Group Dynamics Negotiation Resolution and Conflict Essay

Group Dynamics Negotiation Resolution and Conflict - Essay Example This can only be accomplished through facing up to conflicts and addressing them, rather than steering clear of them. In one situation, there happened to arise a conflict between the management and a group of workers in a food production company. This mainly arose due to the employment terms whereby the full time employees felt that the part time employees were favored by being paid $3 more per hour while working during odd hours. The full time workers were engaged for six hours per day and were entitled to employment benefits that are required by the law. This was not applied for part time workers who only worked for 3 hours in the evening (Russett 2007). This caused a conflict that led to dissatisfaction amongst the full time employees, lowering the organizational productivity. The goal of the employees was that their hourly rates be equal to that of part time workers, while the management felt that the rationale behind the arrangement was the fact that there were differences in the employment benefits entitled to the workers. Under the prevailing conditions both parties had to find a solution since they were mutually dependent in the work place. The management had to maintain the organization’s profitability while the workers needed to maintain their job for their welfare. Group dynamics would have affected the outcome due to differences in opinion if they could not have been addressed. The tactics used by the negotiators were focused on addressing these differences in order for both parties to understand each other’s point of view. Each party went over their views and the disagreement was clear for both of them. The management began by explaining the rationale behind setting up differences in the terms of employment for the part time and full time workers. It also suggested the plans that were being developed in order to improve the working conditions of the workers, which included an extension of the paid

Research On Management At Pak N Save New Zealand Business Essay

Research On Management At Pak N Save New Zealand Business Essay The main purpose of the research report on PaknSave Group is that it is the demand of the subject. It will help us to gain vast knowledge about this particular organization. As well as we also come to know that what are the necessities and responsibilities to run a business. We will also get an Analysis of the Organization and Management in PaknSave Group. In this research report mainly we come to know the purpose of organization and roles of the management regarding that particular organization. We will understand the various management philosophies, management practices, influences of environment (internal and external) and application of change management theories. Paknsave is a New Zealand discount supermarket chain owned by the Foodstuffs cooperative. Founded in 1985, PaknSave was the last of the five current major New Zealand supermarkets (Countdown, Food town, New World, PaknSave, and Woolworths) to be founded. As of December 2009, there are 45 PaknSave stores operating across the North and South Islands of New Zealand. PaknSaves key policy is to provide everyday food and groceries at low prices. Stores are large and have a no-frills environment, often with unlined interiors and concrete floors. Customers are also asked to pack their own bags, and charged for plastic bags in most stores. Source (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakn_Save) Every day paknsave group aim to make a difference to peoples lives by making the desirable affordable. paknsave group will continue to make Clear improvements in product quality and choice for our customers but, at the same time, paknsave group will always remain true to our core value proposition of delivering bargain prices. The organizational structures of Pakn save http://uniexgh.com/images/organogram.gif In organizational structure of Pakn save there is interaction model. There is chief executive, foreign divisions and coordinator of SP at the top level. At the middle there is director of admin and HR and chief operator and chief finance officer who control operations of company. Then there are general managers in each department. At the below level there is team members and factory managers. Due to transaction model the bottom level people cannot share their information and problems directly with the top level employees. For example if Gen managers in operation want to share some informations of below level they will talk to chief operations officer. He cannot speak to C.E.O directly. There are four departments in Pakn save the admin and HR department, operations department, and consulting and finance department. Below it there are senior and assistant managers. Below it there is team leaders and workers. This is centralized organization everyone has to report to the head office onl ine. If there is any information then head office provides to every store. It is a formal organization. All the operations like timing, relate to stoke, sales and customer services control by head office. Every employee has to work according to companys rules and regulations. Store managers cannot change anything related to their stores by themselves. Purpose of pakn save The name probably originates from the cost-saving practice of requiring that customers pack their own groceries. Pak n Save provides the cardboard boxes used for shipping products to the store, or plastic supermarket bags can be purchased at the checkout for 10 cents at North Island stores. South Island stores charge customers 5 cents per plastic bag. Customers are encouraged to purchase longer-lasting bags or to bring their own. The stores are laid out as supermarket aisles, but with minimalistic design. Extra products that are not on shelves are stacked above the shelves on the pallets they were delivered in. This means that the floor space can be used for retail and storage. The stores are supplied daily from their co-operative distributor Foodstuffs. Pak n Save stores often buy stock in bulk. This process means that stores dont offer a wide variety of products as full-service supermarkets a Consumer magazine survey noticed this especially in the pet food and toilet paper