Publix Supermarkets Essay Example for Free

Publix Supermarkets Essay The factors that are currently involved in successfully competing in the supermarket industry are the same factors that have led to the success of Publix supermarkets. These factors include delivering superior customer value, caring for people, and delivering quality products and service. Publix has gone a step further and developed four success drivers for the company; knowing the business, knowing the product, knowing the customer, and continuously training people. Due to the fact that customers are more knowledgeable and demanding than ever before, change is constant throughout the supermarket industry. As a result, to remain competitive for the next 10 years and beyond, knowing what customers need and being able to meet those needs is be critical. For example, as the population becomes more diverse, there will be a greater demand for various ethnic food products. Similarly, as health and nutrition become more of a national focus, there will be a greater demand for high quality foods that are rich in nutrition, as well as organic products, etc. In addition, technology such as self checkout stations in supermarkets and online shopping capability will continue to change the landscape of the supermarket industry. What are the values of Publix’s organizational culture; employees; customers; shareholders; suppliers; and competitors? Which ones do you consider to be value adders and which do you see as value destroyers as Publix attempts to become the premier quality food retailer in America? Publix has a corporate culture founded on the philosophy of deeply caring for people. Publix employees understand that they are not only in the grocery business, but also in the people business. As a result, taking care of associates, customers, suppliers, and others in the community is a priority. The result of Publix employees continue to please their customers, more customers look to Publix for their shopping needs. At the same time, employees and associates are made to feel valuable through recognition programs, extensive training programs, etc. Publix believes that their employees will not have the ability to make customers happy if they are not happy themselves. By investing in their employees, Publix has created a culture of loyalty, pride, and job satisfaction. By making a commitment to people and creating lasting relationships with employees, customers, suppliers, and the community, Publix has positioned itself as an industry leader. This philosophy and corporate culture play a large role in the success of the company and can only be considered as value adders, not value destroyers. What factors are currently influencing a customer’s decision to shop at Publix? Why have competitors been unable to duplicate such success factors successfully? Publix’s mission statement very clearly states that Publix is passionately focused on customer value. Essentially, the company is just committed to satisfying the needs of its customers better than its competitors. While the competition is able to offer good prices and quality products, Publix stands out in the minds of its customers for providing delightful customer service in every shopping experience. There is no doubt that Publix needs to maintain competitive prices and quality products in order to be successful. However, these are easily duplicated. On the other hand, providing a delightful customer experience comes from the culture of an organization committed to creating superior value. This is what sets Publix apart from its competitors. Analyze how PublixDirect’s processes were used to add value. In hindsight, what should the company have done differently to keep PublixDirect a viable business model? PublixDirect’s business model sought to add value by utilizing a centralized direct fill fulfillment approach. In addition, PublixDirect was limited to a 35-mile radius in South Florida. The company utilized a 140,000 square foot distribution center divided into separate departments, and operated its own bakery dedicated to the online venture. The company utilized the latest technology for order taking and fulfillment, outbound logistics, and payment. PublixDirect was founded on the same philosophy as Publix supermarkets with the goal of delivering superior customer value. The goal was to offer customers a convenient alternative to traditional grocery shopping with prices similar to that of local supermarkets while offering superior product quality and customer service. Unfortunately, PublixDirect was unable to sustain operations. Initially, the business model appeared as though it would be successful, but that proved not to be the case. In hindsight, the company should have done more extensive research about its potential customers, and done more to attract the type of consumers originally targeted which were dual income households with incomes exceeding $75,000. What were the factors that led to the demise of PublixDirect? What does it take to create a successful online operation in the United States? High delivery costs, distribution center costs, and low customer demand were all factors that contributed to the demise of the PublixDirect operation. To date, none of the various online gorecery operations I ntroduced in the United states have been able to turn a profit, and therefore none have been able to sustain operation long term. However, the primary problem seems to be the inability to turn profits due to the high costs associated with distribution centers. In order to create a successful online grocery operation here I n the United States, it would be best to follow the same model that U. K. based Tesco has successfully implemented. Rather than utilize distribution centers for order fulfillment, Tesco uses a â€Å"store-pick† model in which orders placed online are simply picked from store shelves. Delivery costs are added to the cost of the groceries. This model has proven to be successful in the United Kingdom and could very well be successfully implemented here in the United States as well. The warehouse/distribution center model has the potential to be cheaper long-term, but the large up-front costs have proven to be enough to put several online grocers out of business before they were able to turn profits.

