Ethics

Immigration has caused a huge impact towards the United States of America in the economic, political, and social aspects. Population rate itself showed how much diverse the people living in this country citizens mixed with foreign-born immigrants. The most obvious reason for the large number of immigrants residing there would be the economic. Mexicans, Asians, and Chinese hunger the American dream- all of them fled from their native countries in hopes of escaping poverty and grab the chance to earn more financially.

But as the years went by, the US government suffered from trying to enact their laws against illegal immigrants. Humanitarian organizations were also hovering over their actions in case they treated these foreigners with abuse. Laws should never be biased, even with the US Immigrations conflicts with these foreign-born people. To put preference over policies would garner criticism from several countries. It may even result to antagonism and alienation to the Americans residing also abroad. The Chinese Exclusion Act and the treatment towards the US-born Japanese during World War II are enough proofs that overlaying too much suspicion would not help on the matter.

The naturalization process, however, should practice preference on the immigrants. It is a privilege that would benefit not only to the immigrant but of the country as well. Why select someone who cannot offer contribution to the countrys progress US had the right to protect herself from being abused of its resources. Outsourcing was already frowned upon, what more on granting citizenship to the people who would not even contribute to its work force It is not on the matter of what race those immigrants belong to but what he or she can offer to the country. At the end of the day, it is a matter of putting balance on one states protectionism and universal human rights.

It can not be disputed that personal, professional and emotional satisfaction are critical for sustainable living. It is because they enhance an individuals inner power that enables the same to deal with various challenges with ease. This study identifies the level of personal, professional and emotional satisfaction of working adults after they have obtained a bachelors degree. In a survey conducted by Jones, professional working adults are personally satisfied with their lives as well as the jobs that they have taken up. Statistical evidence from this survey indicates that a significant 86 are very satisfied with their personal lives and experiences at the workplace. However, Jones notes that the level of satisfaction has reduced and it is an indication that the level of personal satisfaction is reducing over time.

Notably, previous surveys indicated a higher percentage of personal satisfaction than this. In their critical review, Dendiger, Gary and Jamie  assert that personal satisfaction is adversely affected by the implications of retirement. Thus, they indicate that the young entrants in the job market who have degrees tend to have a higher degree of personal satisfaction than their aging counterparts.
Similar sentiments have been echoed by Wright, Bennet and Dun  who indicate that generally, the level of personal satisfaction of Americans is high. This trend according to them has been experience since 1999 when they started making reviews regarding the same. They argue that this is attributable to an increase in the quality of life in the recent past. In this regard, Sandra et al affirms that increased quality of life impact upon personal satisfaction because of its ability to fulfill various physical and emotional needs of the population.

With regard to professional satisfaction, it can be ascertained that the level of satisfaction is relatively low within the US workforce and especially that of entrants with degrees. In her analysis, Maria et al indicates that the level of satisfaction amongst nurses is relatively low. This is attributed to various factors that range from the level of income, the location of hospitals to the nature of the work load that this segment of the population is exposed to. In her analysis, Franco affirms this and shows that generally, the level of job satisfaction within the US is low. In her consultative analysis, she argues that less that a half of the Americans are not satisfied with their jobs. With regard to the age cohorts, she confirmed that those that are under the age of thirty years portray the lowest level of satisfaction. Reasons for the lack of satisfaction are wide and varied with the most profound being the level of income.

A more recent study undertaken by TNS confirms that professional satisfaction has declined significantly in the past decade. Presently, the study indicates that the level of satisfaction is at its lowest. Further, it warns that this is likely to have negative implications on the production of the employees. The study continued to indicate that all forms of professions and ages are affected in this regard. Specifically, the study indicated that only forty six percent of the population is satisfied with the nature of their profession.

Emotional satisfaction of the working adults with degrees in the US has not been spared either. Emotional satisfaction as indicated by Schor has decreased significantly since the onset of the post modern period. She ascertains that this is attributable to the need for increased production and the increased involvement of Americans in the job market. In order to sufficiently cater for the numerous economic needs, Schor indicates that professionals take up several jobs at ago. The resultant exhaustion compromises their ability to enjoy emotional fulfillment. In his study, Crawford et al also indicated that the level of emotional satisfaction of the working segment of the population that holds degrees is low across the globe. Just like Schor, he argues that the present day economic difficulties have increasingly made it difficult for the population to experience emotional satisfaction.

Waite and Evelyn attribute this situation to the declining interest in the basic institutions of religion and marriage. According to them, marriage and religion are elemental in curbing stress and enhancing emotional satisfaction. Seemingly, these are no longer valued in the current society that is characterized by increased cases of divorce as well and decreased interest in religion.

From the review, it can be ascertained that the level of personal satisfaction of the working adults after they have obtained their bachelors degree is high. This is attributable to the increased quality of life that they assume after getting better paying jobs. However, their professional and emotional satisfaction is very low. This is because of the demanding nature of their jobs that gives them little time for emotional refreshment. As it has come out from the review, it is also clear that the low levels of income prevent them from experiencing professional satisfaction.

This is a review of the article entitled Effects of Computer Surveillance on Perceptions of Privacy and Procedural Justice,  which examines how employees react to electronic surveillance in the workplace, specifically in terms of their perceptions of the impact on their privacy and perceptions of procedural justice. The article is by Bradley Alge and was published in the Journal of Applied Psychology in 2001. The author is an Associate Professor of Management at Krannert Graduate School of Management at Purdue University in Indiana. This paper came out of his PhD in Business Administration research, in which he wrote a dissertation entitled Electronic performance Monitoring and Control Systems (EPMCS) An Examination of the Roles of Organizational Justice and Organizational Privacy. This is in line with his current research interests, which includes information management, human-technology interaction, employeeemployer rights, and motivation. He currently teaches organizational behavior and human resource management at the graduate level (Krannert Graduate School of Management website, 2009).

he author argues that managements decision to implement a surveillance system is very important because it has considerable implications for an organization but that little attention has been paid to this decision even though many employees have negative feelings about monitoring. He notes that, from a psychological perspective, issues such as trust, privacy, and justice beliefs have to be considered. Therefore, the key research question asked by the author was what are the effects of electronic monitoring and control systems on privacy and perceptions of procedural justice From this the researcher outlined three hypotheses relating to (1) the impact of privacy beliefs on procedural justice beliefs, (2) the impact of relevance of the surveillance, level of employee participation in the surveillance initiative, and consistent administration of surveillance on privacy beliefs and procedural justice beliefs.

Based on the data collected, the researcher found that relevance and participation were significant in the study, both being inversely related to feelings of invasion of privacy and explaining a significant amount of the variance in the procedural justice construct. He found that effect of relevance on procedural justice was entirely mediated by feelings of invasion of privacy, while participation had both a direct (unmediated) and indirect (mediated) impact on procedural justice. Consistency was found to be significant in terms of explaining procedural justice construct but had no significant impact on feelings of invasion of privacy

I think this is a significant area of study for several reasons. First, the authors note that electronic systems provide various tools to enable managers to collect data and monitor employees, often without their knowledge. And currently, American firms can still monitor employees almost as much as they want and so a large number of organizations and workers are affected by this practice. Second, this question is important because the way in which such systems are implemented will impact their success and therefore this has implications for the organization. It is therefore important that managers consider various issues in implementing such a system because otherwise good intentions could lead to more harm than good. Research such as this one can provide managers with information on how to best set up electronic performance management and control systems, as well as providing information on potential areas that managers should consider when making these decisions. Based on the results of the research, Alge offered some suggestions in this area. He notes that when managers monitor job-specific activities and when employees are able to contribute to the process, then employees have less problems with being monitored. It seems to me then that the relevance of the monitoring and the level of employee participation in implementing the scheme are two things that managers have to consider if they want their surveillance system to work effectively with as little downsides as possible.

