...there lies a paradox. How can people have free will if every action has been predetermined? Philosophers have debated whether the existence of free will is directly challenged by the existence of determinism, and in turn have created four possible outcomes. (Timpe, K, 2004) The first is hard determinism. This believes that complete determinism is true, that all actions are pre-conceived and reliant on the past in order to occur, thus rendering free will to be impossible. Following this, there is a compatibilist view. This view believes that although determinism is true, there is still the possibility for free will to occur (Smith, Q & Oaklander, L, 1995). Thirdly, there is hard incompatibilism. This encompasses the belief that determinism is completely false, and that free will is also not possible. Finally, there is libertarianism, another incompatibilist belief. In this, it is believed that determinism is ultimately false, and because of this, free will can occur (Smith, Q & Oaklander, L, 1995). Going back to the determinist viewpoint: how is free will directly challenged by such a belief? Ultimately, free will does not exist within such a theory. Within determinism, all things are pre-determined (Honderich. T 2015). The past has direct impact on the way things will occur in the future, and because of this, there are no choices, only actions that were always going to happen in one particular way. This inherently proves that free will cannot exist cohesively with this...
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...specific three issues. First, there is Free Will, which is the theory that we have the ability to choose our own destiny. Second is Reason and Experience, the theory that we gain knowledge using reason and experience. Finally, Personal Identity, that I conclude, we define by using free will (choice of destiny), then reason and experience (how and why we reach our destiny). Free Will Free Will comes into play because it relates to one’s own desires. “What freewill tries to account for is our introspective conviction that we are in control of many of our choices, and thus our destiny - that we are free to think and decide”. (Voss, 1997) The question that arises when we have free will is “Who do I want to be?” versus “Who am I supposed to be?” Subsequently, if one is pondering about whether to believe in free will or not, then one is already committed to its existence. The choices that I make help define who I am. “Throughout his life, every normal person deliberates, imputes responsibility, and recommends or proscribes courses of action. In each of these activities, he presupposes that alternatives are available to himself and others -- for it would make no sense to deliberate over what one had no choice about, or to recommend to a person what he either could not do or could not help doing, etc.” (Huemer, 1995) The person I become is in direct relationship to the choices I make and the actions I take, good or bad. If we had no free will we would be identical drones and...
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...everything in the future is predictable and that past happenings, in principle, are explicable. Compatibilists, also known as soft determinists describe freedom as a free act that involves no compellation, coercion, restriction or force. Also, determinists define freedom as an act performed on the basis or from an individual’s personal conscious and rational desires and wanted. The determinism assumption presents a complex issue for the free will concept. Some arising questions include how one can make free choices if the laws of nature and the facts of the past determine their actions. Also, how can one be accountable for their performances if they possess no free will? Nonetheless, these reasonable questions are not enough to suggest the falsehood of determinism; instead, they perform as an active stimulator towards providing resolutions to the perceptible conflict between free will and determinism. Lucas indicates how various philosophers including Daniel Dennett argue the subsistence of moral responsibility includes the existence of freedom (3). Iredale adds that most individuals who are not scientists or philosophers appear to have an instinctive feeling that they have free will. Hence, when subjected to this predicament, these people prefer choosing free will over determinism (13). Clarke & Capes define free will as having what it...
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...1.From the research I have done the question that comes to mind dose freewill exist. Science has contributed to the free will problem in at least three ways. First, physics has addressed the question whether nature is deterministic, which is viewed as crucial by incompatibilists (compatibilists, however, view it as irrelevant). Second, although free will can be defined in various ways, all of them involve aspects of the way people make decisions and initiate actions, which have been studied extensively by neuroscientists. Some of the experimental observations are widely viewed as implying that free will does not exist or is an illusion (but many philosophers see this as a misunderstanding). Third, psychologists have studied the beliefs that the majority of ordinary people hold about free will and its role in assigning moral responsibility. 3. According to my research it’s hard to say that freewill exist, but according to my belief and religion we are taught that every human being has freewill. I firmly believe in freewill because I was raised too. I also believe that our choices are influence by past and current conditions. Philosophers who distinguish freedom of action and freedom of will do so because our success in carrying out our ends depends in part on factors wholly beyond our control. Furthermore, there are always external constraints on the range of options we can meaningfully try to undertake. As the presence or absence of these conditions and constraints are not...
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...Human’s free will is one of the most debatable problems in the field of both philosophy and ethics. Does everybody has a control on his choices and actions or it all was determined in advance. According to the Scottish philosopher David Hume on the problem of free will: “the most contentious question of metaphysics, the most contentious science” [1]. Free will is defined as the ability of humans to make decisions that are not determined by divine intervention or caused by a preceding cause [2]. It is agreed by philosophers who dealt with the problem of free will that a human is not free to make a choice unless he could have done otherwise, in what is known as the principle of alternative possibilities [3]. The free will problem arose in the Greek mythology in many instances such as the tragedy of Oedipus in its different versions as Oedipus Rex by Sophocles....