Integration of Wifi and Inertial Navigation Systems

Integration of Wifi and Inertial Navigation Systems Advanced Integration of Wifi and Inertial Navigation Systems For Indoor Mobile Positioning Mohamad Zakwan Bin Zulkifle Abstract Advanced Integration of Wifi and Inertial Navigation Systems For Indoor Mobile Positioning have been widely use with the development of the technology nowadays. This paper represents about the study of how the advanced integration of wifi and inertial navigation system for mobile indoor positioning works. Also, this article present about an indoor positioning and orientation system, which optimize the user mobility in closed spaces. This technology employs a location codes system. It is a simple and inexpensive solution to obtain the indoor location and orientation. Thus, make the user easy to navigate indoor without hesitation and many device to carry on with them. Materials and Methods In inertial navigation systems, localization/introduction estimation is source-independent. The clients position is figured in connection to a known beginning position utilizing a dead reckoning algorithm. The entire system makes utilization of the previously mentioned sensors: accelerometers are utilized to figure the distance travelled and the gyroscopes/magnetic compass to focus the direction. The uncertainty in the evaluated position develops with time from the initial known beginning position since the errors presented by assessing the user/object movements are additive, expanding the total inaccuracy. This requests for an occasional recalibration of the systems to decrease the cumulative error. The idea of solid inner position (see Figure 1 for premise framework construction modeling) concerning restriction in all surroundings. Typically, it needs a different sensors, positioning stands with alternate signal, movement sensor, and natural attributes. Figure 1. Fundamental System Architecture of Robust Indoor Positioning on Mobile Sensing Platform This can increment by utilizing three-dimensional (3d) mapping, setting awareness and participation between users. Constancy is amplified by harvesting. However much data from the nature as could be expected and after that picks the most dependable characters for deciding the position. As indicated by Figure 1, a sound framework, a closed position by and large comprise of three (3) sub framework, called subsystems field, subsystem interfaces, and database subsystem. Under ordinary conditions, the transmitter will dependably proceed distribute their signs in scope. Any gadget which is outfitted with exceptional sensors inside extent they will get signals. The sign got by then will be transformed by a focal handling unit (where the calculation introduced position), before it is contrasted and estimation information in information source. At last, the yield mapping the framework shows area on the screen of a cell phone. To estimate location in a cellular network, it can be used successfully by several techniques which are : Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) Bluetooth Ultra-wideband (UWB) Ultrasound Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Hybrid Technologies QR scanning method To explore on indoor situations, it is important to have all the indoor space data at one time handled, to compute all conceivable courses. Contingent upon the degree of the earth, or the intricacy of these, there will be pretty much area labels that relate to the position of the marks. Those area marks will be deliberately dispersed everywhere, when the client filters any area tag, the frameworks will demonstrate their current position and will manage him/her regulated to their destinations. This system lives up to expectations with any cell phone or tablet, regardless of the fact that the cell phone have any cam, just by entering the URL which shows up other than the QR code. Expected Outcomes Outcomes expected from this is : The advanced integration of wifi and internal navigation systems for indoor mobile positioning full have been use as the technology have been applied widely in our daily life along with the advancement in this globalization era. The advantage and effectiveness of utilizing the floor arrangement based vision route systems to enhance the indoor positioning accuracy and unwavering quality. These proposed systems can give satisfactory indoor positions in different situations with incredible performance consistency. The intial position exactness is critical to focus the region of interest. Incorporating sensors, for example, accelerometer, gyrocsope will essentially enhances the current starting position exactness by Wi-Fi, which is several meters. Precision of initial positions wont just quicken the matching speed additionally enhance the matching dependability. Our pedometer calculation can be consolidated with sense of self movement from the smartphone camera to yield a more precise dead reckoning system. The main concern is that the preview frames would be slightly obscured when users begin their walk. Picture adjustment calculations exist that can fix this issue up to a certain extent. Research Timetables : Milestone Conclusion: Significance of the Study Advanced Integration of Wifi and Inertial Navigation Systems For Indoor Mobile Positioning is vigorously