Question1  What are the facts  Irma, a student teacherintern is very busy with her schedules and Mrs. Baxter, her Supervising teacher wants to meet with her.
Question2  Identify  define the ethical problem. Irma being a student teacherintern is not concern on the well-being of her students.
Question3  Is Irmas performance as a professional-in-training adequate Explain.  Irmas performance as a professional-in-training is not adequate because most and foremost she should consider talking with Mrs. Baxter regarding the classroom curriculum and review teaching plans.
Question4 What options do you see are available to resolve this dilemma  Irma should exercise time management so that she could perform all her obligations.
Question5  How would you proceed if you were the Supervising teacher  If I were the Supervising teacher, I will send out a letter to Irma to meet with her on weekends and schedule the meeting ahead of time so that she could put it on her priority list.
Case  2
Question1  What are the facts  Peter is determined to pass his internship program.
Question2  Identify  define the ethical problem.  Peter made Mrs. Jackson upset because he destroyed the trustworthiness given by his Supervising teacher.
Question3  Is Peters performance as a professional-in-training adequate Explain. 
Peters performance as a professional-in-training is adequate because he looks after the well-being of his students and knows how to carry on his responsibility with his profession and colleagues.
Question4 What options do you see are available to resolve this dilemma  Peter should talk with Mrs. Jackson and ask for her apology.
Question5 How would you proceed if you were the Supervising teacher  If  I were the Supervising teacher, I would talk with Peter seriously and discuss his internship program.

With an approximate of about eighty-five million people, Turkey is largely composed of the Turks who are closely followed in numbers by the Kurds. It is one of the ethnic-religious states that resulted from the break up of the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th century. The Turkish people constitute of close to eighty percent of the total population, the Kurdish people twenty percent while the other groups constitute about one percent and the two major ethnic groups are predominantly Islamic.  Though these people have lived together for a long time, political polarization has more than often caused ethnic rifts between the different ethnic groups mainly between the Kurdish and the Turkish. A good example of this is the close to twenty years conflict between these two ethnic groups in Turkeys south East region. These ethnic problems are deep rooted within the community and are believed to be partly related to the constitution enacted about seventy years ago by one of Modern Turkeys founder Mustafa Kemal (Michael 41). This constitution denied the right to existence any distinct ethnic sub-group in turkey. As a result this has always led to a serious suppression of any ethnic identity of the minority groups mainly Kurds such as in 1991 when the use of the Kurdish language was termed illegal despite the language being widespread.
Kurds repression dates back to the era of Turkey foundation as illustrated by Kevin Mc Kernan in his book The Kurds A people in search of their homeland (Ferhad and Gulistan 23). He says that Turkey was founded in 1923 under the autocratic Ataturk after the Young Turks association was prompted to assert for the states independent following the humiliation and exploitation by victorious allies after World War II. Since Ataturks ideology of Turkification, Kurdish people have always been sidelined in matters of nationality. These ethnic issues are more pronounced in the Turkish governments efforts to suppress any move by the Kurdish to form political affiliations. There are records of Kurdish politicians being harassed or imprisoned and political parties being banned on the basis of crimes of opinion (Kemal and Gareth 35). In 1994 for example Leyla Zana the first woman of Kurdish background to have been elected to the Turkish legislature was jailed for fifteen years and her party banned for claims that she had issued a separatist speech. Ethnicity issues has also resulted into the holding of resources from the Kurdish majority south East Turkey by the government of Ankara thus leading to underdevelopment of this region. This has resulted into two distinctly contrasting extremes in turkey the highly developed Western and Northern and the less developed Eastern and Southern (Michael 57). There have been separatist movements such as Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) that  have been fighting for the rights of the Kurdish people though they have severally faced resistance from the government leading to deaths of thousands of people and displacement of millions of people specifically the  Kurds.  According to Kerim Yeldiz, the situation in the South and East is not just a matter of severe unhappy coincidences that have impoverished the areas but as a result of Turkeys government deliberate pursuit for an anti-Kurdish motive.
The government has continued to oppress very effort of Kurdish identity and this was more evident in 2006 when the government employed the services of 5,000 troops in the south East to stop riots due to the killing of 14 PKK members (Ferhad and Gulistan 78). This led to a further killing of 14 civilians which the Diyarbakir mayor referred to as a result of unresolved political and social wrangles such as unemployment and inequality. Every aspect of the Turkish government such as the military, judicial ad the police have been used to promote discrimination. The situation was expected to worsen with the approach of Turkeys general and presidential elections as most notable figures in the government called for more suppression of Kurdish identity.      
According t a 2005 report by Amnesty International there have been torture, assassinations and death threats of lawyers and human rights activist and this has deterred any effort to resolve the ethnicity issue in Turkey. For example the 2005 Kurdish Human Rights Project mission investigating the ethnicity situation encountered sixty investigations from the government forces where 12 prosecutions (Kemal and Gareth 98). Though legal, Kurdish political parties such as Kurdish democratic Society (DTP) have either been banned or declared guerillas by the government. Erdogan the Turkish prime minister declined to hold any dialogue with the DTP people argue that they were aligned to PKK which he refers to as terrorist group yet it is a human rights association asserting for the rights of the Kurdish (Michael 143). A further 10 election threshold and which is the highest among all European countries implemented by the Turkish government sought to deny south east Kurdish parliamentary representation. The media also has been hardly hit by the government efforts to counter ethnicity issues. From the reports of the association of Turkish publishers, 47 writers were prosecuted while KHRP report that 284 books were banned by the government on the allegations of promoting hatred and insulting Turkishness (Kemal and Gareth 121). Radio stations and newspapers such as pro-Kurdish face permanent closure because of advocating for Kurdish rights. The government has strict control over the Use of Kurdish language in broadcasting and in teaching. 
In trying to resolve the ethnic issue, different aspects have been considered and they include the states culture of politics, consciousness levels among leaders and the populace, nature of relationships among the ethnic groups and the nature of conflict, the differences and similarities among the ethnic groups. The issue of ethnicity has threatened to divide Turkey. The political differences are the foundation of this possible split. Erdogan of late has tried to resolve the matter by granting Kurdish rights. In recent years, there has been the recognition of Kurdish language in private schools and in broadcasting. Though prohibited in the past this move is determined to change the attitude of Kurdish people towards the government. Erdogan has also allowed more space for the creation and working of human rights groups which was not the case in the past (Kemal and Gareth 63) . Press freedom has been asserted to try and resolve a possible division of the Turkey state along tribal boundaries which could be of serious harm in future. He has been working with the international community to so as to assert confidence in the government among all citizens of Turkey. However, granting of Kurdish rights has been resisted by 52 of Turks who feel that this is unacceptable while in another case 74 of the Turk population feel that constitution recognition of Kurds is unacceptable. This has threatened to divide the country even more since the Kurds are in for these changes. The prime ministers effort to counter the ethnicity issue is faced by the negative attitude of the Turks and this is deterring any future prospects of a united Turkey. This situation may not become any better unless there is government good will and the international communitys attention. Erdogans bid to stop an ethnic break up lack to bear fruits given that about 48 of Turks feel that the break up of Turkey is positive (Ferhad and Gulistan 97). The fate of whole matter then will depend on the attitude of Turks towards the Kurds. 