categories Some stores have self checkout self scanning facilities, where the customer scans each item as they put it in their shopping cart trolley. This reduces waiting time at the checkout, as payment is the only thing that occurs (apart from random re-scans). Conventional checkout operator scanning is also available. Pakn save management roles and skills PAKnSAVE follows a Food format unique to New Zealand supermarket shopping. They buy and stock a range of everyday basic products in bulk, and because we can do this in such large volumes it means that they can pass the savings on to customers, in the form of New Zealands lowest overall food prices. Customers will always find great specials in store they pride themselves on getting the best deals by taking advantage of opportunities to negotiate in the marketplace. They are also working hard every day to reduce costs in store so customers will find that their plain style stores have no fancy floor coverings, extravagant shelving or expensive lighting. In paknsave, they offer a practical and functional environment with wide aisles, where the grocery items are stacked on the shelf in their boxes so that its easy to shop, and there are lots of checkouts to get customers on their way as quickly as possible. Pakn save company does ask customers to pack customers own groceries, as they know that customers dont want to pay for any extras hidden in the price of the goods. Because pakn save reduce their costs by these methods, they can pass the savings directly on to clients, without reducing the quality of the products what they offer. Customers only need to check out pakn saves fresh food departments to find great quality fruit and vegetables, meat, seafood, deli and bakery items, all at competitively low prices. For your convenience, some PAKnSAVE stores have fuel pumps located on-site. When you buy groceries at these stores you receive discounts on every liter of fuel that you purchase from PAKnSAVE Fuel. The value of your discount is tied to the amount you spend in store so the more you spend, the more you save! At the moment, PAKnSAVE Fuel is only available at the following stores in the region: Botany Downs, Manukau,, Pukekohe and Lincoln North. Problems faced by paknsave and their solutions Paknsave has to face 2 types problems:- Structured :- Those problems which have already decided or definite solution is known as structured problems. For e.g. the problems regarding customer complaints and reduction in product rates already have some solutions. Unstructured: Those problems which have an uncertainty and no definite format for the solution is known as unstructured problems. For e.g competition of market Problems Pakn Saves main competitors are stores owned by Progressive Enterprises, a division of Australian company Woolworths Limited. The main competitor is full-service discount chain Countdown, and to a lesser extent, Food town and Woolworths. Pakn Save also faces a small amount of competition from Foodstuffs full-service supermarket, New World. Problems are as followings- Structured- Customer complaints. Damaged products. Arrange products according to customer needs. More staff required during busy period. Unstructured- The first problem that organization is facing is that tax is increased so that firm is found very hard to keep its promise of lowest prices. This company is not selling all the food products that we need. People can see many things have charges which are lower than Pakn save products. People find some goods have lower find nearby small shops. How organization might make decisions. Brainstorming is a method of extracting a large number of ideas within a formal setting.The key features are as follows- All the staff is drawn from the team.There is a chairperson and a note maker who makes the note of the whole ideas given. Management Philosophies and practices of Paknsave groups: Task focus: Various tasks- The management has various tasks to focus on. The Management needs to decide that what tasks needs to be done in between a specific period of time. This helps the management o make easy to achieve the goal. It also helps the management to make follow on the rules and policies. People: Recruitment training performance appraisal- It all includes the hiring of new staff. This all can be known as recruitment. Some people on job give more preference in building relations with other workers or people but some people gives more preference to achieving the targets and goals of the company. People orientation (Relationship with people) Task orientation (Target achievement) Efficiency and effectiveness: The main factors on which the efficiency and effectiveness of the paknsave depends are as following: Location: The location of a paknsave plays a very important role in its efficiency. It should be situated on well localized place. So that people have not to face any type of problem while reaching there. Workforce: Most of the success of any business depends upon the workforce of the organization that how effective all the workers do their work at their positions. Same things implement here in paknsave group. Quality of products: If the quality of products in the paknsave would be admirable then everybody try to get stuff from here. Impact of internal and external environment: Internal environments influences: People:Customer satisfaction: All profits of a company/organization depend on the satisfaction of customers. If customers will be satisfied with the products of the company then it will enhance the sales and if sales will increase then it will also raise productivity as well as as employment. Eventually profit will automatically increased by these factors, same thing implement on Paknsave group. System:Quality: customer will only feel satisfied if the quality of the product will be reasonable. So this is also a core factors for the success of Paknsave group. People:Staff turnover: it is also a countable factor for the development of business. If this problem occurs in Paknsave group then it will lead this business to loss of productivity, as new staff will take some time to get up to speed, particularly in complex jobs. As well as customer dissatisfaction will also occur. The influence of PESTEL forces on Pakn save Economic effect 1) Food stuffs in New Zealands largest retail organisation and the second largest commercial organisation by revenue in New Zealand. Due to recession they are still employed employing more than 30,000 people nationwide. But due to recession it is going to be reducing in future. 