developing technology that are being implanted in many subjects. This advancement of technology is a glory for nowadays technology. With the advancement, people nowadays can plan their path and their shopping style smoothly. They don’t have to be stress if they accidentally overshoot the place they want to layover because they can plan it before they begin their walk. Because of this, the indoor positioning system by using the WLAN and FM Radio function inside a cellular telephone has been proposed, since the cell phone is an individual gadget which is utilized by the vast majority. The posotioning method was exchanged focused around sort of environment so as to guarantee the robustness of the indoor positioning system. Reference Oliver Woodman. Pedestrian localisation for indoor environments. PhD thesis, St Catharines College, 2010. L. Escobà ©s, â€Å"Summary of the State of the Art in indoor location systems,† no. December, pp. 1–3, 2009. U. Rueppel and K. Stuebbe, â€Å"BIM-Based Indoor-Emergency- Navigation-System for Complex Buildings,† Tsinghua Science Technology, vol. 13, no. October, pp. 362–367, Oct. 2008. H. M. Khoury and V. R. Kamat, â€Å"Evaluation of position tracking technologies for user localization in indoor construction environments,† Automation in Construction, vol. 18, no. 4, pp. 444–457, Jul. 2009. Abhijit Chandgadkar, An Indoor Navigation System For Smartphones, June 18, 2013. Bei Huang, Floor Plan Based Indoor Vision Navigation Using Smart Device, July 2013 Marzieh Jalal Abadi, Luca Luceri, Mahbub Hassan, Chun Tung Chou, Monica Nicoli, A Collaborative Approach to Heading Estimationfor Smartphone-based PDR Indoor Localisation. Wan Mohd Yaakob Wan Bejuri and Mohd Murtadha Mohamad, Wireless LAN/FM Radio-based Robust Mobile Indoor Positioning: An Initial Outcome, International Journal of Software Engineering and Its Applications Vol.8, No.2 (2014), pp.313-324 Josà © Antonio Puà ©rtolas Montaà ±Ãƒ ©s, Adriana Mendoza Rodrà ­guez, Ivà ¡n Sanz Prieto, Smart Indoor Positioning/Location and Navigation: A Lightweight Approach,2013 Yuan Xu, Xiyuan Chen and Qinghua Li, Autonomous Integrated Navigation for Indoor Robots Utilizing On-Line Iterated Extended Rauch-Tung-Striebel Smoothing,2013 Oliver J. Woodman, An introduction to inertial navigation, August 2007. Hui Wang, Henning Lenz, Andrei Szabo, Joachim Bamberger and Uwe D. Hanebeck, Enhancing the Map Usage for Indoor Location-Aware Systems. Nisarg Kothari, Balajee Kannan and M. Bernardine Dias, Robust Indoor Localization on a Commercial Smart-Phone, August, 2011. Jussi Collin, INDOOR POSITIONING SYSTEM USING ACCELEROMETRY AND HIGH ACCURACY HEADING SENSORS, September 9-12, 2003, The Institute of Navigation. Saurabh Taneja, Burcu Akinci, James H. Garrett, Lucio Soibelman, Bill East, BIM-BASED HYBRID INERTIAL POSITIONING FOR FACILITY OPERATIONS SUPPORT,Oktober 2011 [Type text]

Human Nature in Bartholomae and Petroskys Our Time, Theft, and Music of the Swamp :: Petrosky Our Time Essays Theft Essays

Human Nature in Bartholomae and Petrosky's Our Time, Theft, and Music of the Swamp Why should college students read the stories that are assigned in English courses? Other than to satisfy the professor, what is the purpose of reading these difficult writings of people we don't know or care about? Many of these students find themselves asking, "What is this writer talking about?" Confused, some quickly give up trying to understand the story and make reading something just to get through, diminishing both their understanding and their grade. Knowing what these writers are trying to explain makes their stories much easier to read. Throughout history, we humans have tried to understand why we do the things we do. To aid in our understanding, many storytellers throughout literary history have written fictional and non-fictional stories about human nature to help others, as well as themselves understand. Human nature is what the writers of Our Time, Theft, and Music of the Swamp, three excerpts from the anthology Ways of Reading edited by David Bartholomae and Ant hony Petrosky, often read in English courses, are trying to explore. My personal story, Chinese Food Can Save Your Life, written for my English composition course is also an example of this exploration. The human nature in these stories is to blame other people, places, or situations for failures and general unhappiness. Most readers can probably relate to this since at one point or another, they have thought that, if they just had some extra money, a better job, a different lover, a new home, or a better childhood, they could be happier. To assign the blame to other people and things is easier than to point the finger at ourselves. Although a few things individuals are not responsible for do exist, such as ethnicity and hereditary characteristics, most of the things good or bad that happen to us are a result of choices we have made. In these stories, this human compulsion to obsess for what we (supposedly) don't have destroys any possibility of obtaining the particular possession. In Theft a chapter from Joyce Carol Oates' novel Marya: A Life, the main character Marya blames dependency for her unhappiness. Early in Marya's life she decided that dependence on other people and involvement in relationships resulted in her limited freedom.