Aziz Khan who was previously appointed on the post of an assistant programmer at Zentech Computers (Zentech) has now joined Alpha Computers (Alpha). Every individual views his nature of job from various aspects it should contain all the necessary traits such as satisfying a persons needs currently as well as provide him with a future prosperity and security. A well paid job with all the necessary incentives and benefits attracts every individual and in order to lead better lives, one tends to shift to the jobs that offer security, power, esteem and psychological satisfaction. Self actualization s also one of the demands that a person needs to fulfill for this he desires to work with a compatible staff and manager. Similarly Aziz, who was a hard worker wanted to accomplish his goals of earning more making use of his utmost intelligence and skills, to work in a multinational company, compete with the more reputed workers, utilize and evaluate his skills to the best. Aziz had worked for a respectable period of time with Zentech and was quite happy working there however Alpha was a much larger company offering better future prospects. Aziz realized that in order to meet his personal demands of future development and prosperity, he would have to join a bigger company and preferably one that dealt with international projects. He believed in his potentials and was confident that he would prosper and maintain his reputation in Alpha as he had in Zentech. Alpha handled international relations which were a major attraction for Aziz since it would add up to his resume making his reputation more stable and progressive it would also enable him to prove his capabilities internationally. Keeping all these perspectives in mind, Aziz decided to join Alpha where he was offered the post of a Senior Programmer with a handsome pay. Aziz believed that as an international dealer, Alpha would surely be able to offer him chances of going abroad and trying out his luck. This was bound to increase his experiences, provide him exposure and make him stand out in the corporate sector. Considering the job qualities, Aziz was quite exuberant to join Alpha and prove his credentials simultaneously achieving his aim to progress.
   
Aziz joined Alpha which comprised of a team of five members which was headed by their director, Suparna. Suparna was not a total stranger to Aziz he had met her during the conventional orientation sessions and was eager to work for her. Aziz found his team members quite friendly and cooperative and they gave a warm reception to Aziz which made him quite happy and he in turn introduced himself to the team members and endeavored to know each of them better. He was quite satisfied with the working environment of Alpha and wanted to know more about the person who was behind all this Suparna. For this he consulted one of his team members, Dipti who gave a brief introduction of their boss which gave Aziz an idea that Suparna barely interfered in the subordinates work. Dipti stated that she was comfortable with her style of working and tried to ignore the workers as much as she could. Hearing all this, the image that Aziz was able to devise of Suparna was that of an independent person who did not communicate much. He was quite surprised by this picture of a boss but then he thought that she merely adopted this kind of attitude so that they could put forward maximum results without minimum guidance and interruption. This would probably make the subordinates realize their own mistakes and make them counter the hurdles utilizing their potentials.  Previously at Zentech, Aziz had been working under Suresh whom he considered as a mentor and a guide. He had always allowed his subordinates to think freely and come up with new ideas picking out the flaws in them through discussion and suggestive alternatives. Though he never interfered yet his staff could always turn up to him for guidance and directions. Aziz was pretty much used to this kind of work environment and believed that one of the qualities that a boss must contain is that he should not interfere in the employees work unnecessarily. Aziz wanted to believe that Suparna possessed such traits and if this was the case, he was contented and deemed that it would contribute to his future advancement.  However this was not he case Suparna was quite opposite to the picture Aziz had mentally devised. As it happened to be, the company was facing few hitches with the new software which needed to be fixed instantly. Aziz thought about the problem and was able to work up a few solutions that would be helpful in solving the problem. Thinking about how happy it would make Suparna and make a positive impact on his work, Aziz presented his work in front of her. Unfortunately he was not praised or even acknowledged for this attempt due to which he was taken aback. Thinking that probably his colleagues would be of any help, he presented his ideas in front of them but found no difference whatsoever.
They believed that Suparna believed in following her very own designed strategies which right in majority cases. This attitude of a boss is evidently not appealing and is simultaneously unhealthy for the organization. If I were a peer of Suparna I would suggest her to alter her ways and attitude in order to improve the working environment of the company. A manager needs to build a productive environment where the employees feel free to communicate and share their ideas with each other as well as with the boss so that the problems can be dealt with more efficiently and collectively so that when the company prospers, it would be due to mutual efforts and not individual attempts and ideas. Every individual has their own perspectives and approach to things the combination of individual approaches proves to be of great assistance when striving for productivity. To be a good manager, it is important to like people and make people like you hence a manager has to be a good communicator. If this is not the case then it would be difficult to manage people and maintain harmony among them. This is the quality that Suparna lacks greatly she should make attempts to build up a wide range of contacts within the organization. A friendly collaboration should be built with the employees so that they can give their feedbacks on the progress and the shortcomings of the company and Suparnas role in it. The employees at Alpha were intelligent and skilled and if given an opportunity, they would have surely surpassed Suparnas expectations. Hence she should encourage them to contribute more and develop them in such a manner that they can do their jobs better than her. Suparna is an intelligent manager who always comes up with brilliant ideas increasing the productivity and growth of the company. She should try to transfer these skills to her subordinates so as to progress more and maintain a healthy competition. This would free her mind of the minor problems hence enabling her to tackle much bigger problems and take up new projects for the welfare of the company. Morale should be built among the employees and they should be made competent so that they can deal with some of the problems rather than taking up all the tasks herself. It should be made clear that there is a lot of benevolence and if the company progresses, it is because of the team work and not only the manager. Suparna needs to focus more on appreciating and encouraging the work of her subordinates.

One important trait that an employee needs to maintain in his attitude is consistency of behavior and the capability to deal with hardships. No job is perfect one has to make it through his hard work and continual efforts. There is a possibility that things might not work out as one had planned them the key is never to lose hope. If I had been in place of Aziz, I would have examine the job and its incentive thoroughly and focus on them first. Azizs job was perfect and offered him bright future prospects hence it was according to his requirements except for the factor of Suparnas lack of interest factor. I would have encouraged the team not to give up and rather discuss their problems with the manager rather than making assumptions. Bridging the communication gap from the employees side would have helped a lot. Suparna could be made to realize the intensity of the problem and the bad image that it was creating on the employees which might adversely affect the company in the long run

This paper is a discussion on specific ethical issues for engineers. The National Society of Professional Engineers contains the code of ethics for the engineers. The engineers involve   in activities that are bound to affect the community in a profound manner. Due to this aspect in their line of professionalism they are expected to follow ethical standards in execution of their tasks. Engineering profession is broad this involves the student engineer who is a key player in learning engineering ethics. This is due the fact that it is through the student engineer that the ethical standards are inculcated. Once the student engineer grasps the idea of the ethics within the profession he or she is able to put this in practice in the entire profession. It is these ethics that guide the behavior of the engineers in their profession. This involves safeguarding the rights of the other people and also the environment in the line of duty. In addition, good relationship with the clients and employers in aspects of fairness, impartiality and honesty are ethical standards for the engineers. 

As human beings, we are daily faced with situations that demand us to make a decision. The importance of decision making cannot be overemphasised. Who we ware is a result of what we decide or the decisions we made in the past. Essentially, our survival depends on our ability to make not just choices but the right choice. This makes us moral agents  those who possess the ability to distinguish and choose between what is right and what is wrong.
In ethical philosophy, there are different theories or standards that people use in measuring their actions  whether it is right or wrong. One of such theories is the consequentialist theory which measures the rightness or wrongness of an action on the result of an action. According to the ethical consequentialist, what makes an action wrong is not the nature of the action but the result the action brings. In order words, any action can be right if it brings a good result.
In the case study provided, the shepherd that took the ring of Gyges did not only steal but the result of such an action as described by Plato is likely to lead to an evil consequence. In Platos word, No man would keep his hands off what was not his own when he could safely take what he liked out of the market, or go into houses and lie with any one at his pleasure, or kill or release from prison whom he would, and in all respects be like a God among men (Plato). Making a judgement from this fact, it can be concluded that the shepherd will use this power in a terrible way. The big question is if I should use the second ring
I will use the ring to with the purpose of restoring the Kings kingdom. However, I will do this with the hope that I will not turn myself to a God among men. However, if I do turn myself to a God among men, I only hope that there will not be a third ring. The summary of this is that the world of the consequentialist is a world of hopes. As the end is not known, you only wait and hope that the result of your action will be a good one.