2) Due to inflation because inflation is increased there is effect on consumer goods. So the prices is going to be increased but Paknsave prices is still lower than other retail stores .But due to great effect of inflation on the food products ,now Paknsave is going to lose their customers too. Environmental effects Pakn save constantly strive to serve the community better. It understand the needs of our customers, and are big supporters of their local communities through various environmental and community initiatives. 1.) Foodstuffs South Island is very disappointed to advise that due to the severe nature of the damage which has resulted from the earthquake, New World Kakapo will not be re-opening and will need to be re-built. Understandably, this is an incredibly distressing time for the local owners, 2) Andrew and Jacqui Palmer, and their staff. The supermarket currently has 34 full time and 52 part time staff employed who will all be affected. 3) After the earthquake in Christchurch Pakn save reduces their prices more than before but government is not going to reduce its taxes so they have to reduce their profit. But it is just for short time. 4) They said if NZ government reduces tax on consumer goods then they can be able to give extra advantages to people about quality and price. Technological effect The new $70 million Foodstuffs Wellington dry grocery distribution centre in Palmerton North is a smart operation that makes clever use of next-generation computer technology. By online shopping customers use to buy things .By using these technology sales of Pakn save is increasing. Now people do not have need to go out .they can give order for things online. Now Pakn save delivers goods at their customers home. That is way customers can save their fuel and time. Now new machine of packaging are established .So people can pack their own things very quickly and efficiently. Its automated system for handling small grocery items has already doubled productivity in what has traditionally been the most time-consuming operation of Foodstuffs warehousing. Operations Group General Manager David Cooper says the distribution centre, which began operating in January, has been designed to meet the current demands and future expansion of Foodstuffs Wellington Cooperative Society. The distribution centre on the corner of Roberts Line and Railway Road is huge. People are dwarfed by the size of the place which is the largest in Palmerton North and one of the biggest in the country south of Auckland. Inside the building, the feature that rivets the eye is the huge complex that dominates the central area. This is Foodstuffs automated picking system (APS). The 10-metre tall, steel lattice storage system for loose groceries is a computer-operated machine that was designed and installed by Australasian logistics solutions company, Dalmatic. High speed intelligent cranes are installed between each row of racks and they zoom in and out at high speed. They pick up totes from conveyor belts to store them and retrieve others for delivery to work stations. Legal influence By increasing the GST tax by 15% PaknSave has to increase its price rate in future. But Pakn save has to lose its customer. But Paknsave is not going to increase its price. It has to reduce its profit. Government also provide subsidy to some food products It will enjoy by people and services is provided by Pakn save. Socio-cultural Effect With changes of life style of people, people want products with cleanness. Pacs save provided products with cleanness and also provided wholesale prices .so people like to buy more products from that place. Paks save also changes its infrastructure and interior decoration according to customers .So that customers can visit more to Pak n save. Generally people spend more on Christmas days .So Paknsave also provides saving accounts offers to their customers so that customers can save more two months before for their shopping at Pak n save account. By this Paknsave will be going to open a account of their customers So that they can buy more at less money. Paknsave brands have been designed and developed over the years to best meet our customers various needs whether its for the weeks big shop At PAKnSAVE; shopping for that special dinner party at New World, or picking up essentials from your local, neighbourhood Four Square store. Source ( http://www.paknsave.co.nz/AboutUS/) Application of change management frameworks: Mostly these retail industries hire those workers who are inexperienced and not have enough skills to work in this particular job which create problems while dealing with customers. So, it should be change. Before hiring any worker a test or interview should be must. In accordance with Levins theory an organization has to overcome 3 stages of change which are: 1. Unfreezing 2. Change 3. Refreezing Source- While making this change firstly paknsave has to stop following old procedures regarding recruitment procedures. In next step they should start new training programmers so that they can make their work more efficient and applicable. In the last step warehouse will have to apply this change on the company. (Mind Tools, 2007; Syque, 2007) In accordance with Kotters Eight Step Model an organization has to overcome 8 steps which are: Source: The main reason of this change regarding recruitment procedure is that it is affecting the sales and profit of the paknsave because it doesnt have effective workers. For setting new rules and regulations a team is must which involves those workers who can plan and set these goals effectively. Then this team should set some goals for the better future of the company. Afterwards, this change should be tell to the all workers so that they can understand the need of change and follow the vision which is set up by team. After that the team should be given the authority to implement this change on paknsave. A short term survey is must so that they can know the output of the company after the implementation of new procedure. At last this change should made permanent if it works efficiently(Chapman, 2006).