College Writing in a Democratic and Digital Society :: Education College Technology Essays

College Writing in a Democratic and Digital Society Citizens of the United States spend obscene amounts of money to get a quality college education. For example, Rhetoric classes at Oakland University are costing each student about $600 to take for one semester. What are students getting for their money? One way to really make this class part of the college experience, and worth the high cost, would be to involve multiculturalism. Writing about and listening to other peoples personal experiences can help students learn about and better understand other cultures. This is important because it can help students learn about each other, themselves and the rest of the world. By learning about other cultures students may be able to break down existing barriers and expand their horizons. Rhetoric classes have become much more advanced in the area of technology. Technology has advanced all over the world, including in the classroom. Now the question is how do we use this technology to help better our education as well as our society. We need t o use this technology as a tool for literacy (Camper). Rhetoric teachers across the nation are taking different approaches to meeting the goal of spreading multiculturalism. A Professor of Rhetoric and Composition, from the University of Texas at Austin, named Maxine Hairston takes an interesting approach to teaching writing. She describes this style of teaching in an article entitled "Diversity, Ideology, and Teaching Writing." Hairston is a strong believer in spreading multiculturalism in education. She believes in a teaching style that allows students to express themselves freely through writing. Through this exchange of ideas, values, opinions, traditions and personal experiences students recognize and relate to other cultures and backgrounds. Hairston states that "these students bring with them a kaleidoscope of experiences, values, dialects, and cultural backgrounds that we want to respond to positively, using every resource we can to help them adapt to the academic world and become active participants in it" (Hairston). Basically, what Hairston wants to do is develop a curriculum that is not based on text book drills, but rather on the experience s of the students in the class. However, there are many students like myself, that spent all of their High School years in an environment with very little to no cultural diversity. I grew up in a neighborhood where I was surrounded by people that all shared a similar nationality, ethnic background, and even social class.

Hoover Dam Essay -- Civil Engineering Construction Essays

Hoover Dam   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Hoover Dam is one of America ¡Ã‚ ¦s greatest civil engineering marvels (Hernan 22) and  ¡Ã‚ §has become a magnet to those fascinated by human ingenuity at its best ¡Ã‚ ¨ (Haussler 30). With its enormous size and construction during the Great Depression, it was an interesting topic to me. I would like to major in civil engineering and, at first, I was researching this topic. I was looking for salary and job descriptions. Then, I discovered the name John L. Savage, the engineer who supervised the design of the Hoover Dam and many other dams in the United States. Savage worked on the Minidoka irrigation project in Idaho after joining the United States Reclamation Service in 1903. His future of building dams first began "When I first went out to the Snake River Valley, ¡Ã‚ ¨ he said,  ¡Ã‚ §I saw only a river and a lot of wasteland. After the dam was up the land changed. It got water. Farmers moved in to work the soil. Crops grew. Then came villages and t owns. That's why I think this is the happiest, most thrilling work in the world ¡Ã‚ ¨ (qtd. in McCann). The characteristics he describes are evident to me, as well as other people in this field. All of the great buildings and projects of the World were overseen by civil engineers. These water resources projects, such as the Hoover Dam, not only disturbed the flow of rivers but created towns, industries, and even developed a desert region. Unfortunately, the dams can also cause adverse effects.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Colorado River may have been  ¡Ã‚ §too thick to drink [and] too wet to plow ¡Ã‚ ¨ (Boris 4) but, it was not too strong to dam. The Boulder Canyon Project was first conceived in 1928 (Wassner 98) and was approved for flood control, storage of the Colorado River water, and the production of hydroelectric power (Hoover Dam - FAQs). John R. Hall explains that the Hoover dam was built  ¡Ã‚ §to harness the awesome power of the Colorado River ¡Ã‚ ¨ (22). The Department of Reclamation had a huge task on their hands when supervising the construction of the Hoover Dam (Hall 22), previously known as Boulder Dam and changed to Hoover Dam for President Herbert Hoovers strong support of a Dam on the Colorado River (Wassner 97). First, before even breaking ground, there had to be away to easily access the dam site and house the six-thousand workers who will build the great dam. Boulder City was created to house the Government and contractor ... ... ¡Ã‚ §Dam One Of ¡Ã‚ ¨).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  With Hoover ¡Ã‚ ¦s seventeen generators and extremely large water supply, cities were able to grow very rapidly. The hydroelectric turbines produce four billion kilowatt hours of electricity per year. According to the American Society of Engineers, the dam has had a huge part in the development of the southwestern United States (American Society). It has stopped flooding, provided water for human consumption and agriculture, and supplied electricity to three states, according to Wassner: Arizona, Nevada, and California (99). Amazingly, power hungry Las Vegas only receives one percent of the power from Hoover Dam. For having such a great impact on the lives of Americans the American Society of Civil Engineers honored the Hoover dam as the Civil Engineering Monument of the Millennium. Written on September 27, 2001 the article states  ¡Ã‚ §The new millennium reminds us of the tremendous impact civil engineering has had on the development of our society [. . .] It is fitting that the Hoover Dam would be chosen by ASCE for this special honor. [The dam] ushered in a new era of confidence in the design and building of great water resource projects ¡Ã‚ ¨ (American Society).

