeed, the bus is occupied. The three rings of the bell mean that the bus is occupied, but indeed, the conductor was wrong and the bus is not occupied. In the above three examples, there is a nonnatural relationship between the three arguments of rings, bell, and bus. The relationship between the signal and intended meaning is what conveys the meaning. No natural reason can be found for such assumption. Why in particular the three rings, not one or two, denote that the bus is full. This notion is termed by Grice as (meaning NN). Grice contends that the non-natural meaning occupies a great part in the language. Communicative intentions According to Grice, word-meaning and sentence-meaning are basically rested upon what is called speakers intentions. This notion is called by Grice as the communicative intentions. Grice has worked much upon the idea of the ontology of semantic notions. In his perception, the characteristics of communicative intentions and the mental forces beyond the communicative actions, and what the listener has to understand in order for the communicative act to success are the pillars of the semantic ontology. As realized, the communicative intentions have the following characteristics; Communicative intentions are directed towards some other agent; i.e. to the addressee. Communicative intentions are overt. They are targeted to be identified by the addressee. Satisfaction of communicative intentions lies mainly in being identified by the addressee. The important conclusion that can be derived from the above facts is that the communicative intentions have much to do with being recognized by the addressee. Meaning recognition Much of Grices work (1975) consisted mainly in shedding light on the difference between what is conveyed literally in a given sentence and what is solely suggested in an utterance of the same sequence of words. To distinguish between the two, Grice (1975; 55) used the terms implicate and implicature with referring to content of the utterance that is linguistically coded as WHAT IS SAID. What is said within a sentence and what is implicated in an utterance in the same string of words in that sentence is what is known as the TOTAL SIGNIFICANCE OF AN UTTERANCE (Grice, 1989; 41). Implicature refers to a collection of ways that is used to convey the literally unsaid information. To graphically represent the relationships between these notions, the following diagram can be represented: Total significance of an utterance What is said what is implicated Conventional nonconventional Conversational nonconversational Generalized particularized The concern will be with the conventional implicature and the two kinds of conversational implicature. When it comes to conventional implicature, the conventional meaning of the given words will specify the implication or what is implicated in addition to helping in identifying what is said (Grice, 1975; 55). An example form Grice (1975;56) of conventional implicature can be considered. The following example is meant conventionally to have an implication rather than to literally say that the mans being open-minded comes from his being an American: He is and American; he is, therefore, open-minded The existence of the lexical item therefore has to give prominence to the conventional implicature in the above example. Conventional implicature are generated by certain hints of discourse rather than the literal meaning or the conventional meaning of a give word (Grice, 1989; 30). These features can be explored in the following points: The cooperative principle governs the linguistic exchanges. The content of the cooperative principle is elaborated in terms of the four maxims of conversation and their submaxims. In a given exchange, should one participant deviates from the cooperative principle, his parteners will assume that the principle is adopted at some deeper level. A fifth point that for Grice is the understanding of the intercultural process as it raises the awareness of the participants regarding what they have in common in terms of the four factors. According to Sperber and Wilson (1989; 45), there is no a true warranty in the assumption of mutual knowledge. Sperber and Wilson convey that the notion of mutual knowledge has no close counterpart in the real world. Instead, they suggest that, the communication process is the essential beyond the joint information. They also suggest that the communication is achieved if there is shared information between the participants. Meaning as Use The major contribution of Grice concentrated on making distinction between the semantic and pragmatic implications. Meaning as use points to the speakers meaning and what the speaker intends as well as the communicative influence of the utterance. This perspective of meaning is sound since the function of language is to serve a purpose. It other words, language is purposeful, i.e. when speaking an utterance; it is intended to achieve specific ends. Therefore, language as use includes making choices about the suitable linguistic forms that are appropriate to the communicative situation and the cultural context. The view of meaning is based the tenet that that language is an instrument of social interaction and communication. As per this tenet, there is an emphasis on the principles that determine the way in which language operates in the daily life. Hereby, meaning is regarded as a pragmatic phenomenon that has multiple uses governed by tacit principles. The application of these principles relies on the communicative setting, social bonds, and the cultural context. Meaning as use is not directly concerned with the