The Death Penalty Debate Essay -- capital punishment, 2015

"The death penalty issue is obviously a divisive one. But whether one is for or against, you can not deny the basic illogic - if we know the system is flawed, if we know there are innocent people on Death Row, then until the system is reformed, should we not abandon the death penalty to protect those who are innocent?" --Richard LaGravenese In the United States the death penalty is used as a punishment for capital offenses. These specifically can vary from state to state, but commonly include first-degree murder, murder with special circumstances, rape with additional bodily harm, and the federal crime of treason. (Facts) The goal of the death penalty then, is to deter these crimes from even taking place, to be so feared that offenders think twice about committing such horrible crimes. But does it? In the following paper, the above question will attempt to be answered by looking at the background of capital punishment and the death penalty, the ideas behind it, viable alternatives, and finally, the effectiveness of the death penalty at deterring crime. Early death penalty laws date back to the Eighteenth Century B.C.. The death penalty also had a heavy presence in the Fourteenth Century Hittite Code, the Seventh Century Draconian Code of Athens, and the Fifth Century Roman Law of the Twelve Tablets. (History, 1) Today, thirty-four states in the United States of America still practice the death penalty as a means of punishment for capital offenses and heinous crimes. The death penalty debate is one that Americans are no strangers to; it has been abolished and repealed numerous times throughout our history. Two of the first influential cases dates back to 1968, US v. Jackson and Witherspoon v. Illinois. In each ... ...1. "Facts About the Death Penalty." The Death Penalty Information Center. 16 July 2011. Web. 19 Oct. 2011. "History of the Death Penalty." Death Penalty Information Center. Web. 18 Nov. 2011. Kovandzic, Tomislav V., Lynne M. Vieraitis, and Denise Paquette Boots. "Does the death penalty save lives?." Criminology & Public Policy 8.4 (2009): 803-843. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 17 Oct. 2011. "International Standards on the Death Penalty | Amnesty International." Amnesty International. Amnesty International, 1 Jan. 2006. Web. 23 Oct. 2011. "The Universal Declaration of Human Rights." Welcome to the United Nations: It's Your World. Web. 18 Oct. 2011 "In U.S., Support for Death Penalty Falls to 39-Year Low." Gallup.Com - Daily News, Polls, Public Opinion on Government, Politics, Economics, Management. 13 Oct. 2011. Web. 17 Oct. 2011

Imagery in the plays Oedipus Rex and Othello Essay

In any literature, themes and images play an important role in the reader’s understanding of what the literature would be discussing. Some images and symbols have universal meanings and these help readers relate the meaning of these images with the theme of a specific literature (Blue 2001). In many known literature, images and symbols are known to be the central theme of the story. The plays Othello and Oedipus Rex evidently make use of recurring images to reveal the central theme of the play. Oedipus Rex reveals blindness as a recurring symbol throughout the play. Usually, the Greeks associate clear vision to wisdom and insight (SparkNotes Editors. ). But in the story of Oedipus Rex, blindness is the main reference to the theme of the play. The image of blindness is famously associated to the scene when Oedipus blinds himself at the end of the play. The reason why he blinded himself is revealed in the lines: â€Å"You, you’ll see no more the pain I suffered, all the pain I caused! Too long you looked on the ones you never should have seen, blind to the ones you longed to see, to know! Blind from this hour on! Blind in the darkness-blind! †(â€Å"Shows†). It is through these lines of Oedipus that readers see that the reason he blinded himself is because his eyes served primarily as the one that deceived him from all the truth about his past. This blindness could also mean his blindness from the truth for so long (â€Å"Novel Guide†). Though blindness is often associated with the character of Oedipus, there is also another character to whom the image of blindness is depicted. This is seen through the character of Tiresias, a blind prophet. Though Tiresias is literally blind, he could see farther than others can (SparkNotes Editors). He is said to see beyond what others can see because even though he is blind he sees the truth about Oedipus. But Oedipus does not believe Tiresias and Tiresias reveals to Oedipus what he knows about his past: â€Å"So, you mock my blindness? Let me tell you this. You with your precious eyes, you’re blind to the corruption of your life, to the house you live in, those you live with-who are your parents? Do you know? All unknowing you are the scourge of your own flesh and blood, the dead below the earth and the living here above, and the double lash of your mother and your father’s curse will whip you from this land one day, their footfall treading you down in terror, darkness shrouding your eyes that now can