Moses Mendelsohn and the Religious Enlightenment

â€Å"His life our standard, his teaching our light† Isaac Euchel wrote about Moses Mendelssohn. Moses was a model for Jews in Germany during the late 1770’s, and a dominant figure in the emergence of the Haskalah. The Haskalah borrowed many forms and categories from the already existing European Enlightenment, but its contents were largely derived from medieval Jewish philosophy and biblical exegesis. Within the novel, Moses Mendelssohn and the Religious Enlightenment, David Sorkin conveys how Moses made the German Enlightenment compatible with Judaism, and shows Moses to be a more consistent thinker than previously believed; his views on Judaism, natural laws, and natural rights developed early and remained consistent throughout his lifetime. Sorkin accounts Moses’ contributions to Jewish thought in three successive phases: philosophical, exegetical, and political. First, in the philosophical phase, Sorkin reveals the foundations of Moses’ thought. At an early age, Moses read the bible, memorized passages, studied Hebrew grammar, and wrote biblical poetry. All of these activates later were key in the Haskalah. In 1743, at fourteen, Moses moved to Berlin, which was at the center of the German Enlightenment, and theorist Christian Wolff was a dominating influence. Wolff’s focus was to natural theology, where he accounted that God's existence and attributes were the basis for theology and ethics. Influenced by Wolff, Moses sought to apply these Wolffian concepts to Judaism. Moses used his own version of Wolffian philosophy as a means to articulate his full belief in revealed religion. For example, he alluded that God was the source of all perfection and thus the source of metaphysics and natural theology. He thought that Enlightenment philosophy and Judaism complemented each other, and that philosophy served Judaism as an instrument of self-articulation. As a result, he began to write philosophical works in German, and Jewish works in Hebrew. Most important during the start of his career, he introduced a distinction between practical and theoretical in philosophy, which was also influenced by Wolff. Moses stressed a Jew’s primary obligation is â€Å"torah and good deeds†, not philosophical contemplation. To Moses, revelation set distinct limitation on theoretical knowledge, so he concentrated no practical knowledge, which was usually later seen in the form of commentary, since commentary was seen as the legitimate form through which truth is approached. Moses’ early Hebrew works were commentaries in which he attempted to renew the tradition of philosophy in Hebrew, again using ideas from Wolffian philosophy. His first work, The Kohelet Musar, was the first modern journal in Hebrew. Another subject he addresses is the concept of an ideal personality, which was in terms of ones individuals’ relationship to God and his fellowman. To Moses, the ideal is the â€Å"man of faith† who combines religious study, honest occupation, family, and trust in god. Also, in Moses’ early works, he argued the importance of the study of the Hebrew language and the bible. In a commentary on Maimonides’ Logical Terms, he insisted without Torah and tradition, we are â€Å"like a blind man in the dark†, and the true path to knowledge is the combination of torah and logic. Continuing the Wolffian beliefs, Moses asserted that although things might look accidental to man, to God they are all necessary. His early works such as The Kohelet Musar and Logical Terms were both commentaries that embodied Wolfian principles. However, The Book of the Soul, was different in the regard that it was a freestanding philosophical work that Moses withheld from publication. In Moses’ early works, Sorkin notes that the lack of any original content is significant. According to Sorkin, the conclusion of Moses’ philosophical career was with the Lavater affair in 1769-1770. By the end of the 1760’s, Moses’ philosophical position was established and would remain until the end of his life. He created a public dualism by publishing philosophical works in only German, and commentaries on Jewish subject in Hebrew. The Lavater affair contested Moses to support all of his fundamental ideas. Johann Caspar Lavater, a Swiss Protestant pastor infamously challenged Moses to refute the arguments of the theologian, Charles Bonnet, or convert to Christianity, which Lavater referred as a â€Å"Golden Bridge† to Christianity. However, this posed a public challenge to Moses as a philosopher and as a Jew. In response, Moses publically defended toleration on religious and philosophical grounds, but in private, he wrote counterattacks and criticized Christianity. This task was not simple, and he again used Wolffian principles help justify that Judaism was in perfect harmony with natural religion and reason. Sorkin interprets that Moses drove Lavater to end the affair, and made him isolate from the public, and Sorkin named this â€Å"the triumph of toleration†. Although Moses overcame Lavater, the affair also had grave consequences on Moses personally; the affair aggravated his physical and psychological condition. He was a hunchback, and developed a nervous debility, which was linked to his deformity, prevented abstract thinking and grew much worse during this Lavater affair. The next period of Moses’ career, Sorkin names Exegesis, where he focused on making the bible vital to the Haskalah. First, Moses created a commentary on Ecclesiastes that is part of â€Å"wisdom literature,† and thus was able to reiterate his preference of practical knowledge. He constructed a defense of Jewish