word or sentence in itself. It, rather, depends on the utterance that is defined in respect of a speech act. The speech act has three criteria to define it; it is defined as a locutionary act, an illocutionary force, and it is finally defined as perlocutionary event. Such criteria can be accounted for in respect of the utterance. For example; Semantics has many benefits In a particular context, this is a locutionary act. There is an articulation of phonemes, words, and syllables so that a certain linguistic meaning can be encoded. In terms of the linguistic communication rules, there is a message and purpose for the utterance. If this utterance is said by the professor to the student, it is then an act of persuasion. Also, this utterance is a perlocutionary event as it entails the supposition of some reaction or consequence. The consequence may take place as more positive attitude to linguistics. It is normally perceived that giving an advice has the expectation that this advice will be responded positively and not rudely. To cut this long story short, it can be said that the utterance generates a link between the speaker, the hearer, and the message. Not only does the speaker encodes the meaning and the message from the linguistic perspective, but also it has an impact on the action through the use of language. So, the definition of the speech act comprises to utterance characteristics; encoding the meaning by the speaker in the manner of a mental representation and the decoding of the communicative function by the listener. Hereby, natural language is described as both a social and psychological phenomenon. On the psychological basis, it is communicative language that makes people able to communicate in an effective manner by the means of verbal means (Chomsky, 1975). The communicative competence comprises both of the grammatical skills and the sociolinguistic skills. The sociolinguistic skills involve the rules of social bonds and interaction in the light of the cultural conventions and values. On the other hand, the communicative competence involves a mix of the pragmatic and grammatical competence. Functional Grammar Functional grammar (FG) implies that notion that elements of language are studied with reference to their function in the language. Functional grammar thus investigates language function from the perspective of communicative context. It concentrates on the grammatical data generating from the social communication. According to the functional grammar, language is an elaborate system of meanings that are realized as semantic constituents together with the other grammatical categories. This is considered a synesic approach to grammar study rather than a syntactic one. Linguistic forms are not an end in themselves, but they are a means to an end. Thus, it vane be realized that functional grammar model is referred to a semantic system mixed with the linguistic forms through which meanings are realized. For functional grammar, every language is centered on two fundamental meaning components; the ideational and interpersonal metafunctions. By means of the ideational metafunction, it is to acquire knowledge and learning about the surrounding world and to communicate ones experiences. By means of the interpersonal metafunction, language is used to establish and keep relationships with others. Both of the interpersonal and ideational metafunctions are representation of the universal use of language. It is to control and understand the surrounding environment. Together with these two components, it the third element which is called meaning or the textual metafunction. Through the textual metafunction, the language user has the tools for arranging information in coherent passages. Intercultural interaction Sperber and Wilson (1995) report that individuals who speak the same language and who belong to the same linguistic community do not have the same assumptions. It can be argued that the principle of common knowledge cannot be completely supported and idea of shared knowledge is too ambiguous. Ostension is a fundamental point in the theory of Sperber and Wilson. Ostension means when a speaker makes something that draws the attention of the other participants within the discourse. Also, there is what is known as the theory of relevance that is an act of Ostension bears a guarantee of relevance and this principle of relevance makes the intention beyond the Ostension more manifest. This guarantee is not intended to mean that the assumption implies the notion of mutual manifestation or that the communicative intent will not be a failure. The main function of the guarantee is that something relevant is at hand. The point of manifests occupies a significant position within the theory of Sperber and Wilson. Manifest is what is recognizable or inferable but not necessarily recognized or perceived. To apply manifests, it is to extend from facts to all assumptions. Assumptions can be defined as what individuals think of as a representation of the real world. This stands on a contradictory basis with the fictions and desires. It is possible to make assumptions, but assumptions cannot be made without activation within the conversation process. It can be assumed that Osama Bin Laden has never played tennis with the American President Bush, but this assumption cannot be made real without being activated. According to Sperber and Wilson, it is available to suggest that mutual manifests are available and are not implausible like the notions of mutual knowledge and mutual assumptions. Mutual cognitive environment is very close to the notion of mutual manifests that can