Metaphysics Is the Branch of Philosophy Essay Example for Free

Metaphysics Is the Branch of Philosophy Essay Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that deals with abstract concepts. These abstract concepts include things like being, knowing, substance, cause, identity, time, and space. Over the years I have asked myself numerous questions pertaining to metaphysics. Things such as what is real? How do things such as our souls or even fate work? Do we determine our own fate or is it predetermined for us? Most people, including myself, ask a majority of these questions when they leave the nest. When I was graduating high school, I had no clue what the â€Å"real world† was like. My parents paid the bills, provided for me, and put the roof over my head. As we graduate, you ask who are your â€Å"real† friends? More importantly what is real in general? What’s a real job? As you grow older, you can reflect on what was real as a child, and I have come to the conclusion that everybody’s idea of real changes along with your age and lifestyle. For example when somebody passes away and you’re young, you don’t question if it’s real, but as you age you can’t believe when something so tragic happens and you question it. People do this every day, and for reasons that only they can explain. People talk about the spiritual world openly, but most have never experienced it. So, with that being the case it is hard to determine whether or not it is more or less real that the physical world. That’s one of those questions that as of right now I don’t have the answer to. I believe in the spiritual world whole heartedly, but to say it’s any more or less real is hard for me because I have only experienced the physical world. As of right now, I would say that they are equally real, but that is just my opinion. Going along with that, everyone has a soul, but does it live outside the body before we pass? I don’t believe so. As a Christian, we pray for the Lord to take our soul when we pass, and to protect it while we are alive. Our soul exits the body when we are done on Earth. Fate is a very complex subject. I believe that everyone has an idea of their ultimate fate. This doesn’t mean however that that is how it will end up, or that the step along the way will line up with your plan. For example, when someone dies, people say it must have been fate. I think that things like this are determined by Him, not us. When people say that when they fall in love that it’s fate, but that is determined by us making it free will. Therefore, I believe that our lives are determined by our own free will and fate. Epistemology is basically how we determine if something is a belief or an opinion. Some things are taught to us after they have been investigated, but other things are made up in our minds or families. If you ever look at the actual definition for knowledge it is pretty loosely written. Therefore, knowledge doesn’t have to be true. Your knowledge is determined by you. There are universal examples of knowledge in my opinion. However, since knowledge can be false it’s hard to say if others would believe the same. For example, 2+2=4 that seems like it would be true everywhere, might not be. Someone might be think 2+2=something other than 4. 1. Epistemology: * Is all knowledge subjective, or are there some universal truths? * What is the relationship between faith and reason? * What can artificial intelligence teach people about knowledge? * What are the limits of human understanding? 2. Ethics: * What is the right thing to do? * What does it mean to be a good person? * Does virtue lead to happiness? * Do the ends justify the means, or is a virtuous action virtuous in and of itself? * How does living in a society affect morality? * Is morality culturally based, individually based, or is there a universal morality? 3. Aesthetics: * What is beautiful? * Is beauty truly in the eye of the beholder, or are there some things that all cultures find beautiful? * What is the purpose of art? * How can a piece of art be successful or valuable? Does beauty matter? 4. Political philosophy: * What is the best kind of government? * How much power should the government have? * What kind of people should be in power? * How involved should the common citizen be in government? 5. Social philosophy: * How should humans behave in a society? * Do people give up certain rights when they choose to live in a society? * How do social values affect individual beliefs? Do people behave differently in a crowd than they would individually? * How does society affect language and other types of communication?

