Sociological Perspectives Paper - 834 Words

SOC/100 January 3, 2012 Sociological Perspectives Paper Introduction to video and clarification of the applied theoretical perspective. The video of School girl attacks identifies an attack on school girls in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Zahira, who is a 13-year-old, is interviewed by NBC told her story about the attack. Zahira, who always showed excitement about attending school, lost her joy after the attack on her and five other girls. The attack took place during the girls walk from school. Men on motorcycles drove by tossed acid in the girls faces. The Taliban’s are known to be the rivals to Afghanistan’s. â€Å"The Taliban’s felt girls were unholy if they attend school† (NBC News, 2011). At the time of the attack Zahira†¦show more content†¦Dysfunctions, not part of a society that contributes to its stability all the time. This is an element or process of a society that may disrupt the social system or reduces stability. There have been hundreds of school-related attacks in Afghanistan over the past year alone but nothing like this, (NBC News, 2011). This has caused a disruption in their society. This disruption created the need for the military presence for security. How a person evaluates a dysfunction depends on your point of view. Like the guards in prison have come to view the gangs as part of the functional part of their jobs, (G. Scott 2001). The danger the Taliban possess and the attacks on the girls created the same dys functional view as the guards and a need for security from the Military. The military presence is based on the danger that exist, without the attacks from the enemy there would not be a need for the military, no jobs for the soldiers, and the training the soldier provided for Afghan police would not exist. Specific examples from the video from the viewpoint of the designated theoretical approach. Functionalist’s theoretical approach emphasizes the contribution it makes to social stability in Afghanistan. According to NBC News, â€Å"Zahira always looked forward attending school until one morning last month walking to the school in Kandahar with her older cousin, Chauncy. Just outside the schoolShow MoreRelatedSociological Perspective Paper1721 Words   |  7 PagesSociological Perspective Paper Jeremiah Jarman SOC/100 6 August 2010 Dr. Anne McDaniel The World has produced a great deal of thinkers. Socialologists have a keen understanding and insight into human nature and the world around them. They have developed many theories on the human thoughts and actions. 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As well, this article takes a very sociological perspective and examines the way in which this upcoming digitalization of the classroom, which will provide a strong relationship to many of the course materials which will also w ill be included within this paper. This article also provides a new argument/ point of view that examines the technologyRead MoreSociological Perspective Essay978 Words   |  4 PagesThe purpose of this paper is to construct an essay and define the sociological perspective. To be able to explain how my knowledge of the Sociological Perspective has helped me to understand the social world on both a macro and micro level. This essay will include the definition, discussion and application of specific sociological terms, concepts and theories. The study of sociology brings people to view topics in a unique way than others. 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In this paper it will discuss the novel, The Other Wes Moore, describe their social location, and describe the sociological perspectives used in sociology and analyze excerpts from the book using each of the three sociological perspectives. Social location is the combination of social factors which locate someone in society (Henslin,2013, pg. 4). Social location includes:Read MoreSociological Concepts848 Words   |  4 PagesIntroduction Sociology has many sociological concepts that cover various topics. Sociology can be defined as the study of social interactions and society. This paper will examine sociological concepts and examples of how they apply in everyday life. Many people experience social problems on a personal level. For instance, this could be poverty, unemployment, poor health, alcohol abuse, family problems or committing crimes. 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In this paper, I will analyze the familial history of Michelle, additionally connecting her responses to the functionalist, feminist, and interactionist sociological perspectives. Michelle Sylvia is a hard-working woman with hardiness. Born and raised in Lynn Massachusetts, in a low-socioeconomic neighborhood filled with crime, Michelle spent

Impact on Cultural Differences in Software Industry in Singapore

Question: Discuss about the Impact on Cultural Differences in Software Industry in Singapore. Answer: Introduction In the current continuously transforming global business atmosphere, the issues associated with culture and the gaining knowledge about various cultures have become significant and has become a pre-requisite for the success of the organizations. The significance of culture and the differences in culture has become very much critical especially for the organizations functioning in the international markets and even having employees who hail from several cultures (Moran, Abramson and Moran 2014). It has been observed that since culture has the power to have an effect on the activities of the business, the organizations requires to consider the concepts related to culture in their daily operations in order to function successfully in the global environment. Culture and cultural