exegesis on the basis of language, and strived to show how there are multiple meanings, which are reasonable. He said, â€Å"there are four methods of interpreting our holy torah-the literal, homiletical, allegorical, and esteric†, proving that words can bear multiple intentions. Also, in his commentary, Moses introduced divisions that did not follow the traditional chapters and verses in the bible, because he argued that traditional divisions were intended for the â€Å"convenience of the reader†. Another interesting aspect Moses brought up in Ecclesiastes, was that the idea that truth was universal and neutral, whatever its origins, meaning he deemed it permissible to use non-Jewish exegesis. Lastly, in this commentary, language was of importance because Moses used German translations in Hebrew characters, giving equivalents with entire sentence. Sorkin believes he did this to him, Hebrew was the ideal medium for the spread of the practical knowledge, in which laid the essence of Judaism. This Ecclesiastes commentary placed him at the head of the Haskalah’s efforts to revive biblical exegesis. Next, Moses worked for thirteen years on his translation on the Psalms, with the goal of producing an exegesis document of natural religion, translated in German, and would be source of practical knowledge for Jews and Christians. Sorkin brings attention to how Moses uses the term â€Å"edification† in reference to the Psalms, which emphasizes his desire for an exegesis that would encourage universal religiosity. In the Psalms, Moses asserts that the sublime is a form of art, and the highest form of beauty. Moses thus disagrees with the idea that God is â€Å"the most sublime being† because he believed that the sublime was not natural, but artistic, existing as a human creation. Furthermore, he affirms that the sublime’s aesthetic impact is admiration, and its spiritual impact is edification. Unfortunately, the translation of the Psalms was only a success among the Jews, and others stated that, â€Å"nothing could be further from the truth. † Sorkin viewed this as a confirmation that Moses’ best medium is commentary, not translation. During the same thirteen years that Moses translated the Psalms, he also translated, commented, and wrote an extensive introduction to the Pentateuch, titled Book of the Paths to Peace. This translation aimed to convey a literal meaning of the text through a fluent German translation. While Moses remained the key contributor, he had four Maskilim participate, and this made a shift in the Haskalah. This book is divided into three themes: practical knowledge, literal meaning, and the use of history. In the first part of the Book of Paths to Peace, Moses viewed the Pentateuch as the primary source of practical knowledge for the Jews. Sorkin noticed he repeatedly argues â€Å"virtue must be made into a â€Å"second nature† by the continual exercise of moral judgment. Moses asserted that compared to the rest of humanity Israel had a special role, because those who reside in there all â€Å"believe† and the bible is a handbook of practical knowledge. Also, in the Pentateuch, Moses wrote â€Å"man is by nature and social and will not achieve success without help from others of his kind†. Interesting, Moses stressed that God created everything, and he that he is beyond nature, and thus â€Å"science† had no place in a commentary on Creation, which further showed his resistance to theoretical knowledge. Sorkin again demonstrated how Moses kept consistent in his views, since practical knowledge already played in other works. The next portion emphasized the literal meaning as the focus of exegesis. Due to the bible being the primary source of practical knowledge, the need to make its literal meaning known was vital for Moses. His basic premise was that the Bible had a unique oral quality that made it the most effective means of transmitting practical knowledge. He stressed the importance of grammar, and believed only with knowledge of grammar, does Gods’ word both literal and homiletical make sense, because grammar is essential to the tradition of Jewish scriptural transmission. It is this tradition that prevents the Jews from being â€Å"like a blind man in the dark,† and Sorkin points out that Moses used the same metaphor here as he did with Logical Terms. Moses believed that due to the structure of biblical poetry, that it was the most successful method for teaching practical knowledge. The last portion of the Book of the Paths to Peace, Moses established and defended his belief in Judaism through history. History helped establish Moses’ faith. Sorkin alluded that Moses was historical without being historicist, because he recognized history in the Pentateuch rather than the Pentateuch as a product of history. Sorkin notes that viewing history in this fashion was integral to the Haskalah and typical of the religious enlightenment. The Book of the Paths to Peace eventually had wide acceptance, even though some attacked the book. The book was meant to instruct Jewish youth, but since Moses used complex German, it forced students to concentrate on that language instead of the contents. Lastly, The final phase Sorkin accounts for in Moses’ life is his political activism. Moses was politically involved almost his entire career as a thinker and writer. Now, he focused on the state and individual rights from the viewpoint of a Jew living in hardships. Continuing the Wolffian philosophy, he emphasized a politics based on ideas of natural rights to promote legal equality. Initially, Moses arrived in the political arena by being an intercessor. Sorkin found this unsurprising