The current paper discusses and evaluated the UN Climate Talks as an example of a global negotiation situation. The impact of globalization and technology on negotiation is evaluated. The paper shows globalization and technology as the two forces that can potentially facilitate the process of achieving a common agreement. These two forces also create a serious challenge to every party that is not prepared to deal with them.
Negotiation Situation That Has Occurred in the Global Context
  Negotiation is a process, in which two or more parties, by means of discussion, seek to reach a consensus (or come to an agreement) with respect to the most problematic issues. In the majority of negotiation situations, such agreement is expected to satisfy all negotiation parties. Unfortunately, the real order of things is quite different. In reality, not all parties have an opportunity to use the results and the benefits of negotiation agreements. More often than not, because of legal, cultural, economic, and political disparities, international negotiation parties fail to understand and recognize the value of such agreements and to use them for their benefit. In the context of international negotiation realities, technology and globalization are fairly regarded as the two major forces the drive the direction and the development of negotiation strategies. Under the impact of globalization and technology, negotiation becomes culturally and politically diverse and technologically more effective. Simultaneously, whether international negotiation parties are able to reach a consensus largely depends on how well they are able to assess the impact of globalization trends on the negotiation process and whether they are prepared to use the latest technology achievements for the purpose of stability and agreement in the process of negotiating the results.
Negotiation Situation in the Global Context Climate and Global Warming
    The year 2009 witnessed the growing attention toward global climate issues. Dozens of international organizations and countries became active participants of various negotiations and meetings, which had to improve international awareness of the climate issues and develop a single universal and effective climate strategy. The United Nations Climate Talks in Copenhagen at the end of 2009 covered a broad range of issues and involved hundreds of political leaders they also sought to promote the culture of inclusiveness and openness in international negotiations. However, the UN Climate Talks also became a good test to how well negotiation parties could accept, assess, and use the impact of globalization trends on the process of negotiating results, and how well they were prepared to use technology as an instrument of achieving mutual agreement.
    One of the major negotiation problems during the UN Climate Talks was caused by delays and diversions created by a group of poor and emerging nations intent on making their dissatisfaction clear (Broder, 2009). The poor and emerging nations became the stumbling block on the worlds way to discussing the most serious climate problems. On the one hand, the so-called Group of 77 sought to strengthen its political position at the summit and to establish a vision of being a powerful decision-making force. On the other hand, many poor and emerging countries were willing to use the new negotiation situation for the sake of achieving their narrow political goals for example, Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez made the rich guilty of destroying the planet, while China continued to raise technical and mostly irrelevant objections to the basic text of the final agreement (Broder, 2009). It should be noted, that the Group of 77 is virtually a team of 130 different countries, including such small and poor states like Vanuatu, and due to the number and diversity of its members, the group is likely to gain and use far greater negotiation power compared to that of, for example, Brazil (Broder, 2009). Generally, the UN Climate Talks signified the international community failure to lead effective international negotiations. By involving so many countries and parties in the negotiation process, the UN created a challenge, which it could not meet. The organization could not predict and assess the impacts, which globalization and technology produce on negotiation in global contexts. For this reason, multiple negotiation parties were virtually unable to reconcile their political interests with those of other negotiators, as well as with the broader objectives of the multidimensional climate talks.


Globalization and Negotiation Assessing the Emerging Disparities
    Obviously, the impact of globalization on global negotiations is two-fold. On the one hand, globalization opens geographical frontiers and brings the parties of international negotiations closer. On the other hand, globalization creates political, cultural, and legal challenges and requires that international negotiation parties take into account the existing disparities between them. To begin with, globalization does not minimize the legal pluralism, which currently exists in the global negotiation contexts. Very often, due to the legal barriers and the complexity of legal implications, even the best international agreement may turn into a legal nightmare, simply because not all countries will be able to adopt it and use its benefits (Phatak  Habib, 1996). Although globalization makes it easier to bring negotiation parties together, it cannot minimize the legal controversies between different countries, and the situation during the UN Climate Talks exemplifies the diversity of legal and political views on the problems of climate change and global warming. In the same way, globalization does not minimize the disparities between national political and economic systems but, on the contrary, makes them more obvious. The openness, which is the direct product of globalization, reveals the hidden facets of political and economic environments, which negotiation parties should take into account in the process of reaching an agreement. Regardless of whether one talks about political or business negotiations, parties involved should thoroughly study the potential political fallout of an international business deal before it is negotiated and the agreement is signed (Phatak  Habib, 1996). However, even legal and political implications in the context of global negotiations are not as serious as those of cultural and ideological character.
Globalization and diversity go hand in hand one the one hand, countries and international negotiation participants strive to form multiple unions and political mergers to pursue their interests on the other hand, the search for mergers and unity is also accompanied by the negotiation parties desire to preserve their cultural and ideological uniqueness. Globalization opens the gateway to inclusiveness, and more and more countries are invited to participate in multilateral discussions similar to the UN Climate Talks, but cultural differences and norms between the negotiators have a significant influence on how they behave throughout the process (Phatak  Habib, 1996). For example, where the American party will be likely to make numerous small concessions and share significant amount of information about their interests and potential limitations, Japanese negotiators will tend to keep away from active information exchange and will leave possible concessions until the very late in the negotiation process (Phatak  Habib, 1996). As a result, the lack of cultural and legal awareness creates a situation, when none of the parties has a chance to achieve the anticipated negotiation outcomes. However, technology could potentially become a successful mediating element in the process of negotiating international business and political outcomes.
Technology and Negotiation The Effects
It would be fair to say that technology does not simply change how we hold international negotiations, but it also changes the ways in which we think about these negotiations. Technology in the context of negotiations produces a whole multitude of impacts, from improving the quality of interpersonal communication up to changing the dynamics and organization of different social and political systems (Purdy, Nye  Balakrishnan, 2000). The impact of communication media on negotiations is probably the most significant and the most positive, for these are communication media (including videoconferencing and computer chats) that bring negotiation parties together and let them discuss even the most problematic issues without the need to travel. The UN Climate Talks and similar global negotiations although require physical presence of negotiation parties but are both technologically sophisticated and advanced that political leaders are given an opportunity to understand each other by using professional interpreting programs makes technology the essential component of any international negotiation success.
Unfortunately, technology does not eliminate the existing cultural and legal disparities between countries nor does it change individual and political perceptions about them. Rather, the success of global negotiations depends on how well the parties are prepared to use these technologies in the process of negotiating results. In its current state, technology often goes far beyond our expectations, making us unprepared to deal with it (Purdy, Nye  Balakrishnan, 2000). For example, the participants of the UN Climate Talks in December could be given access to the basic information about other parties, and technology and the Internet could help them deal with unexpected cultural and legal challenges. Simultaneously, the parties that, for some reason or other, were not able to personally attend the meeting could participate in the discussion by using media technologies, including teleconferences. In this context, where technology may potentially facilitate the process of achieving the general agreement, it also creates a serious technological challenge, which all negotiation parties are bound to meet if they want to protect and pursue their political and business interests. Both globalization and technology have a potential to become the two driving forces in the effectiveness and efficiency of the multilateral negotiation processes, but fulfilling this task will be impossible without training negotiation parties to use the benefits of technology and globalization in the process of achieving mutual agreement.

