Government Accounting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Government Accounting - Essay Example Such aspirations had a significant impact on the reporting formats and methods resorted to by not-for-profit organizations and government organizations and institutions. The latest accounting standards elaborately lay down the norms and principles that the administration and auditors in the government and not-for-profit organizations are required to follow. The government and not-for-profit entities are required to satisfy the appropriate authorities that they are pursuing the acceptable and valid accountability standards for the purposes of financial disclosure and reporting (Granof, 2002). In addition, they are required to chalk out and promulgate specific, discernable and quantifiable goals and performance targets. The government and not-for-profit organizations are well aware of the fact that with this rise in public scrutiny, there has been an unprecedented increase in the need for placing the people and organizations managing public funds under stringent accountability norms.

Juwan howard case study (part B) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Juwan howard case study (part B) - Essay Example The concept is designed to give an overall picture of the operation. It is included primarily for additional clarity of purpose. Thus not only does it ensure precision it also makes implementations of new projects successful to a greater extent. However, despite that fact that highly useful information is made available through such a document, it has its limitations. Since the entire concept revolves around written material with no visible proof observed the message or purpose of such a document is not fully achieved. It is usually designed in situations where events occur simultaneously. In such circumstances, if one event would require changes or lead to changing of further events the entire study could be proved useless, which makes its relevance highly dubious. Also, the fact that it is concentrated on an individual viewpoint or confined to the vision of a group of people means that when taken to a more integrated level where opinions of various people are concerned a number of changes will have to be made in the actual scenario. Lastly, no matter how accurate one tries to develop operational scenarios they can always vary greatly as compared to the actual situation that may occur.

Crime Fiction Analysis Essay Example for Free

Crime Fiction Analysis Essay Paul Darnell is a convicted sex offender who is released from prison and just three months after his release, a young girl is found raped and murdered just around the corner from the ex-con’s childhood home. As the investigators discover that his childhood victim area is in the same town as the girl who was raped and killed, they decide to arrest him for questioning and receive a warrant to search his house. They find a pile of â€Å"self help† DVD cases, which in fact hides criminal porn discs in them; as a result, Darnell is put on trial as a suspect to the case. Darnell tries to convince the jury that he has changed and his new found love, Judy, has changed him to make him into a considerate man who can control himself and his urges. Darnell wins the case and pleads not guilty for both the murder and rape of the past -victim girl. The investigators are left furious as a number of instances have seem to of proven Darnell’s guilt (such as following two girls home from school and his past offences of raping three young teenagers) and not long after Paul pleads guilty, he is found dead in Judy’s apartment, after he tried to rape her seventeen year old daughter. The daughter shot Paul in the head twice in self-defense, after his wrapped a garbage bag over her head to strike again. How does your source reveal information, ideas and an increased understanding of the issues surrounding your area of study? The area of study, being crime, is revealed in different varieties through out this particular episode of â€Å"Law Order: UK. † Crime is a topic that is covered over a number issues such as theft, treason and rape + murder which is covered in this episode. There are many investigations, such as searching through the suspect’s house, going to his old neighborhood home etc. Interviews (with the suspect, witnesses, close acquaintances), identification (through photographs of both the victim and suspect) and court hearings (which occur quite frequently, which involve as many aspects as possible to help the jury decide whether Paul would be guilty or not) are all part of the tactics that the CSI team all go through to find the right person to fit the crime. According to medicine. com, a crime scene investigation (CSI) is defined as â€Å"the use of physical evidence at the scene of the crime and the use of deductive and inductive reasoning to gain knowledge of the events surrounding the crime. What are points of comparison between the source and your core text? * Between â€Å"Law Order: UK† and â€Å"The Big Sleep† both investigating teams have tactics in order to find the suspected criminal/s. These are interviewing numerous people, asking around and getting hands on, in actually