International Trade & Finance Speech Essay Example for Free

International Trade Finance Speech Essay International trade is essentially when two or more countries exchange goods and services. Many countries export their goods and services to other countries and in turn, they can also import goods and services from other countries to into their own. Advancements with technology have made it a lot easier for international trade to take place. Communication between countries is a good example. Communicating has vastly improved and helped to simplify the trading process. Some technologically advanced countries, like Japan and China have bountiful natural resources and that has a heavy impact on us. The United States is one of the largest contributors to international trade. Our GDP (Gross Domestic Product), is greatly impacted due to being huge import consumers. The United States relies heavily on products from other countries and we import much more than we export. Not only does this impact our GDP by lowering it as we import more than export, is also has an impact on our domestic markets because we are buying more from other countries. In regard to Foreign Exchange Rates, it is very important to know how they are determined. Considering economic growth within a country is important, governments can make certain that fiscal and monetary policies are in place to ensure that growth continues. Due to the goods and services that are traded between different countries around the world, there are foreign exchange rate payments that are required to be paid. You will see the foreign exchange rate differ from country to country. What happens when there is a surplus of imports brought into the U.S.? Cite a specific example of a product with an import surplus and the impact that it has on the U.S. Businesses and Consumers involved. First, it is important to try and keep imports and exports balanced. However, when one exceeds the other, it is called a surplus. Having a surplus of imports can create a lower price for the consumer, and have a positive effect on the employment rate of the country where the product was obtained. Seafood is a good example of a product with surplus. There are several states, mainly coastal states that have fishing boats out at sea for many months catching lobster, fish, crabs, etc. The seafood that is collected is used for both domestic sales and international export. This allows for several options when selecting fish, etc at the grocery store. It also increases your selection when out dining at a restaurant. A downfall could be that a surplus of seafood, fish, etc could result in a declining need for domestic fisherman to work and this could cause layoffs and cutbacks. What are the effects of International Trade to GDP, Domestic markets and University Students? GDP stands for Gross Domestic Product and international trade. GDP is the market value of all final goods and services produced in an economy in a one year period. (Colander, 2010) International trade is the exchange of goods and services between two or more countries. International trade greatly affects the GDP due to the fact that is we are able to have goods produced outside of the United States and the imported for sale at a cheaper cost than if we were to produce here, the consumer demands will increase and therefore help the GDP. Domestic markets are also affected by international trade as they have the ability to have products manufactured outside the United States at cheaper rates. This takes away from domestic manufactured product sales and could increase unemployment. On the reverse, it could affect domestic markets positively, as domestic retailers could mark up the products to consumers and keep the additional profit. International trade affects University students in a much different way. Suppose there was an increased demand for innovative ideas and qualified individuals to help keep our domestic markets alive? A University student could be a huge asset there. Also, the higher the GDP, more jobs will be available. If the GDP crashes, graduates should probably look for a job in another country. How do Government choices in regards to tariffs and quotas affect international relations and trade? Both International relations and trade are greatly affected by government decisions that are made about tariffs and quotas. Tariffs are the most familiar and most commonly used type of trade restriction. Tariffs are most often recognized as taxes here in the United States. Quotas are quantity limits that are placed on imports. These limits are decided by the government. The choices made by the government as it relates to additional fees for imports and limitations placed on the amount of imports directly affects international relations and trade. The positive side to this is that the government has the ability to control trade between themselves and other countries. This allows the United States to be picky. The ability to raise or lower tariff amounts gives us the power to possibly do business with underprivileged countries simply by lowering the tariffs as an incentive. They can also raise the tariff as a means to end relations with a country. What are foreign exchange rates? How are they determined? In regard to Foreign Exchange Rates, it is very important to know how they are determined. Considering economic growth within a country is important, governments can make certain that fiscal and monetary policies are in place to ensure that growth continues. Due to the goods and services that are traded between different countries around the world, there are foreign exchange rate payments that are required to be paid. You will see the foreign exchange rate differ from country to country. Why doesn’t the U.S. simply restrict all goods coming in from China? Why can’t the U.S. just minimize the amounts of imports coming in from all other countries? To put it simply, it is not possible for the U.S. to restrict all goods from China. This is mainly because there is an enormous trade deficit between us and China. China currently holds a very large portion of our nation’s debt and it would be a bad business decision to try and end relations when we still have a large debt owed to them. Not only do we have a large debt owed to China, the U.S. consumer has a very large demand for products that are made in China. China is one of the largest manufacturers of electronics and other luxury items, like the Iphone, Ipad, Ipod that we have come to rely upon. If we were to restrict all goods, we would not only destroy our economy, but also China’s economy. References: Colander, D.C. (2010). Macroeconomics. (8th ed). Boston, MA: Mcgraw-Hill/Irwin Trading Economics. (2012) United States Consumer Confidence. Retrieved from http://www.tradingeconomics.com/united-states/consumer-confidence.