since Moses was a philosopher and writer. Communities sought Moses in times of conflict, and usually Moses’ intercession was successful. For example, the Duke in the community of Mecklenburg prohibited the Jewish practice of early burial. Moses was asked to help, so he served as an intercessor, and the duke granted the Jews the privilege of religious liberty. However, Moses took this matter further, by trying to renew the ritual practice, just as he tried to renew the traditions of philosophy and exegesis. In 1777, Moses transitioned from the politics of intercession to the politics of emancipation, when he responded to the community of Dresden’s problem of Jew’s facing high taxation or expulsion. Moses’ letter asserted that Jews were being excluded from society because of their religion. His work, The Ritual Laws of the Jews was seen as an integral part of his Jewish thought, and referred to as a handbook on practical knowledge. Later, Moses took on dealing with Jewish rights. Sorkin implies that Moses’ advocacy of rights was fundamentally new, yet there was also substantial continuity with his earlier thought. Moses demonstrated that history plays an even more important role in his political thinking than in his biblical exegesis since human liberties were the issue rather than divine work. In order to understand Jews’ situation in terms of rights, Moses translated Rousseau’s Discourse. Moses maintained a balance between individual rights and absolutist state, and asked Christian Wilhelm Dohm to write a tract advocating emancipation of the Jews, and it was widely influential. Moses wrote an elaborate preface to the translation of Rousseau’s Discourse, which was divided into three parts, and titled Vindiciae Judaeorum. In the preface, it was the first time he publicly advocated â€Å"civic acceptance† or equal rights. An occurring theme in the preface was Moses expressing what he did not agree with Dohm’s memorandum, specifically with Dohm’s ban of excommunication. Moses deemed that religious excommunication invaded on civil rights because it involved the political authorities. Since he denied religion’s right to excommunicate, he was set apart from the mainstream of that scholarship. A month after he published Vindiciae Judaeorum, he also published his translation of the Psalms. The Psalms received little attention, while Vindiciae had a huge impact. A pamphlet appeared criticizing Moses’ work, but it was published as a famous Austrian statesman in order to be taken seriously, but truly, a minor writer August Cranz wrote it. Cranz posed more of a challenge to Moses’ faith than the Lavater’s affair; Moses had to realize that Christianity was the true religion and prepare to convert or admit Judaism was imperfect and in need of fundamental reform. Moses reacted to Cranz’s pamphlet by creating Jerusalem, or On Religious Power and Judaism, which Sorkin views as Moses’ fullest elaboration of his views on rights and the nature of Judaism. Jerusalem is divided into two parts; part one addresses Cranz’ contention that in â€Å"repudiating the ban of excommunication, he had repudiated Judaism. Moses argues mainly on the basis of natural rights. Moses’ theory of church and state is rooted in his idea of benevolence. He thought the best state was one whose members were able to govern themselves through education, and the institution capable of providing such education was religion. Moses also went back to Wolffian principle of metaphysics by asserting that liberty of conscience was crucial for the achievement of man’s eternal vocation. In part two, Moses addressed Cranz’s view that Moses left Judaism, and abandoned religion altogether. Moses answered using philosophical views, and switched between his exposition of Judaism and a digression of a specific subject to advance his argument, and to continue his method of writing German philosophy in German, and Judaism in Hebrew. He argued on the basis of revealed legislation. He stated that Judaism is a religion of revealed legislation, not of revealed beliefs. He asserted that only through a second revelation, comparable to the one at Sinai, could God establish the authority necessary to introduce changes into the practice of the law. The two parts of Jerusalem, fit closely together, since many of the themes developed in part one are discussed in part two. To conclude Sorkin’s argument, Moses was a traditional Jewish figure who sought to renew traditional philosophy and Biblical exegesis in Hebrew. Sorkin successfully displayed how Moses made the German Enlightenment compatible with the Haskalah, and stayed constant with his philosophy throughout his life. It is only normal that after reading Sorkin’s Moses Mendelssohn and the Religious Enlightenment that certain parts were more striking than others. Not only are certain aspects of the book especially intriguing, but also, I do not agree with certain theories that Moses posed. Also, I cannot help but compare the Haskalah to the European Enlightenment that preceded it. First, it is miraculous how one person can make a difference in others lives. Moses lived during a time where Jewish communities were suffering from not having equal rights in society. Jews were denied education, certain occupations, citizen status, and were the first ones to be held responsible for problems or crimes. The fact that Moses, with his short stature and hunchback, still had the confidence and ability to make reforms in society is unbelievable. Sorkin only mentioned Moses’ deformity once, and it is of graver importance than that. People who are blessed without any deformities take for