getting out into the field and doing work themselves. * Both have similar crimes involved: most common being murder. * Both involve a particular male / female role which is being victimised and criminal. Name of the source: Gangster Squad Type of source: Movie Area of Study: Crime Fiction Basic summary of the source content: â€Å"Gangster Squad† is a movie set in the late forties based on a true story set in Los Angeles. Mickey Cohen has become the most powerful figure in California’s criminal underworld, he is ruthless and controlling on both the legal and illegal sides of Los Angeles; he is known to have an â€Å"iron grip† over L. A. as nobody is willing to stand up to him in fear of the threatening gangster crew he carries around him. Until one day, the chief of Police, Chief Parker, has the idea to create a unit specialising in taking Cohen down to keep the city safe. A team is formed around Sargent O’Mara, who then asks four other police officers and a World War II Veteran to join his â€Å"gangster squad unit†. Another officer (Wooters) is asked to join the force but declines, as he is disillusioned from the war and his time on the police force. Wooters does although keep a close eye on Cohen and in doing so, becomes infatuated with his girlfriend / etiquette coach. As the team bugs Cohen’s house and keep a close eye on his surroundings, Cohen finds out in the process, and in result, the veteran is sacrificed. Things heat up and the plot turns into a full throttle war between the two squads after Cohen shoots into O’Mara’s home where his pregnant wife is at the time. Most of Cohen’s team is killed and later on O’Mara and Cohen go head to head in a boxing match where O’Mara wins and choen is jailed. How does your source reveal information, ideas and an increased understanding of the issues surrounding your area of study? There are more issues covered in this movie to deal with crime. Things such as blackmail, abduction, attempted rape (at the start of the movie), murder, theft, treason, adultery etc. Although this movie was based on a true story, crime fiction is used for entertainment purposes, which this is played up for that purpose. All of these different crimes make up a greater understanding of what is needed in a crime fiction story (detective, hard-boiled detective, red herring, crime, crime scene), which all relate back to the core text â€Å"The Big Sleep†, as there may be a different story line, the structure and purpose of each story is the same.

The Physical Discipline Of Children

The Physical Discipline Of Children To raise a child of any age comes with many difficulties for caregivers. Most parents strive towards raising children that are responsible, independent and respectable. There are a few schools of thought to disciplining children. One may be to apply discipline by teaching and the other to physically discipline a child as a means to correcting inappropriate behaviors. The Encarta Concise English dictionary defines discipline as To teach somebody to obey rules or to behave in an ordered or controlled way (Discipline, 2001, p. 409). Physical discipline is based on the use of fear as the motivator to changing a childs behavior. Behaviors that do not result in significant physical injury (i.e. spank, slap) are considered corporal punishment, whereas behaviors that risk injury (i.e. punching, kicking, burning) are considered physical abuse (Gershoff, 2002) Parents who use either form of physical discipline with children need to understand the damaging effects it can have on a childs emotio nal, moral and social development. Emotional Development A childs self esteem is developed through caregivers offering encouragement, acknowledgement and nurturing their range of emotions. Recognition of emotion is particularly important because it represents the early utilization of social cues on which childrens subsequent interpretation and behavioral responses will depend. (Cicchetti, Hormung, Pollak, Reed, 2000, p. 680) Using physical discipline as the motivator for altering a childs behavior affects their emotional stability. Being slapped or spanked is a frightening and threatening event that arouses strong negative emotions such as humiliation, sadness, and anger.(Straus, 2005, p.145) The use of punitive measures is in direct opposition to what disciplining is meant to achieve and may affect a childs development. They may be slow to reach milestones in social and physical development. (Crosson-Tower, 2004, p.191) Physical discipline affects the childs feelings of acceptance and they tend to respond with destructive impulses, rathe r than positive responses. Children and adults reared in abuse have had their senses trained in such a way that to use them for receiving or transmitting positive messages is not part of their communications system. (Helfer, 1980, p.38) Parents and caregivers need to help the child develop self confidence, self reliance and self discipline. Children who recognize self efficacy by being offered simple choices begin to develop moral insight. Moral Development Discipline, whether positive or negative, develops a childs perception of themselves and defines their moral understanding of how they should behave. A