The Story Of Josie King Health And Social Care Essay

The Story Of Josie King Health And Social Care Essay The story of Josie King is one that shook the hospital health care system in 2001. Josie King was an 18 month-old that died from complications of treatment at Johns Hopkins Medical Center. Josie was originally admitted to the hospital with second and third degree burns over 60 percent of her body. During care, Josie had received a lethal dose of methadone after which she died as a result of a cardiac arrest. As a result of this sentinel event, the Kings were awarded a settlement which they refused. Josies mother Sorrel wanted everyone to know what happened to her baby. Sorrel King has written an inspiring memoir Josies Story and has created a patient-safety program at Hopkins in addition to a foundation devoted to reducing medical errors. Sorrel King now advocates for patient and families affected by medical errors, and provide lectures to medical professionals countrywide. (www.josieking.org.) Medical errors have and continue to be an enormous problem in health care. Patients die from the wrong drug or wrong dosage, or perhaps an infection that could have been prevent with better hygiene practices. More attention was placed on the issue of medical errors in 2000 when the Institute of Medicine made available the well-known report titled To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System. The report documented evidence of an estimated 44,000 people and as many as 98,000 people dying in hospitals from medical errors each year in the United States (IOM, 1999). Of the many medical errors, medication errors happen to be one that can not be overemphasized. Medication use have been found to account for at least 20 percent of adverse events in patients in hospitals. Out of every hundred medication orders, there is an occurrence of five adverse drug events (Tam, 2005). Malpractice claims due to adverse drug events can have negative effects on the hospital and the health care providers. The hospital and health care providers can have their reputation damaged, thousands of dollars are spent for the losses, there is time lost from work, not to mention the emotional stress involved (Rothschild et. al, 2002). The cost of preventable medication errors has been estimated between 17 and 29 billion dollars annually (Strohecker, 2003). As such, due to these alarming statistics, this paper focuses on some of the potential risks of medication errors, and some recommended interventions that can be implemented to help curb the incidence of medication errors. What is a medication error? A medication error is defined as any preventable event that may cause or lead to inappropriate medication or patient harm while the medication is in the control of the health care professional, patient, or consumer (Oren, 2003). The terms adverse drug events and medication errors though used interchangeably do not necessarily mean the same thing. An adverse drug event is an undesirable reaction after a drug administration that is not necessarily caused by the drug. Adverse drug events include adverse drug reactions and medication errors. Medication errors may lead to actual or potential adverse events. The potential adverse events are often termed near misses. For example, if a medication overdose is administered accidentally, it would be a medication error and not described as an adverse drug reaction (Oren, 2003). Potential Risks of Medication Errors Many of the factors leading to medication error are unfortunately human related (Etchells, et. al, 2008). A survey of 983 nurses working in acute care hospitals reported that among the many factors that would contribute to medical errors, illegible hand written prescriptions, distraction from the environment, exhaustion and stress happened to be the most weighted (Mayo Duncan, 2004). A study by Hodgkinson et.al that sought strategies to reduce medication errors cited the most common reason of medication error was due to the lack of drug information by the multidisciplinary team (2006). Inexperience and or lack of knowledge of the drug could lead to the physician ordering the wrong dose, the pharmacist incorrectly mixing the medication with the right concentration, and the nurse administering the medication with the wrong route such as giving an intramuscular injection instead of subcutaneously (Etchells, et. al, 2008). While human error is very important to consider, it is equally important to analyze the context in which errors can occur such as the clinical environment and patient population. The type of clinical setting in a hospital can be more prone to medication errors than others due to the patient population with respect to the severity of their illness, and number and type of medications needed to be administered. Critical care units for example, tend to be at a higher risk for medication errors. Critical care units provide for very sick patients who need to be attended to without delay, may require consults from various providers, and receive twice as many medications as compared to patients on general medical