differences are key issues for each and every organizations in each and every industry. As explained by de Carvalho, Patah and de Souza Bido (2015), these notions have become much more essential for computation due to the nature of making agreements, internationalization of the various procurement, partnering and joint venturing in the respective industries. It has been observed that with respect to the other industries there has been a rise in the strategic coalitions in the software industries even raises the importance of the cultural differences due to the communication of the employees from numerous cultures (Shah, Harrold and Sinha 2014). The benefits of managing differences in the culture in an effective manner have been explained by several researchers. It can improve the effectiveness of the firms and provide the company an extensive competitive edge. Conversely, the ineffectiveness to handle and manage the cultural differences can lead to adverse issues like the postponement of software services and fall in the productivity. Hence, gaining knowledge and taking care of the cultural differences in the software industry is become a significant topic specially in software industries in Singapore as there are various software companies functioning in the country and thus there are availability of employees who are hailing from numerous cultural backgrounds (Estleret al. 2014). Research Objectives The aims and objectives of the paper has been the most significant factors that would be influential for the development of the paper as these objectives would be helpful to the researcher for the completion of the paper in an effective manner. The aims and objectives with respect to this paper are given as follows: To determine how cultural differences are existent in the software industry of Singapore To understand the how differences in the culture has an influence in the communication system among the employees and themanagement To determine to what extent cultural differences has an influence on the outcome of the industries The actions undertaken by themanagement in order to deal with the issues related to cultural differences Problem Statement The statement of the problem has been the issues that has compelled the researcher to undertake this research in accordance to this topic. It is seen that with the advent of globalization there has been entry of new software firms in the economy of Singapore along with employees from various cultures. Culture plays a significant role in the development of any organization and it is seen that themanagement of the firm undertakes various strategies in order to establish an effective cultural environment. The degree of culture aids in the development of the software industry and as software industry is a developing sector, it is seen that there are employees from various cultural backgrounds are taken appointed and therefore understanding their impacts is of utmost importance that would be influential for improving the functional section of software industry. Thus, determining the impact of these differences requires to be identified in order to construct various strategies. Research Questions The research questions that has been framed are in respect to the problems that have been discovered by the researcher with respect to the cultural difference in Singapore. The research questions would be utilized in order to course the research and determine the impact of cultural differences in the cultural differences in the software industries in Singapore. The research questions are given as follows: Q 1. How can cultural differences have an impact on the software industries in Singapore? Q 2. How does the differences in culture have an impact on the relationship among the employees and the management? Q 3. What impact does the differences in the culture have on the operational activities of the software companies in Singapore? Q 4. What actions can be undertaken by the management in order to improve the differences in the culture within the organizations? Literature Review The literature review that is being constructed comprises of the suggestions that have been discovered from various other research papers constructed by the researchers with respect similar researches completed earlier. The review of literature tries to determine the meaning of cultural differences and the impacts that these differences have on the software industries. Rees-Caldwell and Pinnington (2013) has explained that there are various factors that had an impact on the differences in culture and identifying each of these factors would lead to development of various strategies that would be effective in the development of the organization. There are various definitions for culture and these definitions vary greatly with respect to the field of the research. Verner et al. (2014) defined culture as the simple method of what individuals does and what they perform like a society. Britto et al. (2014) has explained culture in the software industry is regarded to be the features of the industry, the values, goals and strategies of the organization where they function. Culture has numerous properties, which has been accepted widely. While investigating on the national cultures, it is seen that Niazi et al. (2013) has recognized four dimensions of culture and they include avoidance of uncertainty, power distance, collectivism and individualism and even masculinity and femininity. These four dimensions provide a framework for looking after the impact of the cultural differences on the management and even the company. This section of the paper would try to explain the main theme of the thesis that would be taken into consideration so that effective measures can be