A young man got very hungry and bought himself a donut with all the money he had left. He needs to eat, otherwise he might collapse. Just before putting the donut into his mouth, a beggar who has not eaten anything decent in days asks for his donut. Being a fervent Catholic and a reader of the Bible, he was taught that he ought to feed the hungry. The child is hungry and so is he. Inside of his consciousness is a voice telling him what to do or what not to do. That  inner voice  is what is called conscience. Confusion ensues.
Conscience is a basic sense of morality that is ingrained in all of man. It guides people s actions into doing what is good. Unfortunately, the good to be done is not always clear in every situation. No piece of literature sometimes could ever clarify the good to be done because what people know of the good is limited.  Conscience therefore have been subject to several interpretations but in essence it can be characterized as an inner voice speaking of a  moral imperative  derived from outside sources of morality but is at the end free from those sources and highly dependent on the individual with the said conscience.
When the good to be done is not always clear, different moral imperatives present themselves. For instance, in the example in the beginning of this literature, a young man is confused about whether he should eat the donut or not. The bible says that he should feed the hungry but both of them are hungry. Some philosopher like Emmanuel Levinas (1969) might say that he should have a greater sense of responsibility toward the  Other . However, for himself, who needs to eat so that he may do his job well and earn so that he may feed his siblings, hence should eat first.  To the end, his action or decision is his and his alone.
From the previous discussion we may therefore agree with T. O Connell s argument that conscience has three facets that he, for convenience, called conscience 1, conscience 2, and conscience 3. Conscience 1 refers to the definition we gave earlier about it being a basic sense of morality. The second one is the aspect of conscience where confusion ensues. It is the basic responsibility of a person to educate himself about the good to be done in different situations and not just say that this is always the good to be done because the law or the Bible says so. This leads the person to examine critical contemporary issues such as homosexuality, same-sex marriage, divorce, masturbation, climate change policies, increasing taxes and death penalties. A person must not settle for what the Bible says and read it at face value. The Bible may have used a figure of speech. Nor should he merely rely on a philosopher s ramblings, a teacher s lecture or a parent s warning. Conscience 2 therefore refers to the aspect of conscience where the individual is presented with different moral imperatives with the main moral imperative of educating oneself in what is ought to be done. The third one refers to the action, the moment of decision that accompanies the voice. 
In many cases, it has been said that the good and what ought to be is relative because different cultures, a clash of beliefs and others. Some say however that the absolute truth has been presented to us through the Holy Bible. Again, conscience is at play as to which claim should be believed in. Again, confusion ensues.

Ethics is described as the branch of  HYPERLINK httpdictionary.reference.combrowsephilosophy philosophy that deals with morals. Ethics is concerned with distinguishing between good and evil in the world, between right and wrong, the virtuous and non virtuous characteristics. Personal ethics are the moral foundation on which people build their lives.  Ethics represents the core value system for everyday problem solving. They create a framework for determining right versus wrong.
Critical thinking is what causes our ethics to be fluid.
Critical thinking is an effort to make reliable, rational decisions about what is reasonable for us to believe and disbelieve. It makes use of the tools of logic and science because it values reason over faith, science over pseudoscience, and rationality over wishful thinking. Critical thinking does not guarantee the arrival at truth, but it does make it much more likely to reach the goal. Raymond S. Nickerson (1987), an authority on critical thinking, characterizes a good critical thinker in terms of knowledge, abilities, attitudes, and habitual ways of behaving. Any situation where we question or figure out stuff is critical thinking. In productive  HYPERLINK httpwww.asa3.orgASAeducationthinkcritical.htm l problems problem solving by generating ideas creatively and evaluating them critically.
HYPERLINK httpen.wikipedia.orgwindex.phptitleEdward_Glaseractioneditredlink1 o Edward Glaser (page does not exist) Edward Glaser writes that the ability to think critically involves three things
1. An attitude of being disposed (state of mind regarding something) to consider in a thoughtful way the problems and subjects that come within the range of ones experiences,
2. Knowledge of the methods of logical inquiry and reasoning, Ethical living  
3. Some skill in applying those methods.Any one of these tools would not help in decision making. I have used a combination of all in day to day life. Be it during examinations, specially math and science or personal decisions. for example recently I saw an advertisement in which Nutri-Marketing advertised its Dream-Away diet pill, as a product that would allow a person to take one pill before going to bed and then wake up slimmer and trimmer. And they had a study done by a medical clinic to prove it. I wondered if that was the whole truth. By doing some research, I found out that Nutri-Marketing did indeed spend 30,000 to have an independent medical clinic round up sixty people for the test. But the clinic put half the people on the Dream Away pill and a 1200 calorie a day diet. The other half of the people were given a placebo (inert medication) and no diet. Amazingly enough, the people on Dream Away and the 1200 calorie diet lost more weight than the ones on the placebo and no diet. Theres a difference between truth and whole truth.

Major branches of ethics include

1.  HYPERLINK httpen.wikipedia.orgwikiMeta-ethics o Meta-ethics Meta-ethics, about the theoretical meaning and reference of moral propositions and how their  HYPERLINK httpen.wikipedia.orgwikiTruth-value o Truth-value truth-values (if any) may be determined

2.  HYPERLINK httpen.wikipedia.orgwikiNormative_ethics o Normative ethics Normative ethics, about the practical means of determining a moral course of action

3.  HYPERLINK httpen.wikipedia.orgwikiApplied_ethics o Applied ethics Applied ethics, about how moral outcomes can be achieved in specific situations

4.  HYPERLINK httpen.wikipedia.orgwikiMoral_psychology o Moral psychology Moral psychology, about how moral capacity or moral agency develops and what its nature is and

5.  HYPERLINK httpen.wikipedia.orgwikiDescriptive_ethics o Descriptive ethics Descriptive ethics, about what moral values people actually abide by.These branches are further divided into Deontological, Consequentialism, Postmodern I try to follow Deontological ethics. In contemporary moral philosophy, deontology is an approach to  HYPERLINK httpen.wikipedia.orgwikiEthics o Ethics ethics that judges the morality of an action based on the actions adherence to rules. I believe very strongly in doing the right thing. Even when its more work, or is unpopular. Those choices are easy, even if the actions arent.They are the path shown by god and respect the rights of all humans. Lord Krishna states in the Bhagwad Gita Do your karma (work) honestly, do not worry about the outcome. I think that if the intention and the work done is good, the consequence will definitely be good.
The world in the 21st century is very different than that of centuries before. In todays world it is definitely difficult to live by ethics. Many people who follow the age old theories are often scoffed at or looked down upon. It is also difficult to stick to your Principles religiously as the demands of life have increased. Many of the ethics are considered impractical too. For example, ethics say that it is always wrong to lie  even if a murderer is asking for the location of a potential victim. Reason and emotion come into conflict, while reasoning and intuition go hand in hand while making judgments. Reasoning is often done by the mind and the emotion arises from the heart. In most situations either one can be right. Aristotle said that we use reason to determine the best way to achieve the highest moral good, while emotion often distracts us from the chosen path. For example, if someone wants to join the army during war, it would be ethical to join, but the emotions for the near and dear ones would not let a person do so. I had to go through a similar situation during the time of my grandmothers demise. All her internal organs had failed, except for the heart. It was the familys choice, to either keep her on the ventilator or to accept fate. In such situations, even intuition has no value.

         I conclude that Ethics are ever changing and depend on many things like religion, era, area, field, etc, but a person must definitely follow the path of humanity as it is the biggest ethic.

In the given scenario the characters are using the agent-focused morality kind of ethics and utilitarianism by analogy. Briefly, the agent-focused morality can be explained in the sense that persons act the way they do, based on a justification that these are their natural instincts, as human beings. Utilitarianism on the other hand relates the action in terms of the consequences as measured by the goods or values. In this case, there is the application of the agent-focused morality because the senator threatened to divulge the chairpersons alleged scandal in hopes of passing the bill that would benefit a lot of people. The senator was only human in doing what might be viewed as an improper act in hopes of obtaining a better result for the majority. The utilitarianism has application because there is the goal of delivering better tax treatments for the people which may be viewed as goods for the people to utilize.
    The ethical theory adopted by the parties in this case is the consequentialist theory which provides in essence that as long as the results are good, even if the means by which it was achieved was bad, the act would still be categorized as good. The improper action that the senator did was to blackmail the chairperson regarding a matter relating to the latters personal life. The senator did an unethical act of threatening to divulge a secret of the chairperson in order to get his bill approved. The benefit that thousands of workers would obtain from the correction of tax equities is considered as the good result achieved through the bad act.
    There is no perfect person or situation in the world. If given a choice, I would do what the senator has done exactly the same way. Assuming that there is no other way by which the bill could be passed into a law, the commission of the blackmail was nothing compared to the possible suffering that thousands of workers would have to go through if the bill was not passed.