floors. Patients in intensive care experience an average of 1.7 medical errors each day. Medication errors are the most common type or error and account for 78 percent of serious medical errors in critical care (Camire et. al, 2009). In addition to the patients in critical care, pediatrics and the elderly also tend to be at high risk for medication errors since there require many medications when sick. Pediatric patients in particular tend to be very sensitive to most medications hence the need to calculate most of their medication dosages by weight (King, 2003). The least miscalculation could lead to an adverse drug event. Older adult populations, on the other hand, take many prescription medications for their chronic illnesses which need scrutiny to avoid contraindications (ANJ, 2009). However, regardless of whether the patient may be at risk of experiencing a medication error or not, all medication administration must ideally follow the seven rights which include the right patient, right medication, right dose, right time, right route, right reason, and right documentation (Schaeffer, 2009). Another factor which may influence the safety of medication administration involves medication reconciliation. When patients list of home medications and allergies are not collected upon admission, a medication error can occur when a medication being taken regularly at home is not continued during the hospital stay. If the patients medication reconciliation is not complete, the physician would not have full knowledge of the medications that the patients would need to be restarted on after being transferred or discharged from the hospital. At times there may be an oversight on the part of the prescribing physicians where brand and generic medication names are concerned. A physician may also duplicate order a medication that the patient may already be taking at home, and at times order an incorrect dosage (Landro, 2006). In recent times, there have been technological influences in health care, where there has been an effort to get rid of the paper documentation but the transition is not that complete. Many hospitals still document on paper and still creating the risk of medication errors by the use of error prone medication abbreviations. During transcription of written orders, the use of abbreviations can cause errors if not interpreted correctly. American Health Association News mentions a study discussed in the Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety, medication errors that were reported to the national database made up 5 percent of all errors that occurred as a result of incorrect interpretation of abbreviations used during prescribing (2007). In this same study, an analysis of 30,000 abbreviations related- medication errors reported to the United States Pharmacopeias database was made. Most of the errors consisting 81 percent were made during the writing of prescriptions. The abbr eviation QD used in place of once daily was found to have caused more errors; 43.1 percent than any other abbreviation. The Joint Commission has a national safety goals report that include a do not use list of abbreviations that hospitals and other healthcare organizations can use as a reference (AHA News, 2007) Medication Error Risk Reduction Strategies In addition to the modified traditional seven rights for medication administration, hospitals are instituting additional evidence-based practices. According to an article in the ACCN monthly publication, the implementation of six best practice procedures for medication administration designed by the California Nursing Outcomes Coalition (CalNOC) significantly improved accuracy (2010). In this study, participating hospitals showed an 80.5 percent improvement in adherence to CalNOC best practices and an 81.4 percent score for combined administration accuracy and best practice improvements. The CalNOC six best practices include: compare medication to medical record, keep medication labeled until administration, check two forms of patient identification, immediately record medication administration in the chart, explain the medication to the patient, and minimize distractions and disruptions during the administration process (ACCN, 2010). Another technological invention to help reduce medication errors are the smart infusion pumps. These smart pumps have built-in danger alerts, clinical calculators, and drug libraries including information on the standardized concentrations of commonly used drugs. Though smart pumps have been designed to prevent mistakes, it only works for high alert intravenous medications. In cases where the smart pumps are not used appropriately, its purpose is not served. In a controlled trial study of smart infusion pumps, nurses were found to routinely ignore danger alerts and drug libraries as much as 25 percent of the time, sometimes administrating medications such as propofol, insulin, and heparin at rates 10 times as high as those ordered (Rothschild et.al, 2005). Smart pumps can work exceptionally and prevent errors if alerts are paid attention to used appropriately. The computerized