be defined as any joint cognitive environment that is manifest that it is shared by people. That two people have the same cognitive environment does not mean that they have similar assumptions, but they are placed to do so. One of the needed outcomes of the intercultural communication is to increase the range of mutual knowledge of others assumptions. What the conversation involves in terms of the activation and mutual bases depends on the appreciations of the parties participating in the conversation and their skill as well as their continuous negotiation. The relationship between conversational structure and thought In general, it is obvious that what the conversationalist spreads, intents, or says in the articulation is out-of- the-way beyond the meanings of the sentence in the context of the articulation. This relates to semantic meaning of the context of pronunciation. However, it is debatable which cases suit this description. The quantifier domain restriction is one of these debatable cases. Suppose, a person is standing in his house after a party, he says to his wife in a gloomy way, Every bottle is empty. What is not debatable is that his conveyance through this articulation is not meant that every bottle in the universe is empty, but that every bottle in his house is empty. The debatable question is how this phenomenon should be elaborated. It could be mentioned that the sentence Every bottle is empty is sensitive to context and it indicates to a variant proposition relative to variant contexts of articulation. For instance, this might be due to the logical form of the sentence involves a variable whose value is the domain of quantification, and the importance of this variable differs according to contexts of articulation (John David Yule, 1985). In comparable, the sentence, in terms of pragmatics, to the letter means (semantically expresses) the wrong suggestion that every bottle in the universe is empty and there is some other non-semantic elaboration of the fact that in this event I am able to transfer the limited suggestion that every bottle in the flat is empty. Remarkable intuitive support for the pragmatic method exists for addressing these cases; after all, it is right that my wifes reply could be well, every bottle isnt empty; our guests just drunk all of the soft beverages in our flat. Surly, there is sense in which this reply achieves the things aimed at, although it is not useful; the pragmatic method has an excellent elaboration of this in terms of its claim that the original sentence is wrong in a literal sense. One who follows the pragmatic method has to say how a proposition P can be transferred by an articulation of a sentence, which, in the context, its meaning differs from the proposition P. This elaboration is provided in terms of specific rules running conversation, according to a Grecian version of the pragmatic method. The idea of Grice was that a person can transfer, in some articulation, a proposition by implicating it in a conversational way. Conversationally, a person involves a proposition p by an articulation when (nearly) the coming three conditions are met. The first, the talker is hypothesized to be collaborative in the sense that he is pursuing the maxims of conversation. Secondly, the supposition the conversationalist thinks p is needed to make his articulation match with the maxims of conversation. Thirdly, the conversationalist believes that (2) is right. 1 in the existing case, the articulation of a sentence, which means every bottle (in the universe) is empty, is an a rticulation of a sentence that is clearly wrong, and so breaks the Maxim of Quality. Thus, if we are to presume that the conversationalist is being collaborative, we have to presume that the conversationalist was seeking to get across some discrete, not clearly wrong, suggestion. In addition, it appears possibly that this suggestion should be related to the clearly wrong one that was literally indicated by the sentence; given the context, every bottle in the flat is empty is the proposition, which is the clear-cut option. Language Use Thought In the event of quantifier domain restriction, the elaboration of the phenomena can be created in events of applying language outside of conversations. Uses of language in thought are the most significant of such events. Assume that my before the end of the party, my wife went to sleep and that after leaving the last invitee, I say in a gloomy way to me every bottle is empty. Fascinatingly, this case looks parallel to the case mentioned above, in which I apply the same sentence in speaking. Just naturally, it would be represented the case as the one in which I said to myself that every bottle in the flat was empty since it would be to provide the identical description of my pronunciation, in speaking, of the similar sentence to my wife. However, it doesnt appear open, in spite of this resemblance to the same elaboration: sitting lonely after the party I was not involved in a speaking, and therefore was not expose to the maxims of conversation. In addition, this appears raise a doubt about the original Gricean elaboration of the articulation to my wife. An elaboration, which relays on characteristics limited to one, is ad hoc to the degree that the phenomena look the similar. According to the proponents of Grice, thinking is a type of conversation with oneself and thus it is ruled by the same maxims as conversations of several parties? Not very plausible. My use of Every bottle is empty during speaking with my wife carried the limited suggestion that every bottle in the flat is partly empty, Since I believed that