History of Computers :: Computers Technology Technological Essays

History of Computers It all began on a brisk, damp October evening in the year nineteen hundred and ninety-nine. All was silent in the household except for the incessant whistling of the tea kettle on the kitchen stove. Oh, and how can I forget the humming of the lawnmower in the backyard. I had just arrived home from band practice when the doorbell rang. Anxious to see if it was for me, I raced down the stairs in hopes that I had received a package, or perhaps flowers, from a boy. My mother answered the door and before my eyes, the largest box ever known to man was placed on the living room floor; it was our very first computer. Somehow I had forgotten that my mother had ordered one for the family only weeks before, and suddenly, caught up in the heat of the moment, my hopes of flowers from that boy in school vanished. Excitement and enthusiasm to put on my scuba gear and surf the web overwhelmed me within no time at all. I couldnÏ€t wait any longer to open the box and assemble th is new piece of machinery or to type my first paper using Microsoft Word or talk to my best friends via America Online. I felt on top of the worldà ¤no, waità ¤on top of the World Wide Web. (Cha-ching!) My parents amassed (emphasis on massà ¤haha) the computer in a half hour, and immediately after supper, I clicked on the icon displaying America Online. Without any hassles, I set up a screen name for myself and began talking to my friends. Naturally, I had no idea what I was doing, not even how to speak to more than one person at a time. Everything was going as smooth as possible; the computer was up and running and the family was content with the dayÏ€s accomplishments. Just when I thought I had it made-in-the-shade J, the computer started going haywire on me. It kicked me offline, the screen went blank, and the entire intricate system crapped out on me. The first thought that entered my head was, Oh snap! The world is crashing down on me I rushed to find my parents to fix the problem, but it was too lateà ¤the computer was gone, or at least I thought it was.

The Ethics of the American Invasion of Iraq

The American invasion of Iraq in 2003 is certainly one of the more controversial foreign policy initiatives of the 21st century. The general facts surrounding this event are clear: on the 20th day of May 2003, the United States, with support from Great Britain and a host of other western nations, invaded Iraq in response to intelligence reports of weapons of mass destruction. Up until May 1, 2003, these forces fought to successfully topple the regime of Saddam Hussein and to usher in a new era for the Iraqi people and the Iraqi nation.However, these facts were not the main source of tension that this military imperative created; instead, the ethical implications behind the invasion and the debates concerning the reasons for entering the war are what have sparked protest, of which most notably has been the record-breaking anti-war rally in Rome one month before the invasion. Unfortunately the debate is too often discussed in terms of consequences alone.On one side the pro-war supporte rs have cited the need to protect America from further attacks, to stave off nuclear holocaust and to remove a maniacal dictator from power, while on the other side anti-war protesters have argued that the invasion costs far too many innocent American as well as Iraqi lives. Of course, in our ethical discourse we cannot ignore consequences, but along with consequences we must also consider principles. Therefore, in this essay, I will look at the ethics of the American invasion of Iraq through the lens of Kantian ethics.I will begin with a discussion of Kant’s theory and move from this to argue against the invasion based on Kant’s first maxim of the categorical imperative. Kant’s ethical theory is deontological in that it does not focus primarily on consequences, but first and foremost on principles. These principles he forms from practical human reason and the moral principle that he names the categorical imperative. In its two forms this imperative offers a uni versal ethic that all rational human beings in all ages and from all cultural backgrounds should be able to recognize.The first maxim deals with the universalizing of human behaviour: â€Å"Act only on that maxim which you can at the same time will to be a universal law† (Kant, [1785] 1948, p. 421). The purpose of this maxim is simple in that it forces the moral agent to take his or her actions as implying a universal code. For example, if a moral agent is considering telling a lie because it will prove beneficial to him or her in that situation, he or she must consider that if all other moral agents told lies in the same situations then any society based on a basic level of trust and truth would inevitably collapse.One person’s ethic universalized would destroy an entire social structure. In other words, Kant challenges the ethical person not to make an exception of him or herself. The second maxim deals with the way in which other human beings are to relate to other human beings. Kant states, â€Å"treat humanity†¦never simply as a means, but always at the same time as an ends† (Kant, [1785] 1948, p. 429). People should always be treated as the final goal of our moral actions and not merely the way in which we realize other personal agendas.Although both of these maxims may lend important ethical insights to a discussion on the invasion in Iraq, the first maxim offers a far more concrete model in which to discuss the invasion and therefore we apply it alone. There are many criticisms against the invasion into Iraq, but I will focus on three specific criticisms: insufficient evidence for the invasion, going beyond the United Nations, and the use of military force over diplomacy. Firstly, as admitted by the C. I. A in 2005 and verified by the invasion itself, the claim that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction was a weak—or even false—reason for going to war.It seems, therefore, that the U. S. was simply taking far too drastic steps without proper research. If we were to universalize this practice, the world would be faced with a terrible increase in violence and war. Not only would enemies attack one another on good suspicions, but even allies would be lead to attack one another based on the weak suspicion that each country may have bad intentions toward the other. This type of global policy is not acceptable for a single nation, and this is made perfectly clear in the fact that it cannot be responsibly universalized.Secondly, the U. S. went above the recommendations of the U. N. and acted out of line with the U. N. ’s policy. In this respect, according to the definition of Kofi Annan and the U. N. Security Council, the invasion of Iraq was technically illegal. If we again apply Kant’s universalizing maxim to the U. S. ’s behavior we have another strong criticism of the invasion. The U. N. was expressly created by the consent of most of the countries of the world as a sovereign power that would be allowed to resolved global conflict between nations.As Thomas Hobbes points out in his Leviathan, any individual or group that submits to a sovereign has the responsibility to accept the judgments of that power. The U. S. , in its flagrant disregard of the U. N. ’s policy, clearly did not respect the power of the sovereign and in this way set a dangerous precedent for unilateral military action. If the entire world were to universalize this ethic there would remain no authority in the world and all nations would return to the brutal Hobbesian state of nature. Lastly, the U. S.’s decision to invade made a clear statement that military action is preferable to the diplomatic option. For any civilized society, war must always be the last option, if it is to be used at all. Many supporters of the invasion may claim that the Bush administration had no other option, but it is clear that the administration did not do nearly as much diplomacy as it could have. Other nations should have been included in the process and negotiations should have been more controlled within the influence of the U. N. If we universalize the U. S.’s action to go to war before pushing for diplomacy, the diplomatic option in the world would collapse. In this sense, there would be little hope of peaceful solutions to inter-national conflicts, but instead a future of pre-empted strikes and quick invasions. If this would indeed become the case, the world would need far more than Kantian ethics to save it from its inevitable decline. References Hobbes, Thomas (2006). Leviathan. New York: Dover Publications, Incorporated. Kant, Immanuel (1948). Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals. (H. J. Paton, Trans. ). London: Hutchinson.(Original work published 1785, and published in a collection in 1903; page references to this edition). Kant, Immanuel (1836). The Metaphysics of Ethics. (John William Semple, Trans. ). Edinburgh: Thomas Clark. (Original wo rk published 1785). Paton, Herbert James. (1971). The Categorical Imperative: A Study in Kant’s Moral Philosophy. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. Ross, Dennis. (2008). Statecraft: And How to Restore America’s Standing in the World. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. Steel, Jonathan. (2008). Defeat: Why America and Britain Lost Iraq. Berkeley: Counterpoint.