Ethics are the norms or morals that guide the actions of people in the society. Consequentilist theory is a moral theory which holds that the consequence of any action guides one to determine whether the action is right or wrong. A morally right action is one that produces a good outcome or consequence (William, 2001). This view is often expressed as the aphorism which means that the end justifies the means. Thus the focus is on the consequence of an action.

Following the increase in lumber prices due to Afghanistan and Iraq war, the company may decide to use substandard materials in order to offset the increase in lumber prices. The consequence of the action is that, they are not going to experience a loss in doing the work thus a happy end. According to the consequentialist theory, the action is morally right since it promotes good to the company, of not going at a loss. It is thus ethical.

A customer may on the other hand decide to hold the contractor to the original bid after unplanned for increase in lumber prices. This would definitely cause a great loss to the company.  If the customer is Donald Trump, who is a wealthy man, it would not be ethical. The idea behind consequentialist theory is to promote either happiness or sadness to the party involved. The question is will Donald Trump feel happy for not having to spend more money The answer is obviously no. Because he has a lot of money and the small amount of money he would gain for this action will not make him happy. The result of his action will not lead to happiness as compared to a person who does not have plenty of money. The latter will tend to appreciate the amount since it makes a difference to the amount heshe has. Consequentialist theory says that an action is ethical if it promotes happiness which it does not in this case.

Philosopher John Locke argues out that the rules of morality aim at insuring a decent, comfortable existence of all persons. He defends the sanctity of the individual and individual pursuits. According to him, the end of morality is set by God. His consequentialism concerns only the advarcement of that end. He says that men judge the most considerate moral Good or Evil of their actions since they like to procure them happiness or misery from the hands of the almighty.

Locke would have solved the above problem differently from the consequentialist theory. Does the action of contractor to use substandard materials ethical If he does this, it would be promote happiness to the contractor but the customer would not be happy. To ensure a comfortable existence of the two parties involved, the action should promote happiness in both parties. The action by the contractor to use substandard materials is thus not ethical, according to Locke.

The idea of the customer holding the contractor to the original bid even after unplanned for increase in lumber prices is also not ethical according to Locke. This is so because, the action would lead to the happiness of the customer and the contractor would not be happy because of the loss it has encountered. Locke as explained before advocates for the happiness of all persons involved.

The main difference between the consequentialist theory and Lockes view is that Locke emphasizes on happiness of all parties involved i.e. the customer and the contractor. The consequentilist theory on the other hand views the consequences of the action to the individual doing the action that is if it promotes good to the contractor in the first case, then the action is morally right, if in the second case, the action promotes happiness to the contractor then it is ethical.

On the other hand, the customer will be happy or rather advantaged since heshe does not need to spend any more money. The money paid to the contraction will remain constant despite the increase in lumber prices. The action hence, according to the consequentialist theory is ethical. This is so because the consequence of the action by the customer leads to happiness.

In summary, an action by an individual to solve a problem heshe is encountering can be interpreted to be either right or wrong depending on the theory heshe uses, as exemplified the above situation.  

The question posed, presumes that it is ethical to have standing armies and that it is ethical in any sense to use war as a means to settle political disputes. Without delving into the arguments against war as an ethically justifiable means, the question can be reframed in a way as to render those arguments of little importance. If we had to train our armies, to combat space aliens, then in a very real sense, consequentialist theory holds true and becomes more of a mandate. If faced with the eradication of a species, in this sense, the human species, any means, regardless of how crude or inhumane become justifiable, as the outcome of not doing so, would insure the whole sale destruction of the species. It is in this sense, that one argument of justifiability comes into view If the consequence is the preservation of the species, not just a way of life, then any and all actions must be taken in support of that outcome.
     The ends justify the means, has become an often touted by line however, this is too often used to justify cruel and bazaar behavior. In the question posed is it ethically justifiable to subject solders to simulated torture in order to increase their respective tolerance of torture if captured, can be justifiable only in the sense, if they (or we) were combating non-human enemies. If the enemy is another human army, then the arguments against war and standing armies applies. However, in the case posed above, then any action, which would insure the survival of the species becomes justified including simulated torture.
Consequentialist theory states in part The value of an action derives entirely from the value of its consequence. It is with this idea that the preservation of the human species would warrant most if not all actions. The value of continuing survival,  which for the most part is a human mandate, clearly makes all actions in this light reasonable. Additionally, simulated torture in this case becomes a minor action, when considering the total destruction of the human race speculating for a  moment, I could see far more grievous actions being taken, but still justifiable under this absolutist scenario. It is with this idea, and the situation stated above, that torture becomes justifiable and perhaps necessary when faced with a dire consequences of non-action.  As a concluding note, reframing the question in this sense, renders traditional arguments against war moot though, I could see some arguments coming to light if in fact we as a human species were to go to war with an alien species.

The central theme of Aimes book revolves around the practice of applying and understanding the situations that provided for colonialism to occur. It provides readers with the capacity to gauge not only how it has created inequality and discrimination, it also became the catalyst for the formation of a new perspective towards the domination and perfection. Here, Cesaire speaks to his readers as an observant who analyzed the conditions and outcomes of European colonialism as it applies to the current conditions shaping society.
    One important analogy made by Cesaire in his book revolves around the conditions of how European colonialism impacted the rise of further atrocities and challenges in Europe. He then correlates these with the Nazi government. He argues that this situation both exemplify the reactions made by Hitler and the Third Reich concerning perfection and the consequence for the European powers who were subjected to such realities. These in turn connotes the lesson of implying the outcomes of such atrocities and how it can be given back.
    Alongside the theme presented in his book, Cesaire also tries to point out the European colonialism and the responses made by Hitler and the Nazi government. Here, he was able to locate and showcase corresponding opinions on key issues that are prevalent between the two. It continues to embark readers towards the sentiments of a man who was subjected into such system and became an important catalyst in clamoring for change.
    In the end, the book provides a challenge among countries and states concerning the application of colonialism. For his part, he still believes that there still remain challenges that correlate with the system and adhering to the conditions of inequality and domination. It is through this that he urges the public to continuously keep an eye and be aware of such realities that can happen.