child who learns hitting is acceptable may be confused, because in many other areas of their life; school, daycare and recreational activities, hitting is unacceptable. It is in direct contradiction to what they learn at home which in turn becomes a value. In addition, children exposed to physical discipline are more susceptible to becoming abusers themselves (Newman, 1993). Parents who are not armed with the proper parenting tools become frustrated and angry about controlling their childrens behavior. Straus (2005) says, spanking has roots in two cultural myths; one, spanking is okay if done by a loving parent and two, spanking will work if all other methods of discipline fail (p. 140-141). Parents who understand their childrens ability to internalize all discipline measures, also realize they are developing their childrens values. C hildrens internalization of morals is thought to be enhanced by parental discipline strategies that use, minimal parental power, promote choice and autonomy and provide explanations for desirable behaviors (Gershoff, 2002, p. 1) The short term consequences of physical discipline will undermine the childs developing moral understanding and further debilitates their social development. Social Development The expression of abuse with a physically disciplined child becomes apparent when their interaction reveals itself by their behavior with other children. A child who is physically disciplined at home is traumatized. A study conducted by Marin Beezly (1977) suggests that children were more alert to their environment and cautious of peripheral danger around them (p. 375). Therefore, the resulting animosity that has built up is misdirected to whomever the child comes into contact with outside of the home which is usually learning centers such as schools. In a research study conducted by Eckenroder, Doris Laird (1993) reportings on pre-school children demonstrated that children who have been physically disciplined showed aggressiveness and were more likely to be disciplined from teachers than children who have not been mistreated (p.54). Children who are unable to cope with their pent-up aggression react in a negative way in the school environment. For the abused child, the lack of soc ial responsiveness becomes more striking. (Tower, 2002, p. 49) The physically disciplined child who matures and enters high school with multiple disturbed behaviors reveals other social and psychological impairments. Insecure attachments to their mothers, lower intelligence scores, impaired language development, lower levels of cognitive maturity and effectance motivation, more negative affect and less positive effect, less pro-social behavior, and more aggressive and non-compliant behavior. (Eckenroder, Doris and Laird. 1993. p.57). Therefore, the initial bond between child and parent is vital in the development of the child. A strong child-to-parent bond is important because children are more likely to accept parental restrictions and follow parental standards if there is a bond of affection with the parent. (Straus, 2005, p. 146). If the trust is diminished from their primary source, namely the communication between parent and child, the bond and relationship is strained. Thus, a childs friendship with other children, siblings and even family members are greatly affected which causes anxiety with the child. Conclusion In summation, the raising of children presents many challenges for caregivers. The goal of raising children to be responsible, independent and respectable individuals is an arduous task. In the teaching method of disciplining, a goal is to strengthen self discipline and personal control so that caregivers relieve themselves of parenting by the time the offspring leaves home. To reach these goals, parents must make sure their children learn the skills involved in problem solving and making decisions. Conversely, correcting inappropriate behaviors by physically disciplining children have long term consequences which will greatly hinder the childs development as they mature. The short term results of physical discipline on a childs development manifests long term effects, characterized by low self esteem coupled with morals which contradict the values of society. Annotated Bibliography Beezly, P., Harold Martin, P. (1997, June). Behavioural observations of abused children. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 19, 373-387. Retrieved from http://ibs.colorado.edu/cspv/infohouse/violit/violitDetails.php?recordnumber=3191vio_nam=violit A behavioural observation of abused children is an article derived from Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, written by Patricia Beezly and Harold Martin. The article focus on how childrens development is directly affected by being physically disciplined by their parents or caregivers. The authors appear to support the claim that children should not be physically discipline by using case studies and statistics. Cicchetti, D., Hormung, K., Pollak, S. D., Reed, A. (2000). Recognizing emotion in faces: Developmental effects of child abuse and neglect. Developmental Psychology, 36(5), 677-688. Retrieved from http://psych.wisc.edu/pollak/pdfs/recognizing_emotion_faces_devpsych.pdf. This