Pholosophy Questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Pholosophy Questions - Essay Example The rest of the personality is developed by the society. In order to be flexible, individuals must doubt their views and beliefs. This doubt holds critical importance in the journey to discover the truth. It may lead an individual into impasses and dilemmas initially but eventually doubt leads to a point that does not leave any more room for doubt. This elimination of doubt creates a sense of irrefutable authenticity in the beliefs and views of an individual. The degree of doubt presented by Descartes’ first meditations is astounding. Descartes takes the measure of doubt to a whole new level which even involves doubting one’s innate senses. He presents arguments and situations that clarify the need for such doubts. This also questions the existence of oneself, which he mentions as ‘I’ (Williams, Descartes & Cottingham, 1996). The diversity of opinions in the world has created so much room for error. If everyone firmly believes that his/her views are qualifi ed, then who is right and who is wrong. Surely there has to be one path towards the truth; therefore doubting all of the opinions including one’s own is necessary to filter out the real truth. The fact that Descartes takes the degree of doubt to another level stems from his idea to even doubt one’s basic senses of perception upon which all knowledge is based. The idea that senses of perception can deceive an individual does not cross logic since they have deceived people in the past. Our senses have deceived us in matters of observation of minute and distant objects. This is a reasonable claim to support the argument of doubting our senses. However, Descartes cannot reject the authentic of a certain set of basic knowledge such geometry and arithmetic. The first argument presented by Descartes in favor of doubting one’s senses relates to dreams. Dreams feel real until we are woken up from them so who is to decide if the present situation is not a dream but in fac t reality. Being asleep and awake are two different things so it is possible that one of these states is actually the reality but what if both these states are actually a part of an unrealized dream. If the present is not a reality but actually a dream then the mind and body do not exist in reality; they are mere illusions. This is the argument upon which Descartes doubts the authenticity of his senses; However, Rene further presents another side of the picture by drawing an analogy from a painting. Whatever a painter paints on the canvas comes from what he/she observes around him. Even if the painter paints something completely out of this world, he/she still uses the colors that are around him thereby testifying the existence of these colors and objects in the painting. Similarly dreams can be imagined as our canvas and whatever we see in them is a reflection of the things that we observe while we are awake. No matter how irrational the dreams may be, they are still influenced by the reality as we perceive it. So what we see in dreams must actually exist, however, the dreams may not be entirely based on the reality but perhaps carry only the nuance of reality. This argument basically means that dreams do not testify the existence of the body and all its senses, in fact it testifies to the existence of basic knowledge such as geometry and arithmetic, which cannot be doubted. All other knowledge such as physics and astronomy are based on them. The concepts presented in these

Profit Variance Analysis A strategic Focu Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Profit Variance Analysis A strategic Focu - Essay Example Although, prima facie, it would seem that the Company is growing at a fairly good growth rate and is in good financial health, this may not bring out the entire picture. It is very much possible that certain key indicators of business performance, like market shares, Contribution, net worth, ROI, and P/V Ratio, that is Profit volume ratios may not be as desired, but these vital parameters lie buried under the avalanche of profit statements. The Analysis reported in Table 3 fails to address certain key questions regarding the marketability of products. If the Company is a single product catering to a single market, things are easy. But, if the Company is multi-producted, having, say two or three diverse product lines, would it be logical to assume that they have the same markets and customers. This may not be true. Different products may have different markets, diverse customers and separate market shares. To club all together, would be inadequate and misleading. Therefore, different market strategies, financial costing, and management accounting principles would have to be used for the different product lines. Only then would a clear and correct picture emerge regarding contribution, PV Ratio, ROI product wise, market share and estimation of fixed, variable, semi-variable and step-fixed variable costs be correctly estimated and determined. Question 2 : Does a favorable variance imply favorable performance Answer 2 : A favorable variance, or adverse variance, does not always imply favorable or adverse performance. The connection between favorable and adverse variance on the one hand, and the favorable and adverse performance on the other, would depend upon the laying out of the strategies in the context of business, and it is only after evaluation of execution of these business strategies that it could be possible to adjudge, whether a favorable or adverse variance necessarily implies favorable or adverse product performance. (Govindarajan & John, 1989). Question 3: Table 4 shows a rather elaborate and detailed analysis of variances of operating factors such as total market share, market share of the firm, sales mix, selling price and costs. The analysis considers almost all, if not all, the factors that are of interest and importance to management. Why is this analysis incomplete Answer 3: An important aspect of variance analysis is the implementation of strategic goal settings and the constant comparison of actual performance with the targeted strategic goals. This method is connected with strategic analysis and aptly manifests the significance of integrating strategic planning with the assessment of the overall financial performance. The performance evaluation, which is a critical component of the management control process, needs to be embedded into the strategic structural framework of the firm for optimum results. In a Company, the different strategiesimplies different specialized tasks and requires different corporate behavioral patterns for effective performance. In such a