physician order entry (CPOE) system is another technology that has been found to significantly decrease the danger of illegible handwritten orders and the need for transcription. According to Bates et. al, out of the approximately 28 percent of preventable adverse drug events are associated with medication errors, 56 percent occurred during prescribing (Bates, et. al, 1998).The computerized physician order entry (CPOE), computer based system where all orders are electronically written helps to ensure accuracy of writing orders. Most of these CPOE are accompanied by a Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS) which provides automatic alert to prescriber on drugs or doses that are contraindicated with the patients age, allergies, condition, and or diagnosis. Review of a systematic study by Kaushal et. al on the effects of CPOE with CDSS showed a considerable decline in the rates of medication errors (2003). A study at the Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston on the effect of CPOE on prevention of serious medication errors showed that the use of the CPOE system caught on to half the possible errors that may have lead to deleterious effects. The study showed a reduction in all the stages of the process; from ordering to dispensing to administration (Bates et.al, 1998). CPOE therefore proven to hold some promise as an intervention to improve patient safety but would require further data of the benefits of costs before implementation. Bar coding is another technological intervention that has been shown to decrease the rate of medication administration errors. Bar coding can alienate the possibility of nurses administrating medications without having a documented order. With bar coding, each time a physician ordered a medication, the order is automatically transmitted to the pharmacy where a unique bar code is generated. After verification of the order by the pharmacist, the labeled medications are sent to the floor/unit. The nurses who have to administer the medication would then have to scan the bar code on the patient identification band against the labels on the medications for comparison. Bar coding has shown to reduce medication errors by more than 50 percent, thus preventing preventable adverse drug events (Wright et.al, 2005). The Veterans Affairs hospital led the way in 1999 instituting a national bar coding program. Within a year of initiation the VA hospital documented a 24 percent decrease in the rate of medication-administration errors (Wright et. al, 2005). Although the ultimate goal is to protect patients, bar coding could also save hospitals lots of money. The average adverse event costs extra hospital days and additional services, not to mention the cost of litigation. Like every other measure there would be disadvantages for using bar coding, but once more research can show that the benefits outweigh the costs, more hospitals can join the increasing number of institutions that have embraced this technology. With medication errors responsible for many lost lives yearly, new national patient-safety standards require hospitals to have a mandatory formal medication reconciliation process for every patient admitted into the hospital. Medication reconciliation would take effect during the patients admission process and involves the recording of a patients allergies and thorough collection of all the patients home medications including over the counter drugs. This routine has been found to reduce medication duplication and avoid the effects of contraindication while the patients are hospitalized. This also aids the physicians on what medications to discharge the patient with. During the medication reconciliation process the need to educate the patients and their families is also import. Patients and families have to understand the rationale behind keeping handy a list of all their medications and being able to provide the list especially in emergent situations (Landro, 2006). Summary This paper has reviewed research on medication errors in hospitals with an emphasis on the prevalence, risk factors, and strategies to prevent errors from occurring. Although the immediate cause of medication errors is often as the result of human error, the majority of errors can be attributed to system failures made worse by the increasing complexity of patient care. A medication error can cause devastating results, threaten patients lives, and affect a providers confidence and job security. Hospitals also tend loose lots of money in malpractice law suits. The wide range of pharmaceutical products and dramatically changing technology adds to the complex situation. Many strategies including the CPOE and CDSS, smart pumps, and bar coding among other strategies have already been implemented by few hospitals. Research shows that these strategies that have been implemented targeting the reduction of medication errors have been found to be promising. However, due to the complexity of pat ient care, both human and technological influence may be able to control but never be able to completely put to death medication errors.