see the light! †(â€Å"Novel Guide†). These lines of Tiresias show that even though he is physically blind, he sees the truth, unlike Oedipus though he sees â€Å"light† he is blinded by the darkness that surrounds the truth about his identity. The image of darkness and blindness as opposed to sight and light could be seen through Oedipus and Tiresias. Literally, the prophet Tiresias is blind and has been seeing the dark for so long, but though he is blind he â€Å"sees† the truth about the true identity of Oedipus (â€Å"GradeSaver†). As for Oedipus, he only truly â€Å"sees† or gains sight after knowing the truth about his past (â€Å"GradeSaver†). This enlightenment leaves Oedipus to blind himself because he could not face his family after knowing all about his past (â€Å"Study Guides and Teacher Resources†). Therefore the person that before sees the light now sees darkness because he was blinded by the truth. The recurring images of darkness and blindness are used in the play not only for the development of the readers’ understanding of the play, but also as a means of foreshadowing the tragedy that is about to come to Oedipus’s life because of his â€Å"blindness† to the truth which ironically in the end, results to his physical blindness. Truly, these images served a high purpose in letting the readers figure out the fundamental idea that is depicted throughout the play. The play Oedipus Rex makes use of the recurring images of blindness and darkness and light and sight and reveals that the theme of the whole story revolves around these images. The main theme is focused on one image that is used in this play, and that is blindness. This blindness does not necessarily mean physical blindness, rather it means being blind and ignoring the truth (SparkNotes Editors). This is seen through the blindness of Oedipus of the truth that he was the one who killed his own father, married his own mother and had a child that eventually became his siblings. He blinds himself from all these truths and pretends that he does not recognize what that has already been presented to him by the prophet Tiresias (SparkNotes Editors). This willingness of Oedipus to accept the awful truth about his past is the play’s overall theme. The recurring images of blindness shown by the characters and the exchange of lines among the characters served as a connection for readers to figure out the theme of the play. Aside from Oedipus Rex, Othello is another play that makes use of recurring images to let the readers immediately know its overall theme. Othello makes use of animals and monsters as images and metaphors to convey further understanding of the play. Animals are usually used by the characters in the play to compare their feelings and their views about a person or a situation. Monsters or beastly images are usually used in Iago’s speeches. In one line, he enrages Brabantio when he says that his â€Å"daughter and the Moor are now making the beast with two backs. † Iago makes use of the monster imagery of fornication to let Brabantio arouse his feeling of anger (Laymopun). It could be seen here that the use of the image of a beast to compare with a human being could bring about a strong emotional response from the other characters in the play and makes it more effective. Another use of monster or beastly image by Iago is seen in his soliloquy: â€Å"It is engendered. Hell and night / Must bring this monstrous birth to the world’s light. † Here, the image of giving birth to a monster is used as a metaphor to portray the birth of Iago’s evil plot (Laymopun). Here, it could be seen that the use of the image of a monster or a beast is associated with being evil; in this case, the evil becoming of Iago. Not only do monsters and beastly images appear in Othello, animal images are also used by the characters. Othello is the one that makes more use of animal imagery. Some of his lines such as: â€Å"exchange me for a goat,† and â€Å"I’d rather be a toad! † evidently makes use of animals such as goat and toad to say that he despises the act of being jealous (â€Å"Example Essays†). He also makes use of these animals as imagery when he was convinced that his wife was unfaithful. Being convinced that his wife was really unfaithful he loses control, saying: â€Å"goats and monkeys† (123HelpMe. com). Othello made use of the animals such as goats and monkeys because traditionally these animals are considered lustful (123HelpMe. com). Here, it can be seen that Othello made use of such animals to compare his wife to these animals and to show how he sees his wife and how he views things, especially jealousy. It is not only Othello that makes use of animal imagery, Iago also made use of such animal images to address Othello. In one part, Iago addresses Othello as â€Å"Barbary horse† and â€Å"old black ram† (SparkNotes Editors). Here, Iago makes use of animals to reflect how he sees Othello. Specifically, the â€Å"old black ram† does not only compare to Othello but is also one of the themes that is dominant in this play, that is, race (SparkNotes Editors). In the line â€Å"old black ram†, it is specified that Othello is black and Iago makes sure to include the â€Å"black† to