article is a study by Cicchetti, Hormung, Pollak and Reed with the hypothesis being the lack of recognizing certain emotions as a direct correlation to physical discipline. Utilizing social cues and how the child interprets and responds to them is important for their development and further predicates the childs familiarity of negative environments. The writer understands the premise however the stats seemed weak in respects to differentiating between normal treated children and physically disciplined children, yet clearly neglected children showed the least responsiveness to the tests. Nevertheless, the outcome supports the paper in regards to physical discipline affecting the physicality of children to their reaction of emotions. Crosson-Tower, C., (2004). Exploring child welfare: A Practice Perspective. Pearson Education, Inc. Cynthia Crosson-Tower, examines the protection of children in chapter 7 titled Protecting Children When Families Cannot-Child Abuse and Neglect. Her premise, non accidental injury inflicted on a child defines the quintessential meaning of physical abuse to children. In reference to the paper, the writer needed to support the argument of physical discipline being detrimental to the development of childhood milestones. Discipline. (2001). Encarta concise english dictionary. London. The definition of the word Discipline was found in the Encarta Concise English Dictionary. The relevance of the term being added to the research paper is so the reader has an accurate meaning of the conveyed idea. Eckenroder, J., Doris, J., Laird, M. (1993). School performances and disciplinary problems Among abused and neglected children. Development Psychology, 29(1), 53-62. Retrieved from http:// http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00121649. Eckenroder, Laird and Doris ascertained data from a school and examined stats from kindergarten to grade 12 in their study. The study, for instance revealed the personalities of pre-schoolers as aggressive and requiring more attention from the teachers. The writer found the study helpful to the paper in supporting that physical discipline is exposed upon contact with learning centers such as daycares and schools. Gershoff, E. T. ( 2002). Corporal punishment by parents and associated behaviors and Experiences: A meta-analytic and theoretical review. Psychological Bulletin, 128 (4), 539-579. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.128.4.539 This review paper by Gershoff anticipates the use of physical discipline or corporal punishment as detrimental to child behaviors and experiences as relative to pain. The review was helpful in defining how the study differentiated between corporal punishment and physical abuse, yet the bias was supported by Gershoffs findings. Kemp, C.H. Helfer, R.E. (Eds.) (1980). The Battered Child (3rd. Ed.). Chicago:University of Chicago Press. In chapter 3 titled Developmental Deficits Which Limit Interpersonal Skills, of the text The Battered Child, Ray Helfer explores how senses vital to our development can be affected by abuse. Senses are developed by the childs environment and when these external forces are not positive and safe the child suppresses and mutes their own development. Helfers focal points on interpersonal skills such as delayed gratification, responsibility, decision making, problem solving, trusting others, feelings and action are affected by childhood deficits. Newman, F. (1993). Children in Crisis. Scholastic Canada. Children in Crisis, is a book written by Fran Newman. It covers topics on different types of child abuse, precipitating factors to the events leading to abuse and the impact on family dynamics. This book was somewhat helpful, although the focus appeared to be more on family structure and values, rather than how child abuse directly affects a childs self esteem and other developmental stages. Straus, M.A. (2005). Children should never, ever, be spanked no matter what the circumstances. In D. R. Loseke, R. J. Gelles M. M Cavanaugh (Eds.), Current Controversies about Family Violence (2nd ed., 137-157). Thousand Oak, CA: Sage. Retrieved from http://pubpages.unh.edu/~mas2/CP67%20Children%20Should%20Never%20be%20Spanked.pdf This article written by Murray Straus was located through Google Scholars search engine. The author presented relevant and accurate information on the topic of child development and the ineffectiveness of physical discipline on children. Although the article was interesting, the use of language and vocabulary may present an entry level university student with great difficulty when attempting to read and retain the information. Tower, C. (2002). Understanding child abuse and neglect. ( 5th ed.). Boston, MA: USA Cynthia Crosson-Towers in chapter 3 Maltreatment and the Developing Child, studies early childhood development. Infants that have not had the stimuli of care do not reach the required milestones outlined for that age. Milestones, as a standard measurement for development has shown that it is vital that children reach each phase and move onto the next phase for proper development. The material covered in the text was succinct and clear for the understanding of childhood development.