Romeo and Juliet - Movie vs. Book :: Movie Film comparison compare contrast

Romeo and Juliet - Movie vs. Book Often times people say that William Shakespeare was and still is a legend. They are correct. It is amazing how Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet written centuries ago can be better than Franco Zefferelli's movie production of Romeo and Juliet, which had much better technology to work with only decades ago. Although the movie appeared better, it left out some major parts. The play had better mood and plot details which made it much more dramatic and by far a better presentation. One major difference between the play and the movie occurs in mood. An example of this is the marriage scene. In the marriage scene of the play, Romeo and Juliet act very serious. The reader can tell this by the way the two speak. Romeo says that the Holy Words the Friar speaks can make something without an equal (Act II, Scene 6, Line 4) which is a very intelligent thing to say. Whereas, in the movie they kiss and giggle the entire time. This leads the viewer to believe that Franco Zefferelli wanted the two to look like fools, that they could not do anything the way it is normally done because they are children in search of quick love. This is bad because it is not very realistic. In real-life, young adults would take the matter seriously because they know it is a major step in life. Because the play is not entirely trying to make the two look bad, it is the better production. Another major difference in the mood of the play and the movie is in the funeral scene. The funeral scene of the play is a very serious event. Juliet's family is very upset and think that they are the cause of her "death". Also, the Friar soothes the family of the loss of young Juliet's life (Act IV, Scene 5, Line 65). However, in the movie version of the funeral scene, again everyone is sad but this time the Friar lets out a giggle as he pretends to pray for Juliet. This is a major difference because if someone had seen the Friar giggle, it may have changed the entire play. They may have questioned him why he giggled but since

Analysis Of The Machine That W :: essays research papers

â€Å"The Machine That Won the War,† by Isaac Asimov, is a story that teaches a valuable lesson about humanity and also has an ironic twist at the end. The setting is the future of Earth, and a great war had just been won against an enemy race. Two men, Swift and Henderson, are debating over who really won the war for Earth: the giant strategy computer known as Multivac, or the men in charge of making the maneuvers and programming the computer. John Henderson is an excitable man, while Lamar Swift, the military captain, is calm but rational. While the people hailed the computer, the two really knew who the heroes were. Henderson explained the fact that Multivac was nothing more than a large machine, only capable of doing what it was programmed to do. He stated that ever since the beginning of the war, he had been hiding a secret. It was the fact that some of its (Multivac’s) data might have been unreliable. This conflict, as you will note later, helped win the war. The great computer was capable of creating a direct battle plan which Earth forces could use to attack their enemies. However, with Henderson inputting faulty data, this caused some of the battle plans to be unreliable. His internal conflict between himself losing his job and wanting to keep it made him jingle with the programming until it seemed right. This foreshadowing helps the reader to see that someone is going to have to act upon Henderson’s faults if the war is to be won. Swift, the military commander, received these battle plans that Henderson had ‘printed up’ out on the front (the front being the battle front). He, realizing that some of these plans were outrageous, had to act upon a different form of machine. Swift’s motivation for not always acting upon what was laid before him helped change the course of the war. He told Henderson that when faced with the difficult decisions, he didn’t use Multivac’s data all of the time. This conflict, making these tough decisions, helps influence the climax. The climax of the story comes when Swift tells Henderson he used a coin to make all of the though decisions instead of

The Celtic Appreciation of Nature Essay -- essays research papers

The Celtic Appreciation of Nature In doing this assignment, I was looking forward to becoming more appreciative of nature, and all that it has to offer us, wanting a better understanding of it all. It seems that we take all of the beauty of our earth for granted, we are spoiled and it shows. In completing this practicum, I hoped to return to a state of mind where everything I see has beauty in it, like a baby seeing things for the first time, when everything is so fascinating, that touching it in complete awe is all I want to do. The Celtic appreciation of nature is what influenced the path I took with this day of reflection. The way they loved it as though it was their child, the way they respected it as though it was their mother, and even the way they feared it, as if it was their school principle (for lack of a better term). They held Mother Earth’s gifts in such high regard, and that is what, to me, is so wonderful about them. Throughout the day I told myself repetitively that, â€Å"The world was not created for us, but us for her.