she was able to see that the presumption, in which I thought this and needed to convey it by my articulation, was needed to make my articulation match with the traditions ruling the conversation. However, the use of Every bottle is empty in thinking cannot provide the same elaboration. Despite we offer that I count as the audience of my own articulation here, we should ask: is it actually the case that I am capable of applying this sentence to say to myself that every bottle in the flat is empty, just due to thinking that I am able to solving that the presumption, in which I think of this, is required to conform my articulation to myself with the traditions of conversation, and because of thinking additionally that I am aware that I am able to solving that I think this? From time to time, I could carry these surprising thoughts, although it just appears that I need to apply every bottle is empty in thought to have in mind that every bottle in the flat is empty. The debate, which proposed against the elaboration of Gricean of quantifier domain restriction, is simple: firstly, quantifier domain restriction occurs in uses of language in thought along with in communication. Secondly, the phenomena seem to be similar and thus they worth an integrated elaboration. Thirdly, the elaboration of Gricean doesnt hold good for cases of quantifier domain restriction in uses of language in thought. Hence, fourthly, instances of quantifier domain restriction in communication is also failed to be explained by the Griceans elaboration. Semantics that is based on Intentions An intention based semantics that is to say, a semantical theory according to which the meaning of an articulation is illustrated in terms of the psychological condition is meant to generate in an audience was proposed by Grice. The applying of language to communicate is concentrated by such semantics (Spencer et al, 2002; 74-91). Thus, Grice starts to make a try to separate a special type of meaning and he named this communicative meaning, or non-natural meaning (meaningNN). Natural vs. Non-natural meaning Natural Meaning [Non-cognitive meaning] Those spots mean rubella. Those didnt mean anything to me, but they meant rubella to the doctor. The recent budget indicates that we shall experience a tough year. Non-natural Meaning (MeaningNN) [Communicative meaning] Three rings on the bell indicate that the bus is complete. That note, Smith couldnt dispense with his problem and struggle, indicated that Smiths wife was more necessary to him. Grices attempt is to generate an account of meaningNN. Tests for MeaningNN Entailment X means that p necessitate that p, in cases of natural meaning, while in cases of meaningNN, there is no such necessity. For instance: Those spots denote rubeola, however he hasnt got rubella is self-conflicting. The three rings on the bell indicate that the bus is complete, however the bus isnt

Charles Dickens Hard Times Essay -- Charles Dickens Hard Times Essays

Charles Dickens' Hard Times Charles Dickens’s novel Hard Times critiques the use of extreme utilitarianism as an acceptable means to governing a society in which citizens are able to lead happy, productive, flourishing lives. â€Å"Just the facts,†19th century English utilitarianism argued, are all one needs to flourish. Those answers that we can arrive at by way of mathematical, logical reasoning are all needed to live a full human life. Hard Times shows however that a â€Å"just the facts† philosophy creates a community inhospitable to the needs of one another, a society nearly void of human compassion, and one lacking in morality. Underlying the novel’s argument is the Aristotelian concept that the primary purpose of government is to correctly educate citizens in morality and, consequentially, to cultivate an upright social environment where all are inspired to flourish. How fitting, then, that early in the novel we are introduced to Thomas Gradgrind, educator and owner of the M’choakumchild school where â€Å"just the facts† are taught and the apotheosis of 19th century English utilitarianism. Although â€Å"Gradgrind intellect† is calculated to be the best way to maximize happiness, in the M’choakumchild class room it soon becomes clear that its adherents are the most unhappy and immoral in Coketown, even more so than the â€Å"Hands† who suffer from its cruelty indirectly. If the purpose of the state is to cultivate moral individuals who are able to flourish together, the state built on utilitarian values inevitably fails. Part of the inadequacy of utilitarianism and its statistical approach to addressing human problems is its objective, mass-quantity view of people. Gradgrind’s description alone captures the disconnected nature and col... ...human nature† makes for a bare-bones human existence, replete with crime, immorality, greed, and as especially demonstrated in Louisa’s case, unhappiness. Mr. Sleary’s compassion gives voice to Dickens’s hope for a more unselfish perspective on human motivation. His critique concludes that the success of government lies in realistically evaluating humanity in all of its general and idiosyncratic tendencies. As Nussbaum says in her essay, Dickens does not call for a â€Å"relativistic† approach to governance but one more in touch with the realities and complexities of being human. Works Cited Dickens, Charles. Hard Times. Ed. Fred Kaplan and Sylvà ©re Monod. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc, 2001. Nussbaum, Martha C. â€Å"The Literary Imagination in Public Life.† Hard Times. Ed. Fred Kaplan and Sylvà ©re Monod. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc, 2001. 429-439.