This book explores on the culture, tradition, ideologies, beliefs and practices of Judaism. Ancient Israel has been defined by the dominance of this religion. Its history has been as rich as the tradition which surrounds it during its establishment. The book provides a comprehensive account on the religions literature, tradition as well as its roots and the significance it poses in the contemporary society. Some of the major points discussed in the book were the ideals of the Passover, Rosh Hashanah, Reform Judaism, Prayer and Community (Neuser i). For someone who has already established a strong interest and curiosity on Judaism, this book serves a very helpful purpose. In the first few chapters, Judaism was defined right to its very core. Its core principles and beliefs were tackled and this aided in a more in-depth understanding of the religion. Its development over the years was also traced in line with Israels rich and dynamic history. On the latter part, the unique and distinct principles were also discussed as well as their impacts and significance in the contemporary society. The collective behavior and attitudes of Israelites were also explicated in relation to Judaism. Certain customs and traditions were referred to in explaining the lifestyles and practices of Israelites. The general impression on the Jewish community was also tackled. In this part, several notions as well as misinterpretations on the Jewish traditions were explicated in line with Jews communal objective of eradicating discrimination and racism against their culture. The book was filled with comprehensive definitions and explications of Jewish terms, beliefs and practices that make people more aware of the real Jewish tradition.
Judaism has also been perceived to be very verbal and expressive about their views on several societal matters. Over the years, Judaism has been very active in pushing forth the importance of laws and commandments. Just like in any other religion or philosophy, Judaism is also a religion which is dependent on commandments and sacred rules. The existence of these laws was said to be of utmost importance in this religion since laws are being considered as a way of displacing the prophecies (77).   The Ten Commandments lay down the basic principles of the holy way of life , according to the popular Jewish belief (77). This implies that this set of 10 rules are being considered as Jewish peoples guide to being close to God, which appears similar to those of other religions commandments purpose.  The Jewish notion of God was also portrayed. Just like in Catholicism, Jewish believe that there can only be one God. This book explicates how solemn and how earnest Jewish people are in terms of praising God. Prayer is the most significant practice in the Jewish tradition. This book emphasizes the importance of this practice and its significance in strengthening Jewish peoples spirituality. Aside from this, the book also tackled different issues concerning the history of Judaism. Firstly, the book explicated on the formation of normative Judaism. It was interesting to note that this change was roused by the conflict in stories and teaching during the earlier parts of the history of Judaism. The point of the transformation centers on the fact that the insiders during those times were already experiencing conflicts in terms of stories and narratives. Because of this, a more stable and defined structure and organization of Judaism emerged. Aside from this a lot of comprehensive discussion on the other developments in the structure of Judaism was also featured in this book. And all in all, this can indeed be considered as one of the most helpful tool in having a good grasp and understanding of the Judaism as a religion and a tradition.
Christianity, by Keith Ward
Christianity is one of the most dominant religion and philosophy in the world. Keith Wards book entitled, Christianity A Beginners Guide, takes a reader to the world of Christianity where teachings, scriptures, practices and beliefs about Jesus Christ rule. Although Christianity centers on one supreme personage, which is that of the Jesus Christ, its ideal as a whole appeared somewhat vague and encompassing to a lot of people and even to the author himself. Although Christianity has been a very challenging ideal to explicate for a lot of thinkers, Ward chose to define it through the distinct and interesting values, practices and beliefs that it holds. Hence, Christianity was explicated in this book through these terms. Ward suggests that a reader can never get a full grasp of the broad ideal of Christianity in one sitting however, he notes that through this book, readers could get a sufficient level of awareness and understanding about the very interesting religion and philosophy of Christianity.
The books starts off with the core belies of Christianity. Firstly, there is the undying belief of divine creation. Christians believe that it was God who created the universe (Ward 7). This appears to be the most important in all the Christian beliefs. Because of this notion, the personage of God is being built up the most supreme, intelligent and powerful being above everyone and everything else in this world. Christians were also known over the years to be one of the strongest contenders of the scientific or the Darwinian view of creation. The book features the arguments that Christianity teaches that support the claim that the universt was never and will never be self-existent. It was a stable and consistent Christian belief that God will always be above everyone and everything else, and that He will always remain as the most implicative and powerful force. Ward was also able to capture how challenged the Christian notion of creation has been through the years. However, it was also shown that despite these arguments and challenges, Christianity never failed to stand firm with its beliefs and principles, which proved how strong and stable an institution  it has been through the years.
Aside from this, the book also features the popular Christian notion about evil and th soul. According to ward, believing that the world was created by an unparalleled force like that of the supreme and divide ability of one God, is to also consider a dynamic creation. This means that the world is created with two side, goodness and evil. The evil in the society has been the most popular contention of the Christian belief. And over the years, just so people would understand the nature and implications of evil, it has already been tackled by a lot of Christian narratives and scriptures. But aside from the concept of evil, one of the most distinct ideal in the Christian tradition was the concept of human soul. Ward had n interesting way of introducing this part of the book. According to him, although humans dwell only on a small and humble part of the universe, the considerably human brain appears to be the most complex object ever encountered by men. Ward considers the idea that there has got to be something about human beings that enable them to comprehend and understand the complex and convoluted ideas and phenomena around them. But he also considers the fact that the human brain is a mere piece of mass therefore, he goes with the Christian ideal of a soul which takes the place of a stronger and more complex aspect of human existence. It can be observed that a lot of other religions also consider a concept of human soul. However, Ward suggests that Christianity has a different way of seeing the human soul since the religion regard the soul as the real connection of humans to spirituality. Hence, the physical human body is but a piece of matter a person shall leave behind after he or she dies. These are just some of the most interesting features of the book. But aside from this, it also tackles a lot of stirring issues that also help people understand Christianity better.
Islam Religion, History and Civilization, by Seyyed Hossein Nasr
According to Nasr and to all the other Muslims in the world, Islam is both a religion and a civilization (Nasr vii). It appears a historical reality that extends to over fourteen centuries of human existence and geographical being in wide areas of land reaching over African and Asian countries and even to some parts of Europe. Islam was seen with a dynamic and rich culture and tradition. Their colorful culture has inspired and stirred a lot of other culture over the years. However, it cannot be denied that Islam has had a negative impression from different individuals because of its association to wars and violence. And this book appears to be a helpful guide and reference in understanding what Islam is really all about.
The book first tackles all the basic principles and ideals of Islam in the beginning chapters. It defined Islam as a religion which is apparently different with Islams definition as a civilization and philosophy. The book presented the strong and stern approach of the Islam religion. It says that
 Islam considers itself as the last major world religion in the current history of humanity  and believes that there will be no other plenary revelation after it until the end of human history and the coming of the eschatological events described so eloquently in the final chapters of the Quran.  (2-3)
The book emphasized on the individuality that is being promoted by the Islam philosophy. In Islam, the spiritual aspect of the world only centers on the principles and prophecies being told by the holy book, Quran. Their world was depicted to be very reserved and conservative in terms of being opened to foreign ideologies and concepts. The book emphasized on the significance and importance of each Islamic principles and their implication on the day-to-day lives of people.
Aside from these concepts, the book also holds a lot of interesting revelations about the different dimensions of Islam. In the middle part of the book, it was revealed that Islam was never a single religion and body of philosophies and knowledge. It actually branches out to a lot of different dimension that are defined by the distinctive and individualistic Islamic traits and principles. Also, the dynamic and colorful history of Islam was also depicted in this book. From the earliest prophecies up the developments that established the principles and institution of the Islamic belief, the book provides a comprehensive trace of the milestones that defined the history of Islam as a religion and as a powerful civilization. Together with the discussion of the Islamic history. the major principles and schools of thought that rooted from Islam were also tapped. All of these theories and perspectives were discussed in a comprehensive way. It can be observed that usually, theological concepts and perspectives delineate the most sensitive, intriguing and revealing ideals. This can also be the reason why a lot of thinkers often have difficult times in presenting these views. However, with Nasrs case, every piece of Islamic perspective and ideology was discussed in detail without hesitation. Every piece of information was presented without any touch of controversy. But furthermore, what appears interesting to note about this book is how it presented the impacts and significance of Islamic principles in the contemporary world. The author emphasized on the idea that Islamic ideologies will always dominate the world in any condition. He suggests that Islamic ideals shall never age and will extend up to the last generation of human existence. Towards the last parts of the book, it was told how Islam was able to survive amidst the turbulent challenges imposed by the naturally difficult world. The stand of Islam in the modern world was also presented which clearly depicted that through the years, Islam was able to stand firm to its principles and teachings. Apart from this, it was also interesting to see how Islam was able to preserve and protect its rich and conservative culture.
Imagined Communities Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism, by Benedict Anderson