† I felt that personifying earth was more appropriate, considering it’s so alive with so many things that are, and possibly will forever be, unfathomable to us. This was my Lorica, I also wrote a poem that is at the end that meant a lot to me and reflects the way I felt while the sun was descending.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I referred a lot to the Thomas Berry video, recognizing the fact that his feelings are another inspiration for this day. He too, feels that we are way to ungrateful of our natural surroundings, and that we should alter our ways to preserve what is left. I also used an internet article by Carl McColman titled, â€Å"Celtic Spirituality: an Interfaith Approach – What is Celtic Spirituality?† he also describes the Celtic Faith as being: â€Å"†¦earthy, natural, of the soil, of the clay. This is true whether your particular flavor of Celtic wisdom is Pagan, Christian, New Age, or some hybrid thereof. Celtic spirituality is the spirituality of land, sea, and sky; of the rocks and the trees and the animals; of holy wells and standing stones and windswept tors. The earth is our mother; we must take care of her . . . this is not only a native American sentiment, it is a truly Celtic sentiment as well.† (www.druid.org) I felt this was a wonderful statement, because it was what I was thinking the majority of the time ... ...beautiful.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  But through all this wonderful mental â€Å"working out,† I had one fear, the fear that sticks with me no matter where I go, the fear of failure. Whenever that thought crept into my mind, my body became so paralyzed with fear that I would get this immense sensation of being hot. I could feel my face turn a bright shade of crimson, and my eyes welled up with tears to the point that one time all I could do was break down.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I have to admit; coming into this assignment I was very apprehensive. It seemed really â€Å"out there† and a big waste of my time to sit alone for 5 hours straight. Even in the beginning, while I was there I was wary of it all. I almost had to laugh at myself at some points. But as my day carried on, I learned, felt, and absorbed so much, that now I feel ashamed for ever doubting it. And now I have this grasp of nature and spirituality as one common ground that I thought I would never have. I take the time to stop and think about if what I have been taught, or everything I believed to be true ever was. I question things instead of just accepting them. I go beyond the surface of everything in life now.

Discuss one explanation of Personality Development and evaluate its conclusion

For this assignment I am going to discuss Freud's perspective of personality development. Freud used psychoanalytic theories that are based around the emotional development of the personality, whereas Erikson's psychosocial theory focuses more on the role of social factors in development. Personality development can be broken down into three strands within Freud's theory: the personality structure, defence mechanisms and psychosexual development. Personality can be defined as ‘ the distinctive and characteristic patterns of thought, emotion, and behaviour that define an individual's personal style, and influence his or her interactions with the environment'. (Atkinson et al, 1992) Freud developed his theories by psychoanalysing adults, mostly middle-aged women and individuals with personality problems. He used various methods to study his patients, such as, dream analysis; which are interpretations of individual's dreams as they are a â€Å"window on the unconscious† (Davenport, 1988), free association; where the person is given a word or a phrase and encouraged to say the first thing that enters their head and ‘slips of the tongue'; which is when a person says something in error but these can subconsciously reflect what they really mean. Freud suggests that adult personality is derived from the interaction between the desires for pleasure and how early desires were gratified. He believed that all human behaviour is controlled by drives, which he relates to human instincts. Freud insisted that there are two forces feeding our instinctual urges with energy; the Libido and the Death Instinct; the Libido being a sexual energy and the Death Instinct being more of an aggressive energy. According to Freud, the adult human mind is made up of three different parts and levels of awareness; the unconscious mind, which he named the ‘Id'; the preconscious mind, which he named the ‘Superego', and the conscious mind, which he named the ‘Ego'. The Id is at the centre of a person's very being. It is the initial part of a human's personality structure, which exists, right from birth and can be described as the most primitive instinct. This part of the personality craves satisfaction and pleasure; therefore it has been coined ‘the pleasure principle'. The Ego is known as the second part of the personality structure. This is the part of our personality that keeps us in touch with reality. Its aim is to protect us and it helps us to perform tasks safely; therefore-coined ‘the reality principle'. The Ego controls both other parts of the personality, the Id and the Superego, which help keep our lives in balance. The last part of the personality structure is the Superego. This is the part that moulds our morals and conscience. It helps prevent us from doing things, which we have learnt and know to be morally