taken that would be influential for the construction of effective research with respect to the topic. It is seen that there are various aspects that are taken into consideration while understanding the impact of cultural differences in the software industry in Singapore. It is seen that it is essential to first understand the background of the software industry in Singapore and it is seen that there are Singapore has a unique software industry as the organizations are developing from time to time and therefore has strategies and policies that would enhance the industry. The culture that has been prevalent in Singapore is even analyzed and it is seen that Singapore has a diversified economy over as employees and individuals from various parts of the world migrate in this country and thereby making it a diversified culture (Rees-Caldwell a nd Pinnington 2013). It is seen that there are understanding the effects of cultural difference plays a vital role in the operational activities of the firm. The main factors that has an effect on the cultural difference requires to be determined so that effective measures can be taken that would be fundamental for improving the operational activities of the software industry and the relationship between the employees operating in the software industry. The evaluation of the software industry along with the factors that are interlinked with the software business provides extensive knowledge, which would be influential for the development of the firm. The analysis can be done by taking help of the past and the present trends and the influences the future indications that the software industry would undertake so that cultural differences would be mitigated. Evaluating the main theme with respect to the cultural differences can be an effective one and this would aid the researcher to i nitiate various activities that would be influential for the development of solutions with respect to the impact of cultural differences in the software industry in Singapore. There has been an expanding interest in the studies with respect to cultural differences in the software industry. Sderberg, Krishna and Bjrn (2013) has examined that there has been a connection among the cultural differences and the activities of the software industries with the perspective of Singapore. Singapore is a developing country and with the advent of globalization there has been entry of various software industries along with the existence of the domestic software industries as well. The rise in the level of competition has led to the companies hiring employees from various parts of the globe and thereby leading to the development of cultural differences in the industry. There are various aspects that require significant examination with respect to this topic as it has been observed that cultural differences has a significant impact on the functions of the software industries and therefore in order to rectify the differences and improve the relationship among the employees and the management and thereby improve the operational activities of the software industries as well. Research Methodology The methodology for the concerned research paper has been framed in order to aid the researcher to establishing a guideline or course that would be followed by the researcher in order to collect the data that would be best effective for the completion of the paper. The research methodology even aids the researcher to look for the kind of data that would be best useful for the collecting data that would meet the problem statement of the research and would help the researcher to identify the impacts of cultural differences in the software industries. The each and every step of the methodology that would be used by the researcher would be explained individually. Research Onion The research onion comprises of the various efficient progression with the help of which the research methodology can be constructed. Its effectiveness is dependent in its flexibility for any kind of research methodology and can be utilized in a variety of aspects(Gustafsson, Herrmann and Huber 2013). The research onion comprises of the various layers that would be used by the researcher to complete the methodology in an effective manner. The each layer of the onion will be explained as follows: Research Philosophy The research will be undertaken by taking help of the philosophy of positivism as it mainly concentrates on understanding the various impacts that are faced by the software industries due to cultural differences. The primary data that is gathered with the help of the positivism philosophy would improve the validity of the research. Furthermore, the outcome of the research would be quantifiable and observable (Fuggetta and Di Nitto 2014). Research Approach The present research would follow the deductive approach as the paper will mainly concentrate on examining the impact of cultural differences on the software industries in Singapore. The research would establish a hypothesis that is dependent on the recognized concepts and would examine the validity by comparing them with the primary data. Research Type The impact of cultural differences on the software industries operating in Singapore would be undertaken with the help of the primary research. It is seen that primary data would be influential for collecting the precise data as the responses of the employees would be influential for the development of the precise results (Bryman and Bell 2015). Research Design The primary research will be undertaken by taking help of the quantitative research design as this research involves investigating the associations, explaining the examining cause and effect relationships. The present research will examine the