Sex Education: Determining Teenage Lives Essay -- Educational Issues

A parent’s main concern has always been --and always will be--what is best for their child. Parents attempt to raise their children so that they can learn to make the best possible decisions in any given situation. However, is blatantly avoiding the topic of sex, simply because it may be awkward, the best choice that parents’ make for their children? The controversial issue of sex education in public schools has been a main concern in communities throughout the United States. There has been increasingly more discussion about sexual education programs and whether or not they should be included in the school’s curriculum. The truth is, if sex education is avoided in schools, teenagers—many of whom already lack expertise in the sexual education field—are being denied the knowledge of possible diseases, outcomes, and opportunities that sexual education has to offer. Without sex education, teenagers would be unaware of the harmful consequences of their a ctions, thus it should be implemented in every educational curriculum. Without proper sexual education, many teenage girls are at a high risk of pregnancy. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 409,840 infants were born to teenagers that were between the ages of 15 and 19 (About Teen Pregnancy). These unknowledgeable teens must be plunged from their youths in order to take responsibility for their children, which not only affects their families, but also their newborn children. This epidemic has grown so much that statistics show that every three out of ten teenage girls will be pregnant before they reach the age of 20 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). In order to decrease the rate of teen pregnancy, schools need to proactively promote sex education, such... ...ld Give Kids Free Contraceptives.† Bloomsberg Business week: n. pag. www.businessweek.com. Web. 16 Apr. 2012. . â€Å"Sex education for five-year-olds to be made compulsory in schools.† http://m.guardian.co.uk/. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2012. . â€Å"Sex Education That Works.† www.avert.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2012. . â€Å"U.S. Campaign to Promote Abstinence Begins.† Washinton Post: n. pag. /www.washingtonpost.com. Web. 16 Apr. 2012. . www.medindia.net. Sex Education For Teens, n.d. Web. 15 Feb. 2012. .

Effects of the AMR Corporation Bankruptcy on Airline Passengers and Emp

On November 29, 2011, American Airlines became the last of the legacy airlines to go bankrupt when its parent company, AMR Corporation, filed for Chapter 11 reorganization. Sought almost exclusively by large corporations, a Chapter 11 bankruptcy allows a firm to continue operating while reorganizing itself to create a more profitable financial framework (â€Å"Chapter 11 Definition†). Essentially, this provides a last resort business strategy: if the firm successfully reorganizes, its new financial structure begins cutting its debt. If the reorganization fails, the company begins liquidating its assets to repay the stakeholders to whom it owes money (â€Å"An Overview of Corporate†). An evaluation of the AMR bankruptcy along with the bankruptcies of its competitors provides insight to its potential impact on airline passengers, airline employees, and the economy as a whole. To put the AMR bankruptcy into perspective, it is necessary to examine market conditions for airline companies since 2000. Every major American airline with the exception of American Airlines filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy between 2002 and 2005 