Yu Chen And The White Man Behind The Poem Essay - 1489 Words

Yu-Chen and the White man behind the poem. A very interesting topic, the article focuses on a white man s journey to publication in which he has to fake his name in order to have his poem receive recognition. Does the color of your skin matter? In what ways are the life experiences of an Asian American man more fascinating than a white American? Is the poem any good or is it just the writer s image that is worth anything? Option d: Ulitaritism What should I do? According to Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill we should live for pleasure because it is good. Good equals pleasure. Maximizing the good for the greatest amount of good for the greatest number. Also, it was said that under this philosophy that everyone s good is worth the same and it is all equal to another person s good. Yu-Chen s poem, published as Yu-Chen, was published with the greatest amount of good possible. By using an Asian name he drew attention to the Asian American community and that is good, right? But he is a white man and did it solely for his pleasure, and to see if he could. What he did wasn t illegal, it wasn t wrong but it bothered everyone because he was a privilegalled white man using an underprivileged name to get attention. This action shows the hypocriacy of judging someone on their lineage. Yes, this is American and a lot of things were done under the assumption that it was for the greatest good of the country, but n ot everything. Most every family in nation was theShow MoreRelatedComparative Study of Pakistan Chinese Cultures13385 Words   |  54 Pages† and when Culture in this sense is the unstated rules by which was warned not to speak to women on the street or in other places of potential casual contact. country wear long loose white robes and red checkered head scarves. The scarves are different one from the other, with each indicating which tribe the man belongs to. Women wear long black robes, some covering their entire faces. One can see them standing looking in shop windows that display colorful Italian women’s evening gowns, whichRead MoreConfucianism in Journey to the West31834 Words   |  128 Pagesposition is that media do indeed influence viewers behavior.[28] Television programs are thus most likely produced and assessed with this notion in mind. Therefore, regardless of whether this view is correct or incorrect, a study on the intentions behind the Journey to the West drama series makes sense. 3. Background 3.1. China’s Media Reform Understanding China’s media landscape and the changes it has undergone, is essential for comprehending Journey to the West. 3.1.1. From Class Struggle toRead MoreStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall393164 Words   |  1573 PagesUniversity William J. White, Northwestern University David Whitlock, Southwest Baptist University Dan Wiljanen, Grand Valley State University Dean Williamson, Brewton-Parker College Hilda Williamson, Hampton University Alice Wilson, Cedar Crest College Barry Wisdom, Southeast Missouri State University Craig Wishart, Fayetteville State University Laura Wolfe, Louisiana State University Melody Wollan, Eastern Illinois University Evan Wood, Taylor University Fort Wayne Chun-Sheng Yu, University of HoustonVictoria