impact of cultural differences in the software industry in Singapore. Quantitative data would be gathered by surveying the individuals who are working in the software industry (Edison, Bin Ali and Torkar 2013). Descriptive research design would be undertaken for the completion of the paper as it has been observed that explained answers from the responses would be influential for the completing the paper effectively. Sampling Technique and Population The paper would either make use of the random or probability sampling technique in order to select the employees who are functioning in the software industry in Singapore. The researcher has decided to select employees of various ages and departments of the organizations. A sample size of 100 respondents would be sued for the completion of the paper in an effective manner. Time Table STEPS IN THE RESEARCH PLAN DEADLINE FOR THE COMPLETION Submission of the proposal 1st week Design of a research plan 1st week Gaining access to work in a particular area 1st week Literature Review 2nd week Sample frame 3rd week Design and testing of the questionnaire 3rd week Designing of the final questionnaire 4th week Interviews and posting 5th week Raw tabulation of the data 5th week Analysis of the data 6th week Report up findings 7th week Presentation of the final research product 7th week References Britto, R., Freitas, V., Mendes, E. and Usman, M., 2014, August. Effort estimation in global software development: A systematic literature review. InGlobal Software Engineering (ICGSE), 2014 IEEE 9th International Conference on(pp. 135-144). IEEE. Bryman, A. and Bell, E., 2015.Business research methods. Oxford University Press, USA. deCarvalho, M.M., Patah, L.A. and de Souza Bido, D., 2015. Project management and its effects on project success: Cross-country and cross-industry comparisons.International Journal of Project Management,33(7), pp.1509-1522. Edison, H., Bin Ali, N. and Torkar, R., 2013. Towards innovation measurement in the software industry.Journal of Systems and Software,86(5), pp.1390-1407. Estler, H.C., Nordio, M., Furia, C.A., Meyer, B. and Schneider, J., 2014. Agile vs. structured distributed software development: A case study.Empirical Software Engineering,19(5), pp.1197-1224. Fuggetta, A. and Di Nitto, E., 2014, May. Software process. InProceedings of the on Future of Software Engineering(pp. 1-12). ACM. Gustafsson, A., Herrmann, A. and Huber, F. eds., 2013.Conjoint measurement: Methods and applications. Springer Science Business Media. Moran, R.T., Abramson, N.R. and Moran, S.V., 2014.Managing cultural differences. Routledge. Niazi, M., Mahmood, S., Alshayeb, M., Riaz, M.R., Faisal, K. and Cerpa, N., 2013, October. Challenges of project management in Global Software Development: Initial results. InScience and Information Conference (SAI), 2013(pp. 202-206). IEEE. Rees-Caldwell, K. and Pinnington, A.H., 2013. National culture differences in project management: Comparing British and Arab project managers' perceptions of different planning areas.International Journal of Project Management,31(2), pp.212-227. Shah, H., Harrold, M.J. and Sinha, S., 2014. Global software testing under deadline pressure: Vendor-side experiences.Information and Software Technology,56(1), pp.6-19. Sderberg, A.M., Krishna, S. and Bjrn, P., 2013. Global software development: commitment, trust and cultural sensitivity in strategic partnerships.Journal of International Management,19(4), pp.347-361. Verner, J.M., Babar, M.A., Cerpa, N., Hall, T. and Beecham, S., 2014. Factors that motivate software engineering teams: A four country empirical study.Journal of Systems and Software,92, pp.115-127.

Ethical Concepts

Adventures of Tom Sawyer Book Rep. essays

Adventures of Tom Sawyer Book Rep. essays Mark Twains, The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer, is a story told from the eyes of the young Tom Sawyer. The story takes place in the small rustic town of St. Petersburg Missouri. Tom Sawyer is the main character of the book. Tom is an imaginative young man who always seems to be getting into trouble. Tom is very adventurous, he never passes up a chance to play pirates, robbers, or soldiers. This book has multiple themes but the most important is knowing when its right to talk and tell the truth and when its better to be quiet or lie. At the beginning of the story Tom is introduced by climbing in his window after a long night of cavorting with his friends. Soon after the start of the story Tom meets Huckleberry Fin. Huck is a local outcast of society who likes to live by his own terms. Tom and Huck become good friends. One night the two boys go to the grave yard. While they are there they witness the murder of the town doctor, Mr. Robinson. The boys watched as Injun! Joe kills the doctor and frames a drunk by the name of Muff Potter who just happens to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. The boys swear never to speak of this again. Soon after this Tom falls in love with his new neighbor, Becky Thatcher. Eventually the two become engaged but the engagement falls through when Tom accidentally mentions his former love while talking with Becky. The two fued and do not speak. Meanwhile, the whole town is gossiping of the murder of Dr. Robinson and the prosecution of Muff Potter. A trail quickly forms and Muff is put on the stand. Tom knows he can not let the innocent Muff go to jail so as the trial comes to a close Tom testifies, proving Injun Joe guilty. This is the climax of the story. After the trial ends, the man hunt for Injun Joe begins. Tom is treated like a hero, but feels bad knowing that he broke Hucks oath. Becky and Tom soon become friends again after Tom takes Beckys punishment at school for being careless wi...