as a result of labor costs increasing while demand decreased following the recession and the September 11 terrorist attacks (Rushe). Between an already struggling economy, heightened airport security, and the reluctance of many passengers to continue air travel, these airlines filed for bankruptcy to escape debt and return to annual profitability. As of 2011, every major airline had achieved this goal with the exception of American Airlines, the only of these companies to forgo bankruptcy and, consequently, the only to remain in debt. As American Airlines’ financial issues became exacerbated by high oil prices, AMR finally f... ...clopedia of Economics. Ed. David R. Henderson. 2nd ed. Library of Economics and Liberty, n.d. Web. 29 May 2012. Stancavage, John. â€Å"Analysts See US Airways Merger as American’s Next Step.† Aviation Pros. Ed. Ronald Donner. Cygnus Business Media, 21 May 2012. Web. 21 May 2012. . Trejos, Nancy. â€Å"Union Groups Accept American Airlines’ Final Contract Offer.† USA Today. Ed. John Hillkirk. N.p., 15 May 2012. Web. 17 May 2012. . Whitely, Jason. â€Å"Unions Have Their Say on American Airlines Bankruptcy.† WFAA.com. WFAA-TV Inc., 13 May 2012. Web. 21 May 2012. . Effects of the AMR Corporation Bankruptcy on Airline Passengers and Emp On November 29, 2011, American Airlines became the last of the legacy airlines to go bankrupt when its parent company, AMR Corporation, filed for Chapter 11 reorganization. Sought almost exclusively by large corporations, a Chapter 11 bankruptcy allows a firm to continue operating while reorganizing itself to create a more profitable financial framework (â€Å"Chapter 11 Definition†). Essentially, this provides a last resort business strategy: if the firm successfully reorganizes, its new financial structure begins cutting its debt. If the reorganization fails, the company begins liquidating its assets to repay the stakeholders to whom it owes money (â€Å"An Overview of Corporate†). An evaluation of the AMR bankruptcy along with the bankruptcies of its competitors provides insight to its potential impact on airline passengers, airline employees, and the economy as a whole. To put the AMR bankruptcy into perspective, it is necessary to examine market conditions for airline companies since 2000. Every major American airline with the exception of American Airlines filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy between 2002 and 2005 as a result of labor costs increasing while demand decreased following the recession and the September 11 terrorist attacks (Rushe). Between an already struggling economy, heightened airport security, and the reluctance of many passengers to continue air travel, these airlines filed for bankruptcy to escape debt and return to annual profitability. As of 2011, every major airline had achieved this goal with the exception of American Airlines, the only of these companies to forgo bankruptcy and, consequently, the only to remain in debt. As American Airlines’ financial issues became exacerbated by high oil prices, AMR finally f... ...clopedia of Economics. Ed. David R. Henderson. 2nd ed. Library of Economics and Liberty, n.d. Web. 29 May 2012. Stancavage, John. â€Å"Analysts See US Airways Merger as American’s Next Step.† Aviation Pros. Ed. Ronald Donner. Cygnus Business Media, 21 May 2012. Web. 21 May 2012. . Trejos, Nancy. â€Å"Union Groups Accept American Airlines’ Final Contract Offer.† USA Today. Ed. John Hillkirk. N.p., 15 May 2012. Web. 17 May 2012. . Whitely, Jason. â€Å"Unions Have Their Say on American Airlines Bankruptcy.† WFAA.com. WFAA-TV Inc., 13 May 2012. Web. 21 May 2012. .