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...GCE Religious Studies Advanced GCE Unit G582: Religious Ethics Mark Scheme for January 2011 Oxford Cambridge and RSA Examinations OCR (Oxford Cambridge and RSA) is a leading UK awarding body, providing a wide range of qualifications to meet the needs of pupils of all ages and abilities. OCR qualifications include AS/A Levels, Diplomas, GCSEs, OCR Nationals, Functional Skills, Key Skills, Entry Level qualifications, NVQs and vocational qualifications in areas such as IT, business, languages, teaching/training, administration and secretarial skills. It is also responsible for developing new specifications to meet national requirements and the needs of students and teachers. OCR is a not-for-profit organisation; any surplus made is invested back into the establishment to help towards the development of qualifications and support which keep pace with the changing needs of today’s society. This mark scheme is published as an aid to teachers and students, to indicate the requirements of the examination. It shows the basis on which marks were awarded by Examiners. It does not indicate the details of the discussions which took place at an Examiners’ meeting before marking commenced. All Examiners are instructed that alternative correct answers and unexpected approaches in candidates’ scripts must be given marks that fairly reflect the relevant knowledge and skills demonstrated. Mark schemes should be read in conjunction with the published question papers and the Report on...
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...any other offer. 10% off all items, not on sale items. 10% off storewide excluding sale items. 5% off storewide. Receive 10% off your purchase. Excludes cheap Monday. Further 5% off marked price on all items. No exclusions. Extra 50% off every second garment. 15% more value for the games you trade in for cash or store credit. 10% off all items, excluding sale items. 10% off all items. 10% off storewide, excluding sale items, helium balloons and calling cards. 10% off your purchase. Excludes cheap Monday. 15% discount on entry. Storewide protein 10% off, supplements 5% off. Buy 1 hour, get 1 hour free. 10% off excluding sale items. 10% off full priced items, excluding sale items. A further 10% off for all cash purchases. 10% off full priced items. Not including sale items. 10% off everything in store. 10% off all stock. Excluding Satin Cord Bracelets. Spend over $100 and receive a free silk scarf. Offer not valid with any other promotion. 50% off RRP and a free tie with suit purchase. 10% discount. Not on sale items. 10% off all full priced...
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...Romeo and Juliet Fate or Free-Will Fate is defined as “a powerful force that is believed to control what happens in the future.” In William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet we are able to see how the theme of fate is cleverly infiltrated through events and dialogue throughout the play. Fate is mainly evident through the actions of Lord Capulet’s Servingman, Friar John, the timing of Romeo and Juliet’s death, and how the Montague’s and Capulet’s feud and been put to rest due to the tragedy in their lives. The first fated event was introduced to us in Act I Scene II, when Lord Capulet after finishing his conversation with Paris, regarding his request to marry Juliet, handed over a list of names to the Servingman and orders him to: [Rom....
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...Kampala International University Abdifatah Adan Egeh Course work material +256718275925 caloolgeele@hotmail.com Introduction The analysis of barriers to entry and exit is fundamental to the assessment of market power and market efficiency. A firm or firms may exercise market power for a significant period of time only if barriers to new entry exist. Thus in determining whether or not a proposed merger is against the public interest, or whether a firm (or firms) is abusing monopoly or market power in antitrust cases, analysis of entry conditions is of primary importance. One might therefore expect to see rather extensive and sophisticated analyses of entry conditions, or barriers to entry, in monopoly and merger cases that come before competition authorities in the United States, United Kingdom, or member states of the European Union (EU). One might also expect that competition authorities would have placed a great deal of emphasis and effort on achieving a coherent and consistent framework for the analysis of entry barriers in a manner that makes use of the latest thinking on the subject by industrial organization economists. However, until very recently no competition authority that we are aware of has attempted to formulate a coherent and detailed framework for the analysis of barriers to entry, despite the significant degree of effort that has been put into clarifying the related problems of market definition and the measurement of monopoly or market power....
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...THE FIVE FORCES INDUSTRY COMPETITORS. Rivalries naturally develop between companies competing in the same market. Competitors use means such as advertising, introducing new products, more attractive customer service and warranties, and price competition to enhance their standing and market share in a specific industry. To Porter, the intensity of this rivalry is the result of factors like equally balanced companies, slow growth within an industry, high fixed costs, lack of product differentiation, overcapacity and price-cutting, diverse competitors, high-stakes investment, and the high risk of industry exit. There are also market entry barriers. PRESSURE FROM SUBSTITUTE PRODUCTS. Substitute products are the natural result of industry competition, but they place a limit on profitability within the industry. A substitute product involves the search for a product that can do the same function as the product the industry already produces. Porter uses the example of security brokers, who increasingly face substitutes in the form of real estate, money-market funds, and insurance. Substitute products take on added importance as their availability increases. BARGAINING POWER OF SUPPLIERS. Suppliers have a great deal of influence over an industry as they affect price increases and product quality. A supplier group exerts even more power over an industry if it is dominated by a few companies, there are no substitute products, the industry is not an important consumer for the suppliers...