the animal image to see which race Othello belongs to. It is through this that the relationship of the images with the theme of the play could be clearly seen. The theme of Othello could clearly be seen and understood through the use of animal and monster images. The use of the image of monsters imply that the fundamental idea that this play is presenting is the evil side of a person. This could be concluded because Iago often makes use of the monster or beastly image to refer to an act that is evil. It could also be seen that most animal images are used to refer to something negative. The idea of jealousy, infidelity, and corruption creates a negative and an evil atmosphere which shows the fundamental theme of the play (â€Å"GradeSaver†). Aside from the evil theme seen through animal and monster imagery, race is also another theme discussed in this play. It is mentioned earlier that Iago’s address to Othello as an â€Å"old black ram† shows not only the imagery of an animal but also how race was an issue in this play. It shows the contrast between the blacks and the whites through the character of Othello and that of the Venetian society (123HelpMe. com). Aside from the animal imagery of Othello as â€Å"an old black ram†, he is also referred to as â€Å"far more fair than black†. Both shows how Othello is always viewed with reference to the color of his skin and that even though he holds the position of a general, it still could not be ignored that he is black and the color of his skin still makes him an outcast in the Venetian society dominated by whites (123HelpMe. com). Here, the theme of race and the issue between the blacks and the whites, are clearly presented by using animal images. The use of animal and monstrous imagery by Shakespeare makes an impact on the audience by making them recognize the fundamental idea and the tragedy that Iago faces all because of his treachery. The use of imagery to portray the themes evil and race makes it easier for readers to make meaning out of the play Othello. An image in literature is best described as a mere representation of something that is not present (â€Å"Answers. com†). Images are used in literature to present a clear description or portrayal of a character and or a situation (â€Å"Answers. com†). In both plays, recurring images are seen and these images served as an instrument of figuring out the main focus of the entire play. Both Oedipus Rex and Othello make use of images that make it easier for audience and readers alike to explore their fundamental themes. The images used in both plays serve an essential purpose for the readers’ concept development and understanding of the plays. In Oedipus Rex, the image of darkness and blindness as opposed to sight and light is dominantly seen because of the representation of the blind prophet Tiresias who embodies not only blindness but also sight because even though he is physically blind, he â€Å"sees† the truth unlike Oedipus who is physically able to see but is blind about the truth of his past. In Othello, animal and monster or beast images are used so that readers and audience would be able not only to see but also feel its evil atmosphere. Not only do these images portray evil but also the issue the issue between the blacks and the whites. The use of images of animals as compared to persons and to the emotions that the characters have in the play makes it effective not only in addressing its theme but also in letting readers and audiences feel the atmosphere of the play. It is only right to conclude that the images used in both Oedipus Rex and Othello play an important role in the understanding of the theme of the plays. Looking at the relationship of the images and the theme of both plays, it could be said that images play an essential role in forming meaning by the readers. This could be supported by both the plays discussed because of how each image was rendered useful to the formation of meaning and identification of fundamental ideas discussed in both Oedipus Rex and Othello. Works Cited 123HelpMe. com. â€Å"Free College Essays – Use of Imagery in Shakespeare’s Othello†. Web. 06 June 2010 . Answers. com. â€Å"Image: Definition†. N. p. , n. d. Web. 7 Jun 2010. . Blue, Tina. â€Å"Traditional Themes and Motifs in Literature†. 2001. n. pag. Web. 2 Jun 2010. . Example Essays. â€Å"Animal Imagery in Othello†. N. p. , n. d. . Web. 2 Jun 2010. . GradeSaver. â€Å"Oedipus Rex or Oedipus the King Study Guide†. N. p. , n. d. Web. 2 Jun 2010. . GradeSaver. â€Å"Othello Study Guide:Major Themes†. N. p. , n. d. Web. 2 Jun 2010. . Laymopun. â€Å"Othello: Imagery – TermPaper†. Research Papers and Essays. N. p. , 20 07 2002. Web. 2 Jun 2010. . Novel Guide. â€Å"Oedipus the King: Metaphor Analysis†. N. p. , n. d. Web. 2 Jun 2010. . Shows. â€Å"Themes—Oedipus†. N. p. , n. d. Web. 2 Jun 2010. . SparkNotes Editors. â€Å"SparkNote on Othello. † SparkNotes. com. SparkNotes LLC. 2002. Web. 2 Jun. 2010. SparkNotes Editors. â€Å"SparkNote on The Oedipus Plays. † SparkNotes. com. SparkNotes LLC. 2002. Web. 2 Jun. 2010. Study Guides and Teacher Resources. â€Å"Oedipus the King Symbolism, Imagery & Allegory†. N. p. , n. d. Web. 2 Jun 2010.