wrong; therefore this part has been coined ‘the morality principle'. The ego ideal exists as part of the superego. Rather than telling us what we should not do, the ego ideal tells us what is good and what we should do and be like. If the person has a strong superego they are more likely to have stronger morals than a person with a weak superego. Because the Id and the Superego are always conflicting against one another, the Ego needs to have strategies to reduce anxiety. This helps push problems away and in a way pretending the problems don't exist, a form of denial, these are known as defence mechanisms. Another defence mechanism is repression; this is where the Id's impulses are blocked from reaching the conscious mind. There are a number of other defence mechanisms, including projection; where unacceptable desires or characteristics are projected on to someone else, and displacement; this refers to the transfer of repressed desires or impulses onto a substitute person or object. (Mike Cardwell, 2000) Freud's contributions with his theories on defence mechanisms are still being practiced today and are experienced as valid and useful. According to Freud we acquire our personalities in several stages, known as psychosexual development. Freud thought that different parts of our bodies become particularly sensitive as we grow through these different stages; he called these areas erogenous zones. (Davenport, 1988) As children grow up and are experiencing the stages of psychosexual development, different parts of their bodies become more sensitive, first the mouth, then the anus, then the phallus, and finally the genitals. The libido seeks pleasure through these erogenous zones. The five different stages of psychosexual development are labelled as: The Oral Stage – this is the first year of a baby's life where the baby gains pleasure from sucking and biting. The Id exists here right from birth. The Anal Stage – this is around the age of one to about three years where the pleasure derives from retaining and expelling faeces. At this stage the Ego begins to develop. The Phallic Stage – this is around three until six years where the sensitivity is placed around the genitals. This is the where the Oedipal Complex or the Electra Complex unfolds. It is during this stage the Superego starts to develop. The Latency Period – this is around seven until twelve years where the body seems to have no sensitised area. A child will be more interested in interacting with other people but are not strongly attracted to others. The Genital Stage – this is around the age of 14 to 17 years. The child becomes more aware of the opposite gender and a sexual awareness is developed. The Oedipal Conflict that occurs in the Phallic Stage involves the child experiencing feelings of desire for the opposite-sex parent. The child experiences a fear that the same sex parent will find out and punish them for this, resulting in feelings of envy and the development of ‘castration anxiety'. Whilst all this is happening to the child subconsciously, they start to become more like the same sex parent adopting their characteristics to conquer the Oedipal Conflict, (known as the ‘Electra Complex' in girls). This is known as ‘Identification'. His ideas on psychosexual development are known to be quite controversial, as they seem to be overly obsessed with sexuality. Freud developed the theory that sex was a major motivational force at a time of great sexual repression. This could have caused sex to be something that was repressed in many minds (Beryard & Hayes, 1994). Freud alleges emotional disturbances that occur in adult life could be to do with poor psychosexual development. He believes that a person could be fixated at an early pleasure seeking stage of the development. This is caused if the child experiences severe problems or excessive gratification at any of the stages. The adult may display regression whereby their behaviour could become less mature and similar to behaviour displayed at the stage, which they are fixated. Freud places great importance on the roles of regression and fixation in determining personality. Freud's theories have not been without criticism, they have mostly been criticised for being unscientific. His research support seems to be rather weak as the case studies he carried out mainly consisted of adults, mostly middle-aged women, from the same culture, so the results may be biased. The only child Freud studied was Little Hans, a five-year-old boy, who suffered from a phobia. Freud's ‘evidence' for his explanation of how children's personalities grow does not come from experiments or any scientifically acceptable means of data collection. It doesn't even come from observing ‘normal' children. It comes from the dreams and spoken memory of a relatively small number of people who mostly lived in Vienna, who had some personality ‘problems'. (Davenport, 1988) Another method Freud used to analysis people was hypnosis. This was another widely criticised method, as even Freud admitted himself can be suggestive. However, despite many criticisms Freud remains known for having the most influential impact in modern psychology, especially in the areas of abnormal behaviour and psychotherapy. Today his ideas are used in everything from childcare, education, literary criticism, and psychiatry. He founded the psychoanalytic movement, which today many Neo-Freudians still actively use, although the emphasis of it is different.