Nationalism is one the most significant aspects in keeping and preserving a nations identity. Wherever in the world, nationalism has been one of the most powerful forces that either promotes peace or revolutions. Due to peoples strong adoration to their national identity, national distinctiveness is being promoted, however, ideological clashes also tend to become more heightened. The concept of nationalism can be regarded as universal. Any where in the world, people can easily talk and explicate about the ideal of nationalism. However, it is the historical root of nationalism which appears to need some in-depth scrutiny. This is where this book of Benedict Anderson focuses. It talks about nationalism both in the historic, sociological and political perspectives. It can be assumed that people already have a basic knowledge of what nationalism is however, Andersons work provides sufficient information regarding the root and true nature of nationalism.
In the first few chapters, the history of the nationalism ideal is being discussed. Its cultural roots was also explored in order to discover other possible venues where it originated. According to Anderson, a lot of studies have already explored on the notion of nationalism. However, not all studies explored on it to its roots and core. Hence, this book tried to explore on the unchartered areas of nationalism which people has to know about. Firstly, Anderson suggested that nationalism possibly had an economic origin. The author notes,
 The revolutionary vernacularization thrust of capitalism was given further impetus by three extraneous factors, two of which contributed directly to the rise of national consciousness.  (Anderson 25)
This presents a direct relationship which can easily make people assume that it was indeed the economic ideal of capitalism which brought about the nationalistic spirit among people. Aside from this, reformation was also seen as a probably root of nationalism. The author notes that reformation in Europe has been a great catalyst for major changes and development. These changes and developments encompassed a lot of aspects in the society such as religion and politics. Also the reformation also posted a significant effect on the faith of people to the oneness of their nation. The reformation was also said to have build up the sense of unity and national stability towards the end of the reformation process.
Aside from the root and history of nationalism, the thinkers who served as the pioneers of this ideal were also discussed. These philosophers were seen as the ones who made the ideal of nationalism more comprehensible to people. Because of these pioneers, the wide understanding and awareness of the ideal of nationalism was achieved, and its essence was soon seen to penetrate within every persons consciousness. The relationship between nationalism and imperialism was also tackled. In a lot of instances, these two concepts have been misinterpreted. But this book emphasizes on the gap and distinction between the two which aids in eliminating any faulty understanding. Also, the book was able to tackle a lot of interesting ideals and issues like patriotism and racism. These concepts or issues have been typically associated to the ideal of nationalism. And this book was able to discuss and explicate the relationship between these concepts as well as their significance and implication in the society today. The author was also able to give a current look at the ideal of nationality. It was interesting to learn how the ideal of nationalism evolved through time. And through this book, it was also fascinating to learn how peoples perception on nationalism has also been altered over the years. Although the book made mention of some technical and barely understandable terms on politics and philosophy, it still appears as one of the most comprehensive accounts on the history and development of the nationalistic spirit.
Discourse on Colonialism, by Aime Cesaire
Colonialism is one of the most studied and explored ideal in the world history. It has already made a lot of nations superior and a lot of nations back lagging in terms of scope and territorial strength. In Aime Cesaires work, Discourse on Colonialism, this ideal was discussed and explicated. The work starts off with the explication of the primary movers and catalysts of colonialism. The author decided to introduce the ideal of colonialism by tackling civilization. The author notes,
 A civilization that proves incapable of solving the problems it creates is a decadent civilization. A civilization that chooses to close its eyes to its most crucial problems is a stricken civilization. A civilization that uses its principles for trickery and deceit is a dying civilization.  (Cesaire 1)
Through these descriptions the author seems to delineate the traits and characteristics of a civilization which may or may not overcome colonialism. Colonization was defined in the article as neither a an evangelization nor a philantrophic enterprise. The author clearly suggests that colonization has a lot of similarities with  the adventurer and the pirate, the wholesale grocer and the ship owner, the gold digger and the merchant  as well as  appetite and force  (2). In looking at this logic, it is easy to assume that he author thinks that colonization has a lot to do with superiority. This goes to show that in looking at colonization, there will always appear to side, the inferior which is characterized by the adventurer, the wholesale grocer, the gold digger, and appetite and the superior which has been compared to the pirate, the ship owner, the merchant and force. Through these explications, Cesaire was able to provide some useful insights that easily gives people an idea as to what colonization is. Although the article possessed a more formal tone and approach   considering that it is a discourse   the point of the authors ideas were nonetheless clear and were not blurred up by the fancy and florid terms associated in the text.
The author also discussed peoples most common and typical impressions on colonization. It can be observed through the information delineated in this work that the most common impression to colonization is that it is a negative and suppressive ideal. Most people tend to look at colonization as a manifestation of greed and hunger for power and superiority. This was attributed by the author to the presented events of colonization in the world history. Most of these events were portrayed having the colonizers as villains who took away the power and resources of the colony. Most of these events were portrayed in a such a way where the sentiment of the colony was the most significant focus.
One interesting feature of this article was how the author tried push through the understanding of the ideal of colonization. According to Cesaire, people must scrutinize  how colonization works to decivilize the colonizer, to brutalize him in the true sense of the word, to degrade him, to awaken him to buried instincts, to covetousness, violence, race, hatred, and moral relativism  (2). The author also notes that in understanding the true nature and implications of colonization, people must also understand the factors and catalysts that brought colonizers to that states of formation. The main ideal that the author points out in this discussion is the function of aristocracy and superiority. It cannot be denied that the development in terms of technologies and scope has not been equally dispersed and distributed in all nations. While some nations continue to rise in terms of wealth, power and territory, some remains back lagging. Because of this, scarcity and inequality worsens. One of the main promises of colonization is a communal benefit. It promises both sides of a kind of benefit they can acquire. However, instead of alleviating the situations of the back lagging nations, colonization appears to further push them down beneath the more powerful and influential colonizers.
Torture Is a Moral IssueChristians, Jews, Muslims, and People of Conscience Speak Out, by George Hunsinger
This work by Hunsinger is a collection of views from scholars, activists, military officers, and religious leaders in line with their movement against the torture and violence being practiced in the American war on terror. In this book, torture has been regarded as a serious moral issue that continues to hunt the US interrogation in Iraq. This issue has put a lot of people into states of fear and dread since a lot of dreadful events are already springing from this moral dilemma. Several background materials such as first hand accounts of torture experiences at was are featured in this book. These information build up the reality that this book depicts that relates to the real face of war and violence.
The war in Iraq has been debated and argued upon by a lot of Americans. A lot of people has already questioned the morality and social responsibility that lie in this revolution. A lot of people has already argued that violence and atrocity is never necessary to promote peace. Instead of promoting order, these acts were considered to be the worst catalyst for hatred and animosity between nations. However, the political and military perspective prevails in the government, and this argument kept going on in the American society up to this date. This debate has also been feature in this book. The core discussion revolves around the Christian, Jewish and Muslim views on the currently heightened violence practiced by the American military troupes. The book features the varying views and perspectives on the nature and of violence as well as on the impacts of this in the moral and spiritual stability of the American society.
Aside from the different philosophies of different religious institutions, different views of different thinkers were also tackled. First, Kenneth Roth delved on getting away with torture. The author notes that it is simply difficult to find justification in torture (Hunsinger 3). Torture has always been one of the most dissolute ideals in ever created by humans. For years, this has been associated to punishment and damnation that are evidently contrasting ideals to peace, as what the military troupe of the United States was pressing about their attacks in Iraq. Aside from the discussion of the nature of torture, several real life accounts of torture were also presented in the succeeding chapter of the book. In this part, it was interesting to know about the unbelievable yet real tales of torturous acts that real people went through. In this part of the paper, readers are being introduced to the real face of torture that has destroyed lives and has put a lot of people in states of inconceivable pain and agony. The succeeding discussions finally featured the varying views of religious institutions in this issue. These thoughts carry different moral and spiritual roots that clearly reflect the foundations of their core principles. Although the Christian, Jewish and Muslim views on the nature and impacts of torture may appear to vary in some extent, they come one in delivering the ideal that torture is not at all necessary in promoting peace. Having it associated with several crimes have already been very disturbing, and to have it related with countries strategies in achieving peace and order will already be too perturbing. This book opens the ideal of torture in two equally discussed perspectives. The first perspective tells the cry of the society that torture is the evil that destroys the moral stability of a civilized and spiritually guided society. However, on the other hand, this book also discuss the US military troupes ideal that some people are just too full with atrocity themselves that only violence can also stop them. Whichever between these two arguments make more sense was left on the judgment of the reader of this book. What the book displaces is that torture has become a serious moral issue already that currently needs attention in order to prevent more serious societal dilemmas.