Distribution Strategy Essay

Introduction The core of this presentation is to discuss the theory of distribution strategy with the underlying real life examples of McDonald’s fast-food restaurants in Australia. In other words, the aim is to discuss McDonald’s distribution channel, the way this fast-food restaurant gets its products to the market. Nonetheless, this presentation will demonstrate that McDonald’s distribution strategy is effective in many cultures. In the theory of marketing mix, place (distribution) determines where the product will be sold and how it will get there. In fact, McDonald’s is the leading global foodservice retailer, with more than 30,000 local restaurants serving nearly 46 million people each day in 121 different countries. Approximately 80 percent of all McDonald’s restaurants worldwide are owned and operated by independent franchisors. Furthermore, at the essence of place decisions, Kotler (et al., 2001, p. 513) claims that, â€Å"retailers, particularly image fast foods chains often state their seven P’s of marketing to be, that is location, location, location, location, location, location and location.† Hence, a retailer’s location is the key to attracting customers. The costs of the building or leasing facilities is a major factor on the retailer’s profits. Thus, site location decisions are among the most important the retailer make (Kotler, et al., 2001, p. 513). Intensive Distribution On the other hand, McDonald’s opened its first restaurant in Australia in December 1971. Today there are more than 690 restaurants throughout Australia and serving in excess of one million customers per day and employing over 55,000 staff. Therefore, you can find them everywhere in Australia, where some of the McDonald’s are open 24 hours per day which satisfy people’s needs and wants, especially for exists their hunger. This kind of distribution strategy is called â€Å"intensive distribution†, means marking the product available for sale through all possible channels of distribution. As defined by Kotler (et al., 2001, p. 487), â€Å"intensive distribution is stocking the product in as many outlets as possible.† In addition, this strategy must be designed to reach the consumer wants at  anytime and anywhere. Vertical marketing network (VMN) Furthermore, to quote Kotler (et al., 2001, p. 482), a franchise organization is â€Å"a contractual vertical marketing network in which a channel member called a franchisor links several stages in production-distribution process†. McDonald’s has adopted the service-firm-sponsored retailer franchise network, in which a service firm licenses a network of retailers to bring its service to consumers (Kotler, et al., 2001, p. 482). Nevertheless, McDonald’s caters to a large consumer market with varying tastes and thus cannot afford to introduce products without familiarizing itself with provincial preferences in food. For this reason, McDonald’s distributes its products in foreign locations with the help of franchisors who are well aware of what works in their country. Moreover, these franchisors also provide insight to the company on its diverse customers and helps McDonald’s achieve its vision of â€Å"being the world’s best quick service restaurant experience.† In brief, this is an extremely intelligent distribution method since it helps in providing people with the kind of products they desire, maintaining the franchise reputation worldwide. To encourage repeat customer visits, McDonald’s are intensifying the efforts to ensure the restaurant interiors and exteriors are clean and welcoming. Moreover, McDonald’s intends to regain the status as the gold standard for clean restaurants. Furthermore, McDonald’s are giving the business a fresh edge in many places by rebuilding, renovating and re-imaging the restaurants. The experiences in Australia demonstrate that doing such can result in improved sales and profitability. McDonald’s ensures consistent products by controlling every stage of the distribution. In addition, regional distribution centres purchase products and distribute them to individual restaurants. On the other hand, when designing its channels, a company needs to consider competitors’ channels. Yet, it may want to compete in or close to the same outlets that carry competitors’ products (Kotler, et al., 2001, p. 486). Thus, food companies  want their brands to be displayed next to competing brands. Meanwhile, McDonald’s adopted this setting channel objective as a view and therefore wants to locate near KFC. On the other hand, McDonald’s uses essentially the same competitive strategy in every country as be the first in a market and establish the brand as rapidly as possible by advertising very heavily. However, the strategy has helped McDonald’s develop a strong market share in the fast-food market around the world. Moreover, according to Kotler (et al., 2001, p. 513) store must have a planned atmosphere that suits the target market and moves customers to buy. In addition, McDonald’s determine the locations for reaching a widely spread population. Hence, McDonald’s are turning their stores into theatres that transport customers into unusual, exciting shopping environments that designed to meet the taste of target markets. For instance, McDonald’s Blacktown is one of McDonald’s Australia’s newest restaurants, it has create a locate playgrounds for children to enjoy. Conclusion In conclusion, McDonald’s improve the frequency of their deliveries, form relevant partnerships and implement alternate distribution strategies to effectively capture market and build international brand name based on hygienic, healthy, appetizing fast food consistently worldwide. Adopting market study and focusing on location of franchise, MacDonald’s ensures market niche for food product distribution is a definite success story. References ââ€" ª Kotler, P., Brown, K., Adam, S., & Armstrong, G., 2001, Marketing, 5th Edition, Pearson Education Australia, Frenchs Forest, NSW ââ€" ª http://www.mcdonalds.com