Solar power for the state of Nevada Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Solar power for the state of Nevada - Essay Example Interestingly, GIS offer a powerful way of establishing this through analysis of terrain as well as other geographical data. This project will attempt to establish the suitability of solar power for Nevada with the help of GIS. The hypothesis of this project will be "Solar energy is the most suitable option for fulfilling Nevada's power requirements" while the project will seek answer to the question "Is the use of solar energy the most suitable option for fulfilling Nevada's power requirements?†. This project will include use of ArcGIS software in modeling and analysis of geographical data. The project will also compare the suitability of solar energy with other renewable energy resources and how the use of solar option would transform Nevada. The research done is this project is expected to be useful for Nevada authorities in their attempt to seek the best alternative energy source.

A Real Career Opportunity in the Criminal Justice Field Essay

A Real Career Opportunity in the Criminal Justice Field - Essay Example There are, also, practical elements to choosing the field of Crime Scene Investigation. The career offers positive income incentives and there appears to be a bright future for potential job growth. However, to truly understand the field it is important to explore the details of an occupation as a Crime Scene Investigator. There are many responsibilities of a real Crime Scene Investigator and it is not, always, like the ones you have seen on television. They have a very relevant and serious position to hold. They are expected to, generally, be available and on-call at all hours, 24 hours a day, when necessary.(Roberts, 2012) After all, crime scenes do not necessarily occur between the normal business hours of a typical workday. They must aid detectives in securing the evidence from contamination, reconstructing events, gathering evidence, photographs, and making certain that the evidence collected is sent to the correct locations for examination and analysis. A Crime Scene Investigator is, also, required to have strong communication skills, ability to remain composed, and a heightened sense of organization. They are, on occasion, asked to testify in court should the cases they are involved with going to trial.("CSI career and," 2012) Becoming a Crime Scene Investigator requires a background in criminal justice is important and further education. However, finding the training needed is available at a large number of schools, as the popularity of the field increased over the last decade. A Bachelors Degree is attainable and with so much potential growth the education is abundantly worthwhile. Â  

The Aesthetical Philosophies of St Thomas Aquinas Essay Example for Free

The Aesthetical Philosophies of St Thomas Aquinas Essay Thomist philosophy as the only true Christian philosophy3 , regarded to the best of its kind. As we delved into the study of the aesthetics of Tomas Aquinas, the interesting thing about it that there seemed to be no singular book written about the topic among his great body of philosophical oeuvre. It also have been said that he seemed to be not written a clear, specific aesthetic theory4 . Yet his appreciation of beauty and aesthetics and his artistic personality are spread throughout and very much evident in his works. Now lays a problem for me, our contemporary era in the 21st century has no relevant comparison to the medieval times. Our contemporary times with the technological advancements and societal developments and upheavals present little resemblance to the conditions of the Middle Ages. To my mind the world we are living in, i. e. my life and my way of thinking, is anything but medieval. Studying the philosophies of St. Thomas, made me think if there is any significance of his aesthetic principles to my artistic future. Now comes the question: do the aesthetic principles of St. Thomas still be applicable to our fickle fast-faced times of â€Å"anything-is-possible† and â€Å"art-isover†5 mentality? In these era of mobile phones, Internet, iPodâ„ ¢Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s, iPadâ„ ¢s and Digital Cameras, where beauty is a sinuous shape and titanium casings to to die-for, do integritas, proportio, and claritas6 still ring true to the contemporary artists like Vik Muniz7 , designers at Apple ®, or to the recent OSCARâ„ ¢Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s best picture movie director of â€Å"The King’s Speech†, are they even applicable to other arts such as performance art like dance? What got me interested in this particular topic is stating the obvious: I am curious if St. Thomas aesthetics and appreciation of beauty is still relevant to me? With a 700 years between us, can his teaching still have any impact to me? A newbie artist / graduate student. 