Booker T. Washington Essay -- Essays Papers

Booker T. Washington 1856-1915, Educator Booker Taliaferro Washington was the foremost black educator of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He also had a major influence on southern race relations and was the dominant figure in black public affairs from 1895 until his death in 1915. Born a slave on a small farm in the Virginia backcountry, he moved with his family after emancipation to work in the salt furnaces and coal mines of West Virginia. After a secondary education at Hampton Institute, he taught an upgraded school and experimented briefly with the study of law and the ministry, but a teaching position at Hampton decided his future career. In 1881 he founded Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute on the Hampton model in the Black Belt of Alabama. Though Washington offered little that was innovative in industrial education, which both northern philanthropic foundations and southern leaders were already promoting, he became its chief black exemplar and spokesman. In his advocacy of Tuskegee Institute and its educational method, Washington revealed the political adroitness and accommodationist philosophy that were to characterize his career in the wider arena of race leadership. He convinced southern white employers and governors that Tuskegee offered an education that would keep blacks "down on the farm" and in the trades. To prospective northern donors and particularly the new self- made millionaires such as Rockefeller and Carnegie he promised the inculca...

The James Wright Festival :: essays research papers

The James Wright Festival Part One   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After reading the poem entitled â€Å"Youth†, I felt that James Wright was not only describing the life of his father but also the lives of the many other factory workers in the Ohio Valley. Many of these workers had either dropped out of school or went straight to the factories after high school, never really getting a chance to enjoy their lives as young `````adults. I think that has something to do with the title of this poem. It’s clear that Wright knew his father and the other men were not satisfied with their jobs and just chose not to speak about it. These factory workers slaved away and then came home â€Å"quiet as the evening† probably because they were content to just be relaxing at home with their families. They knew that this was their way of life and they had to do it, even if they had big dreams to someday get away. I think that Wright was also trying to make a point that these men who worked so hard every day were not valued as much as they should have been. These men did not have the education to get a higher paying job but they did have the proper skills and knowledge to work in the factories. I like that James Wright mentioned Sherwood Anderson in this poem as I enjoy his work. Anderson left his Ohio hometown for Chicago to pursuit bigger and better things because he knew if he stayed in the area, he would be unhappy. However, it is a little ironic that Anderson one day just got up and left in the middle of writing and was said to have a mental breakdown.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I can definitely see what Wright was communicating with this poem. I had a somewhat depressed feeling after reading it, but I don’t know how one could read this and NOT feel that way. I also felt a little sad because I have been around people like this all of my life. Family, friends, friends of the family- a large majority of these people worked in factories and in the steel mills. As a child, I did not realize just how hard working these people were but of course as I grew older I started to understand. No one really spoke of it, as Wright also expressed in the poem.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As far as what was important to me in the experience of the poem, I felt that the fact that I could actually relate was important. The James Wright Festival :: essays research papers The James Wright Festival Part One   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After reading the poem entitled â€Å"Youth†, I felt that James Wright was not only describing the life of his father but also the lives of the many other factory workers in the Ohio Valley. Many of these workers had either dropped out of school or went straight to the factories after high school, never really getting a chance to enjoy their lives as young `````adults. I think that has something to do with the title of this poem. It’s clear that Wright knew his father and the other men were not satisfied with their jobs and just chose not to speak about it. These factory workers slaved away and then came home â€Å"quiet as the evening† probably because they were content to just be relaxing at home with their families. They knew that this was their way of life and they had to do it, even if they had big dreams to someday get away. I think that Wright was also trying to make a point that these men who worked so hard every day were not valued as much as they should have been. These men did not have the education to get a higher paying job but they did have the proper skills and knowledge to work in the factories. I like that James Wright mentioned Sherwood Anderson in this poem as I enjoy his work. Anderson left his Ohio hometown for Chicago to pursuit bigger and better things because he knew if he stayed in the area, he would be unhappy. However, it is a little ironic that Anderson one day just got up and left in the middle of writing and was said to have a mental breakdown.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I can definitely see what Wright was communicating with this poem. I had a somewhat depressed feeling after reading it, but I don’t know how one could read this and NOT feel that way. I also felt a little sad because I have been around people like this all of my life. Family, friends, friends of the family- a large majority of these people worked in factories and in the steel mills. As a child, I did not realize just how hard working these people were but of course as I grew older I started to understand. No one really spoke of it, as Wright also expressed in the poem.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As far as what was important to me in the experience of the poem, I felt that the fact that I could actually relate was important.