Problem with Evil Existence of God

Today the news is filled with coverage on various natural catastrophes and other related causalities that people face daily. Anyone can look into their lives or even their neighbors and see the presence of misfortune that surrounds our world. This problem has brought up the issue of God’s existence in religious philosophical discussions. For centuries, many have tried to dismiss the existence of God on the basis of the existence of evil. Let’s consider where God has been placed in people’s lives throughout our history. For the Greeks and Romans gods were thought to personify wisdom, war, and other actions that human beings took (Spitzer 5). As knowledge continued to progress god was thought to live in heaven, beyond the realm of the planets. He was believed to have created life thousands of years ago. Soon as human knowledge progressed even further we’ve learned about the Big Bang, DNA, and evolution (Spitzer 14). It seems that the more humans know, the further back God gets pushed. Often, it appears as if humans use God as a placeholder for the unknown, but as we learn more, he gets redefined. Philosophers question whether or not there can be a wholly good God that would create such a world where evil exists. This pursuit is known as the problem of evil. â€Å"According to the ‘problem of evil’, the extent of evils in the world seems to conflict with the existence of an omniscient, omnibenevolent, and omnipotent God. Theodicy is a study where theists are able to get together and make their arguments disclosing information on the compatibility between God and evil. This seems to be one of the most perplexing problems theists have to face. In today's world, there are many differing opinions as to whether a God exists or not. This obviously has been an issue of great controversy because many people worship different gods or no god at all. I will define theodicy; discuss the conflict between an omniscient God and the existence of evil, and touch on free will and how it plays into natural and moral evil. Theodicy is the branch of theology that defends God's goodness and justice in the face of the existence of evil (dictionary. com). Theodicy is a term hat comes from the Greek words theos meaning God and dike meaning righteous. The basic form of theodicy involves these assumptions that God is all good and powerful therefore he is all knowing and that the universe was made by God and does it exist in a contingent relationship to God. Also the assumption of the existence of evil and why. (Mackie 150) This suggests that if God is all good and powerful he would choose to eliminate such evils. In the case of God being all good but not all powerful he may be unable to intervene in the evils of this world. Or if God was just all powerful and not all good one must assume he has a malicious side to him to allow all this evil. Assuming that God is all these things both powerful and good if the universe doesn’t exist in a contingent relationship to God then he has little to do with the evil. With this being said still leaves the question â€Å"why does evil exist†? The basic approaches to theodicy can be said to take three forms: logical/deductive, evidential/inductive, and existential. The logical problem of evil is a deductive one. If God is said to be all good, all powerful, and all knowing why should evil exist. Is it rational to believe in the existence of God? This is Mackie’s formulation of the problem God exists, is all good, all knowing, and all powerful. Such a being has no limits to its ability. A good being will always eliminate all the evil that it can. Evil exists, so God must not (Theodicy Overview). You can agree with the first two statements, but one might argue the third statement by making the point that a good being will always eliminate all the evil that it can unless it has good reason to allow that evil. Therefore, a modified version of Mackie’s argument looks like this: â€Å"If God exists, then there is no evil, unless there is a reason that would justify Him in permitting it. Evil exists. There is no reason that would justify God to permit evil. So, God does not exist (Theodicy Overview). † The intention behind this argument is to show that God is justified in permitting evil. The evidential problem of evil admits that God and the existence of evil are logically compatible, the concept of good and bad are known to go together. Considering the amount or various kinds of evil in the world conclude as vidence against the existence of God. This approach argues that because of the large amounts of evil in the world and the existence of unjustified evil the belief in God is not plausible. We assume that God would refuse to allow such evils to exist that fail in appearance to have any good purpose. Here are examples of these objections. â€Å"It seems that God could have eliminated more evil in the world and still accomplished the divine purposes (Matson 145). † â€Å"Is such a God who does things this way worthy of worship, and therefore, plausible (Matson 145)? With little evidence it’s hard to prove or disprove if something exists. Dealing with a being such as God we may not always be able to understand his reasoning for allowing such evils and will not always see his greater purpose for his divine moral teachings. The existential approach often referred to as the religious approach to the problem of evil is the concept of why the suffering is happening to a certain individual and why at this time or place in this individual’s life. Theodicy is now seen as practical more concerned with providing answers for those who suffer in specific circumst ances. It is often that the existential approach turns from asking why God would allow such evils to happen to instead how one can go to God in search for him to help relieve them of their problems and find ways to make suffering and evil more tolerable. The focus is on how believers should respond to God during their tribulations for example turning to faith, testimony, and worship. This is an overview on theodicy and introduces some of the main concepts that sets its foundation. Now the conflict between an omniscient God and the existence of evil seems to get very complicated. God is referred to be omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent simultaneously. If God is omnipotent this means he has power over anything and everything. If God is omniscient this means he is aware of all things that occur and if he is omnibenevolent this means he is wholly good. It would seem rational to believe that an omnibenevolent God would be of nature to relieve suffering wherever it is happening (Swinburne 67). An omniscient God would know when people are suffering, how they are suffering, and how that suffering may be relieved. An omnipotent God has the power to alleviate those who are suffering from their sufferings. So why does God allow evil to exist? Maybe God allows evil to exist because it is necessary for some greater good. For example, when a parent gives a child bad tasting medicine or has the child undergo painful surgery. From the child’s