3 4 5 Ralph McInerny, Thomas Aquinas: Selected Writings (London: Penguin Books, 1998) p. xxvii Umberto Eco, The Aesthetic of Thomas Aquinas (Milan: Gruppo Editoriale Fabbri, 1970) p. 19 Arthur Danto, The End of Art in the Philosophical Disenfranchisement of Art (New York: Columbia Uni- versity Press, 1986) pp 85 6 7 Thomas Aquinas, â€Å"Summa Theologica† Q39, Ar 8. Vik Muniz is a Brazilian Artist who is famous for bringing multi-media artform to the wide acceptance of the public. See his TED video presentation of his life, work and artistic philosophy: http://blog. ted. com/2007/04/20/vik_muniz_on_te/ Majella Salceda-Tresvalles †¢ [emailprotected] com †¢ UST Graduate School 4 Tomasso D’Aquino His education and professional life Thomas from the land Aquino was born in the thirteenth century Italy, in 1225, at a time of resurgence in the appreciation of the classical literature, philosophical writings and concepts. He was born to an aristocratic class, and having been well provided for, had been educated at the nearby monastery of Monte Cassino. He was exposed very early in his life to musical education thanks to the resources of his landed family. Having been honed early in rhetoric, grammar, dialectic in his trivium years and later, quadrivium of arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy8 , the appreciation of the finer arts of music, poetry and literature came very natural. Through his education that his aesthetic sense was developed. His early grasp of musical harmony shows in his liturgical musical compositions later in his professional life. His solid background in rhetoric is well evident in his voluminous writings of the Summas, Commentaries, Letters, etc. All these presents us, modern people, a deep artistic appreciation of the many creative talents of Thomas Aquinas. Thomas wrote on his appreciation of beauty of the arts was coming from the breath of his education and experience and not merely coming from detached point of view of an observer or mere intellectual. Before becoming a friar himself he had already a highly-developed sense of artistic talent and aesthetics. Much was said about how Tomas became a Dominican, a mendicant order of friars, much to the consternation of his wealthy family who had designs for him to become a landlord himself or become an Abbot of the nearby Benedictine Abbey, Monte Cassino, much like his uncle the Abbot Sinibald. But Tomas had other plans. He became a Dominican, this ambition was instrumental to his success as the leading thinkers of all history. It was with the Dominicans that 8 Ralph McInerny, editor, Thomas Aquinas Selected Writings, (London: Penguin Books, 1998) pp. x Majella Salceda-Tresvalles †¢ [emailprotected] com †¢ UST Graduate School 5 his in-depth intellect was nurtured and encouraged and given credence. It was a match simply planned in heaven! Tomas became a protege of Albertus Magnus, a giant among the intellectuals in the Dominican order. But earlier on, in his education at the University of Naples Tomas was introduced by one of his teachers, Master Lawrence, a Transylvanian, of to the great writings of Aristotle9. It also have to be noted that the classical philosophies at that time had a resurgence by way of Alexandria. The islamic scientists and scholars have been known to have and propagated the ideas championed by Plato, Aristotle 10, Plotinus, Boethius and many more. St. Albert the Great nurtured Tomas’ talent and intelligence to maturity. To cite a few of his compositions, â€Å"The Office and Mass of Corpus Christi† is surely the most admirable liturgical service ever composed, the â€Å"Adoro Te† touches deep emotion and has been considered as a great poetry. Tomas was not only exact in his theology but also a master of prosody11 . Tomas became a bright young teacher himself after being conferred a master at the University of Paris. He was under the tutelage of his great mentor, Albertus Magnus and eventually out-shined his master. A contemporary of Tomas was Giovanni Di Fidanza, who later became Bonaventure, a Franciscan who later became a saint himself. The two had a mutual respect for each other but that relationship was later tested by a religious controversy, which we will not be discussing, as the scope of this paper is limited. The two former classmates went on their separate directions, Thomas became a renowned teacher and philosopher, had two stints as regent master of the Parisian Dominican house and Bonaventure, a noted Theologian, eventually became the Minister General of the order of Franciscans. Both led parallel lives and both died in the same year, 1274, a mere four months of each other. Bonaventure was eventually declared a â€Å"Doctor Seraphicus† and we know Tomas is â€Å"Doctor Angelicus† and the â€Å"Doctor Universalis†. St. Thomas died early without finishing his greatest work, the third part of Summa Theologica, about Christ. Around six months prior to his untimely 9 Peter Strather, Thomas Aquinas in 90 Minutes An Audiobook (Blackstone: London, N. d. ) Ibid. David