Love in the Western World

This paper will trace in general the different views on love as expressed by the different speakers in Plato’s Symposium and explore in detail the theories of Eros, Philia, Storge and Agape and the bearing it has on the notions of erotic love, filial love, sacrificial love and spiritual love. Another area that will be drawn into focus is the theory of â€Å"platonic love† based on Plato’s hypothesis. The context of the symposium is a get-together of the students of Socrates who get to talking and decide to take turns and speak in praise of Eros, the God of Love. Of the speakers Phaedrus speaks first and talks about the virtuosity Eros promotes in those who experience love. He talks about the awareness that true love can inspire in humans so that man becomes conscious of the noble qualities of honor, loyalty, courage and fidelity. Pausanius is the next to speak and dwells on the different kinds of love, from the common banal love to the higher, spiritual kind of love. The earthy love is not as noble as the intellectual love which is more faithful and elevates the mind and is completely devoid of desire. According to him the pursuit of higher knowledge and wisdom is the more honorable and the wantonness of physical love is shameful. Eryximachus talks about the concept of good love that helps man to be judicious and methodical. Eryximachus is a doctor and philosopher and talks about love beyond relationships, about intellectualism, the love of ideas, concepts and the fine arts like music. He speaks of the advantages love brings to humans, the most important being the ability to discern between honor and dishonor. He believes that there are opposing kinds of loves in every living being including animals and plants. However, true love is achieved through a synthesis of these opposing elements and that it can be the fountain and source of power, friendship and happiness (Plato’s Symposium). Aristophanes, the jester and humorist came up with the concept of love as man in search of his soul mate and partner in order to feel one complete whole. He talks about man being split into half by Zeus for threatening to over run the Gods. Later Zeus modified his terrible act and allowed the two halves to marry as man and woman. It is said that ever since the two halves have been in search of the other. Socrates himself speaks last of all and talks of love as being the human desire for knowledge, wisdom and beauty. Love is the desire for what is beautiful and may not necessarily mean beauty in itself. According to Socrates love is the mere interface between what he desires and the object of his desire. When man has achieved real love he will be able to create beauty, conceptualize perfection and become wise and virtuous. In Greek mythology Eros is one of the three oldest Gods along with Cronos and Chaos and stands for love. The word ‘erotic’ is derived from the God of love, Eros, who encourages and endorses all those who seek him to perform acts of virtue and merit. As has been mentioned before, all those present at the party or symposium have laid down their postulates and have spoken about different kinds of love and what it does for man. To further explore the concept of the various kinds of love let us consider the broad definition of these categories: Agape, Storge, Philia and Eros. Agape stands for spiritual love, the kind of love God has for his creatures and the love man strives to return. This kind of love transcends physical boundaries and is a higher form of love which finds fulfillment in just being there. It kindles spirituality and is perfection itself. Nothing can tarnish this kind of love and to most mortals seems almost impossible to attain. We can find examples of this kind of love in Christianity. In literature, I have found this kind of love being depicted in certain kinds of love lyrics that belong to the Renaissance age. In Petrarch’s poetry for instance, the poet’s object of desire, the enigmatic Laura, is continually shown as someone unreachable. Laura’s eyes are compared to stars; her face is often described as being so radiant as to make looking at her impossible. This imagery often ties up with how the apprehension of God is described in Christianity. Here, the conflict between Eros and Agape is continually present. The poet often feels helplessly tied between the demands of the earthier, physical Eros and the spiritual, the allegedly purer kind of Agape (Houston). Storge is synonymous with love that engenders sacrifice and purity. This is the kind of love parents feel for their children. This kind of love does not wait for reciprocity to grow and is there notwithstanding. The story of Abraham and Isaac is an interesting biblical instance of these two kinds of love where Storge is compelled to be sacrificed for the greater Agape. In order to prove the full extent of his Agape, his total devotion to God, Abraham is asked to sacrifice the thing he loves most. This happens to be Abraham’s son Isaac, the person for who he feels the greatest Storge. In the biblical context, Agape is undeniably higher than Storge. Abraham is therefore first made to prove the full extent of his Agape before God relents and lets him keep the object of his Storge. Other instances of pronounced Storge in literature include the love Cordelia