perspective they would feel as if they were being punished for something or enduring a form of evil. When this isn’t the case at all the parent is only looking out for the child’s best interest (Swinburne 100). The child shows ignorance of the parent’s reasoning for forcing him/her to undergo the temporary pain and so the child finds this treatment unjust when in actuality it isn’t. Perhaps we can use the metaphor of the child's perception of his parent's action to God and our perception of his creation of evil. â€Å"For we cannot deny that some good the child's mind cannot even conceive may justify the parents in permitting the child to suffer. And by analogy, won't the same be true of God in relation to us as his children (Theodicy Overview)? † This can conclude that we are sometimes unable to see the bigger picture of God’s purpose when it comes to human suffering. God may be teaching us the secrets behind the moral code. Like what is just and in just. We are being taught moral responsibilities and moral traits to help us reach a greater good that God possibly has in store for our lives. Some still argue that this isn’t the case at all. There are still many evils that don’t necessarily seem to produce any good or help in the counter-balance between good and evil. One incident that comes to mind is the Holocaust. It was a horrific period of time in our history where genocide occurred. It is hard to believe that an all-powerful and all-knowing God would become powerless in preventing the nightmare in Auschwitz. Also if God is omnibenevolent we would ponder on the question how can he let something so malice take place on innocent lives? Is it reasonable to believe that all evils can be explained to where they occur to result in a greater good and that we are somehow unable to always make sense of why such and such thing are happening? It is possible that a massacre shooting at a school resulting in the death of many young lives may serve to promote a greater good, but it doesn’t seem likely. Now there is a distinction between the good parent and the good God. In such cases where a child is undergoing pain which they are incapable of understanding the parent is there to reassure them of their love and give them useful insight on better understanding their situation and what it is their going through. There are numerous people who go through prolonged suffering who are consciously unaware of God’s presence. Going back to the incidents that occurred in Auschwitz it is unlikely that the majority of prisoners felt God’s love and reassurance. They most likely felt abandoned and un-loved. Many would have to question where was God during this time and what type of parent does this make him. It appears that God acted like a negligent parent with a cold heart. With that being said we can make the assumption that God doesn’t exist or the good-parent analogy fails. This argument that God allows evil to exist to show us the greater good seems to be implausible due to the fact that such horrendous evils fail to show the greater good they are meant to produce. There are two basic forms of evil which are natural and moral. Natural evil is when the world experiences suffering caused by disease, earthquakes, floods, crashes, and so on. Moral evil is when someone chooses to act ill-mannered based on human will. Now natural evil can’t be prevented and is easily misunderstood to why God allows such natural disasters to occur. Where moral evil is based upon each individual and their code of ethics, how they differentiate right from wrong. Some argue that God punishes people based on their actions because we have the ability to choose what’s good and what’s bad. This is where the free-will defense can cover moral evil, but it fails to cover natural evil. It is believed that God created man to possess free-will allowing him the freedom of choice. With the freedom of choice there becomes conflict when you have to make the decision between right and wrong. The fact that we have been taught to know what is right should benefit us when it comes to making the better decision, but that isn’t always the case. Due to the various temptations we have in our society many of us continue to fall short of the moral code. If God has made men such that in their free choices they sometimes prefer what is good and sometimes what is evil, why could he not have made men such that they always freely choose the good (Mackie 164)? † It is easy to assume that such a being as God would want his creation to be wholly good like him, but this isn’t the case at all. Some argue that if God was to have created us to always freely choose good we wouldnâ €™t be entirely entitled to freedom. If we were being forced to choose one way or the other we wouldn’t be choosing freely. Without the ability to choose what is wrong we would no longer have to worry about greed, lust, violence, and other evils because they would no longer be a choice of ours. â€Å"We would be free from temptations and only have innocent inclinations, and so could not exemplify the moral value of resisting and overcoming temptations to do wrong (Mackie 165). † In conclusion, I do believe in the rationality behind the existence of God. Just because there is a problem with evil and a disagreement to why God would allow such evils to exist I feel there is a greater purpose behind Gods plan. The evils that are apparent in our society today teaches us the value of morals and the importance in having them. We are able to step outside ourselves and our heart goes out to those we see suffering from deprivation all around the world. The idea of God being omniscient, omnipotent, omnibenevolent while there is an existence of evil seems to be problematic unless you can believe in the fact that it is possible we are incapable of comprehending all it is God is trying to teach us. For God to be unwilling to remove the devastation in this world there would have to be good reasoning behind all of this. To believe in God you are exercising your ability to have faith in a higher power. You are choosing to believe in something that has yet to be proven into existence. Faith is known to be very important to God and it is through the trials and tribulations you turn your faith towards God in search of comfort and understanding. I do believe that during the hard times God waits for us to turn to him and trust in him that he has the ability to mitigate all our problems. It is necessary to experience or witness evils in the world because it is a way for us to build our faith and come into a closer connection with God. By God creating us having free-will this allows us to choose from what is good and what is evil. We are able to establish morals and learn the virtues of life. The great thing about this is that these lessons only come if we choose to learn them. It is our choice what we allow to dictate our lives. I believe if we are ever going to be able to see or comprehend what God’s divine purpose is for allowing such evils to exist we need to become more like him. Abiding by the laws of God is an option , a choice that he has left up to us.