Knowles, â€Å"The Evolution of the Medieval Thought† 2nd ed. (Longman Group: Essex, England, 10 11 1988), p235 Majella Salceda-Tresvalles †¢ [emailprotected] com †¢ UST Graduate School 6 death, he had another vision of God that changed his point-of-view. Apparently he had conversation with God while saying a mass, this vision had shown him the magnificence and grandeur of God. After which, he ‘hanged his writing instruments’, so to speak. His reasoning was that all his writings were mere ‘straw’ compared to the majesty of God. Tomas was canonized a saint some fifty years after his death, but not without controversy within the theological community, largely brought by the Franciscans 12 and other theologian opposed to his theoglogy. But Pope Leo XIII, an ardent Thomist scholar, prevailed in 1879, citing in his encyclical Aeterni Patris that the theology of Thomas is philosophia perenis, whose philosophies are to be taught in all the religious schools from there on after. Thus, the prophesy of Albertus Magnus came true, that the ‘dumb ox’s bellowing will be heard to the ends of the earth’, and it is still being heard as of this day, loud and clear. 12 â€Å"St. Thomas Aquinas†, New Advent website, 7 Majella Salceda-Tresvalles †¢ [emailprotected] com †¢ UST Graduate School Medieval Concept of Beauty and Art Gothic Cathedral in Lyon, France (Photo Credit: Majella Salceda-Tresvalles, 2008) Let us start by understanding the concept of beauty and art during the medieval times, the appreciation of beauty is very much different from appreciation of arts. Way back in the classical times in Greece, Arts, or Ars, as it was known then, as techne (‘ ’, meaning craft)13 were related to craftmaking only, unlike what we know of art today. The artist then was a craftsman that churns the requirements of the religious to come up with tall churches, golden vestments and bejeweled chalices. The monarchs and landed too are among the privileged few that can afford to have beautiful things to adorn their palaces and splendid residences. Medieval thought, like the classical thought, did not considered that art necessarily had to do with the production of beautiful things or stimulation of aesthetic pleasure. As â€Å"Ars† (art) signified a technique for constructing objects. If some of these objects appeared to be beautiful, this was a side issue. However this â€Å"side issue† is central to modern philosophy, to which the artistic experience is always somehow connected with aesthetic experience. 14 13 14 Steve Shipps, (Re)Thinking ‘Art’: A Guide for Beginners (USA: Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2008) pp. 4 Eco, Aesthetic of Thomas Aquinas, pp. 3 Majella Salceda-Tresvalles †¢ [emailprotected] com †¢ UST Graduate School 8 A survey of the history of medieval aesthetics provides ample evidence of the two of the elements in medieval culture: (1) philosophical reflection on beauty; (2) a concrete and conscious awareness of the beauty of things and the aesthetic reality of art. Some historian assert that the two are in fact independent of each other, the metaphysical reflection on beauty was something quite separate from the everyday, concrete aesthetic sensibility at that time. In the medieval times, the appreciation of beauty in the everyday living was grounded on the ordinary taste. It cannot be denied that the medievals had aesthetic sense, yet it must be noted too that during those times, they lack in the proper artistic semantics unlike what we have in our â€Å"advanced† era of the 21st century. But not knowing the terminologies does not mean that they did not admire what beauty was. One only has to survey the designs of medieval cathedrals, musical compositions, commissions to produce various metal functional implements, to agree that truly there was medieval aesthetics. The integration of the temporal pleasures to the theological beauty was very much evident in the Middle Ages, i. e. temporal pleasures admiration of the beauty of a church, theological beauty- church architectural design served to â€Å"give praise† to the divinity of God. If art could simultaneously instruct and delight (prodesse et delectare) this was because the medieval sensibility like the whole medieval culture as a whole, was an â€Å"integrated† sensibility. 16 This integration was used to the fore by the church, choosing the art in churches to simultaneously instruct and enhance worship. The Catholic Church was the biggest benefactor or client for the artisans, art was used for religious, court and political purposes only. Whether one favors that the only appreciation of beauty was limited to theological aspects or only of this earth, or both, the apparent system of aesthetic sensibility, i. e. its limitations in semantics should be taken into account within the cultural framework of the medievals at the time. Lets face it, the wheels of history was moving slowly during that time, and inventing new words and discovering new things took time.