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...Industry Structure & Competitive Strategy: Keys to Profitability Michael E. Porter The first step in structural analysis is an assessment of the competitive environment in which the company operates—the basic competitive forces and the strength of each in shaping industry structure. The second is an assessment of the company's own strategy—of how well it has positioned itself to prosper in this environment. Taken together, these steps are the key to forecasting a company's earning power. THE SUCCESS OF A COMPANY‘S competitive strategy depends on how it relates to its environment. Although the relevant environment is very broad, encompassing social as well as economic forces, the key aspect of the company's environment is the industry or industries in which it operates. Industry structure has a strong influence in defining the rules of the competitive game as well as the strategies potentially available to the company. The intensity of competition in an industry is not a matter of luck. Rather, competition is rooted in underlying industry economics and goes well beyond the established competitors. Not all industries have equal potential. They differ fundamentally in their ultimate profit potential as the collective strength of the forces of competition differs; the forces range from intense in industries like tires, paper and steel, where no firm earns spectacular returns, to relatively mild in industries such as oil field equipment and services, cosmetics and toiletries, where...
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...factor for many different reasons. Primarily, it can help measure all the possibilities/opportunities for your firm, especially if you are going to compete as a new start-up firm. Also, it is a critical step because it helps you differentiate yourself better from others competing in the market with a similar set of products or services. Although the pure competition model is not a practical tool to assess an industry, Michael Porter’s Five Forces framework helps to truthfully measure all the potential profitability, risk and opportunity. With the help of these five forces, managers can develop and be in a strategic advantage compared to the other companies competing in the industry. The five forces framework: - Rivalry - Threat of entry/ Barriers to entry - Buyer Power - Supplier Power - Threat of substitutes Companies strive for a competitive advantage over their competitors. The amount of rivalry differs within every industry and these differences can be critical for developing a strategy. Concentrated industries usually present high levels of rivalry. Many companies are conscious about industry concentration and in order to measure it, they use the “concentration ratio” (CR). The CR which has been reported by SIC (Standard Industrial Classification code) shows the percentage of the market share seized by the top 4 companies in the industry. If the industry has a high concentration ratio, this means that these firms are controlling the market by holding a big percentage of...
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...exactly, are first-mover advantages? Under what conditions do they arise, and by what specific mechanisms? Do first-movers make aboveaverage profits? And when is it in a firm’s interest to pursue first-mover opportunities, as opposed to allowing rivals to make the pioneering investments? In this paper we examine these and other related questions. We categorize the mechanisms that confer advantages and disadvantages on first-mover firms, and critically assess the relevant theoretical and empirical literature. The recent burgeoning of theoretical work in industrial economics provides a rich set of models that help make our understanding of first-mover advantages more precise. There is also a growing body of empirical literature on order-of-entry effects. Our aim is to begin to provide a more detailed mapping of mechanisms and outcomes, to serve as a guide for future research. We define first-mover advantages in terms of the ability of pioneering firms to earn positive economic profits (i.e., profits in excess of the cost of capital). First-mover advantages arise...
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...is to analyze the market structures to help make you aware of the different categories of market structures within the businesses. “Perfect competition is the market structure in which there are many sellers and buyers, firms produce a homogeneous product, and there is free entry into and exit out of the industry. There are six basic assumptions for the model of perfect competition.” (Amacher & Pate, 2012) Firms in the perfect competition are known as price takers. The products that each firm produces are usually the same, homogeneous. A good example of this is wheat; all products are exactly the same whether you buy it from a farmer next door or from the farmers market. With many sellers in this market, no decisions that a seller makes will affect the price of the product. A firm in this market as many buyers as it does sellers, no one buyer has any market power. It is easy to get entry into and exit out of the market and no one the firms or individual buyers have no influence over price making it perfectly competitive. “In monopolistic competition market structure, the industry consists of a large number of firms, each producing a differentiated product. A very important assumption is that entry into this industry is relatively easy. New firms can enter the...
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...landscape, it is feasible for the Sports Company to enter the Vietnam market within the next three years via a joint venture with a local distributor. They should target their sneakers to the youth market, ages 21 and younger. EXPLANATION The reasons why the Sports Company should enter the market in Vietnam can be categorized three ways: the state of the current market in Vietnam, the Sports Company’s strengths and the competitive landscape. Vietnam being the twelfth most populous nation, offers a large potential market for the Sports Company’s products. With the third largest GDP growth, this market is also captive. Vietnam is a young, growing country. With brand awareness spread by the Viet Kieu, the market in Vietnam is primed for entry. However, there are many issues that stand in the way of the Sports Company. The Sports Company has significant knowledge in the global marketplace, being ranked second in most of its product markets. This expertise will help the Sports Company tackle unique challenges and issues faced in the emerging market. Their competency in product design will aid them in embracing changes in their product line to adapt to Vietnam. In addition, their marketing expertise will help them capitalize on the already established brand awareness in the country. Competitively the only major competitors are the counterfeits on the street. This is a concern in many Asian countries and is one that can be tackled directly with targeted marketing efforts...
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