feels for her father, King Lear in Shakespeare’s play. In this case however the Storge is made to complete its sacrifice in a sense because both the king’s beloved daughter and the king himself die in the end. Philia, or brotherly love, exists between friends, brothers and neighbors. This kind of love helps people to bond closely without being passionate or amorous. This kind of love prompts the feeling of camaraderie and brotherhood. A good example at hand would be the kind of love soldiers have amongst each other, where they bond intimately and share their joys and sorrows together without a hint of any physical attraction or manifestations. In Greek history, I have noticed the love depicted in the story of Damon and Pythias to be of this form. In the legend Damon and Pythias both survive Dionysus’ wrath because of their intense love for each other. But in another tale from the bible, the ending is not nearly as fortunate. Cain and Abel, sons of Adam and Eve, at first loved each other in the truest sense of Philia. However, with the preference God showed for Abel’s sacrifice of animals over Cain’s agricultural offerings, Cain’s love turns to intense jealousy and he ends up killing Abel. This is possibly the best known example of Philia getting overturned. Eros is passionate love, which can in most cases be closely linked to physical attraction and sexual love. Eros is often closely associated with the animal kingdom and therefore classically considered to be a lower form. Eros can often contend with Agape as we have seen earlier. And a popular example of this is in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. The love that the two young nobles feel for each other is no doubt arising from a certain attraction, or Eros. And yet the manner in which they express their love for each other in a language that is similar to that of Agape. Romeo and Juliet address each other in abject terms, making it a love not of equals but of one subservient to the other. This of course is one of the most common features of Agape. Although classically Eros is considered to be a lower form than Agape, as we have seen discussed in the Symposium, I personally feel this is not entirely fair. It is true that people often consider it nobler to love a person without wanting to possess him or her in a physical or earthly way. By implication this means that a person loves someone for more than their physicality, that is to say a love founded on something deeper than superficial beauty. This is true in theory, but not always in practice. We often find that the Agape is more often than not directed towards someone of higher social standing, or towards a woman who is unreachable, like a noblewoman or even the queen. This amounts to nothing short of sycophancy sometimes. Is it then less hypocritical than loving someone for their appearance? Eros is also equated with the animal kingdom and is therefore considered â€Å"lower. † But why should something, that takes place in the natural world, be considered lower? If animals love each other erotically, does it not make it a more natural, or even a â€Å"higher† love? After all this kind of love is based on the truth of the body’s responses to the beloved; if someone is beautiful and attractive physically, why should it be wrong to feel attraction or love for this person? Even if it is based only on appearances, Eros is more genuine. There is no verbal intrusion that allows lovers to lie to each other or praise each other in hollow terms. Philia too I think is often under-rated in the present generation. Friends can often feel a lot of love between them without it being the Erotic or even the Agape type of love. We have been brainwashed by popular movies and books into always expecting friendships to turn into love as that fits in with the perfect happy ending of the plot. But why should this be? Why is simple, platonic love that expects nothing physical or romantic in return be less of a love than any other kind? After all, is it not nobler for two friends to love each other in spite of the fact that they have nothing physical or romantic to gain from each other? Storge also is often under-appreciated in popular culture. Love that exists within families has become such a rare instance in the days of divorce and estrangement that perhaps more of art needs to depict it now, more than ever. People seem to forget that our families are what we are born into. We carry our parents’ genes and share them with our siblings and nothing or no one else can ever change that. It is true that we are often unfortunate in this regard and there are many children brought into this world in an unloving family, but even so the love that exists between members of the family is something that precedes life itself. Just to think about what a pregnant mother endures for nine months and so many years following the birth, is enough to prove the argument. In conclusion, I think it is fruitless to spend hours debating on which form of love is higher than the others because each kind of love, whether borne out of devotion, lust, filial ties or friendship, is a distinct kind of love. A sort of love that is unique to itself and therefore deserving of special attention. Instead of trying to compare them it is perhaps best to be grateful to know that they all exist.