granted how easy their life is, and I believe that more acknowledgements should be given to Moses for enduring such a struggle. Also, in Sorkin’s reference to Moses’ deformity, he also mentioned a nervous debility that was linked to his abnormality, which prevented conceptual thinking, and grew worse after the Lavater affair. The fact that this was only mentioned once, and in one quick sentence gives the impression that this was not a serious issue. However, if such a physiological condition occurred in Moses, one would think that since all of his works entailed abstract thinking, since he was a philosopher, that this would have severe consequences on his career. Yet, Moses was able to produce numerous works after the Lavater affair and many of them were highly praised. It makes one speculate, if Sorkin’s information about Moses’ nervous disability is completely accurate. Another part of the book that caught my attention was the aftermath of Christian Wilhelm Dohm’s publication of On the Civic Amelioration of the Jews, even though he was doing Moses a favor by writing it, and it provoked a major debate that made the rights of Jews a public issue, which is what Moses wanted. However, Sorkin displayed many aspects that Moses did not agree with what Christian wrote. For instance, Moses took issue with the notion that artisanry and farming are the sole sources of wealth, and with the ban of excommunication. Moses affirmed that no one could legitimately claim to exercise authority over another’s belief. Sorkin’s writing gave the impression that Moses was angry with Christian for putting certain beliefs in writing. This caught me by surprise because I was under the impression that Christian and Moses were good friends. The fact that Christian agreed to write this document, even though Moses was asked to write it, implied that they were in agreement with what was to be written. The way that Sorkin addressed this conflict in the book further suggests that Christian went against what Moses asked of him, and used this as an opportunity to voice his own opinions on the issue of Jewish emancipation. Furthermore, in a way, one can view Christian as being a catalyst for Cranz’s challenge. The connection is that Christian published work that Moses felt the need to counter in Vindiciae Judaeorum, and thus gave rise to Cranz challenging Moses. Additionally, I discovered that certain areas in the book negated Moses’ entire goal of the Haskalah. First, it is important to recall that prior to the rise of the Haskalah, most Christian thinkers thought Judaism was an irrational dark religion that did not allow for the age of Enlightenment. Hence gave rise to the premise that Jews were incapable of reaching such intellectual levels. Interestingly, Sorkin and Moses both acted in ways that confirm this idea. First, Moses published philosophy in German and commentaries in Hebrew. This action can be seen as if he was making it harder for Jews to reach an enlightened state. By publishing philosophy in German, which most Jews could not read, he further separated them from society. Also, not only were his philosophical works in German, but also they were in such a high level of German, that was very rare for a Jew to be able to write at this level. This also made it harder for Jews to understand his German works. Another instance is seen when the translation of the Psalms was only a victory among the Jews, and while non-Jews stated, â€Å"nothing could be further from the truth. † Sorkin viewed this as a confirmation that Mendelssohn’s best medium is commentary, not translation. Two things are happening in this situation. First, the reaction from society demonstrates that indeed the Jews are not as intelligent as the non-Jews because they thought Moses’ commentary was brilliant, when the majority of the population thought it was not legitimate to be a valid translation. Second, Sorkin’s account that Moses’ best means is commentary, shows that Sorkin is agreeing with the statement that his translation did not contain enough truth, thus putting Moses in the category of not being able to obtain enlightened thought. Next, in comparison to the European Enlightenment, the Haskalah is very different, even though it emerged because of the Enlightenment. The European Enlightenment held faith in the power of human reason to illuminate the world, rather than divine revelation. It encouraged an attitude of critical reflection, rather than an acceptance of received wisdom. Also, the Enlightenment was in sync with the Scientific Revolution in the early 1770’s and created the concept that science is a form of knowledge (Western Civilizations). In contrast, Moses affirmed that the best state was one whose members were able to govern themselves through education, and it was through religious institutions that are most capable of providing such education. This thinking is completely opposite of the Enlightenment, because their goal was to forget about religious teachings, and only learn from science, and other forms of confirmed reason. Another example that is contrasted to the Enlightenment is when Moses pleaded that a general disquisition on â€Å"science† had no place in a commentary on Creation. Members of the Enlightenment used the theory of evolution to explain the creation of the universe, which is all based on science. Also, using Wolffian beliefs, Mendelssohn asserted that although things might look accidental to man, to God they are all necessary, implying that everything on Earth happens for a reason. Again, this is not in accord with the Enlightenment philosophy because they do not refer to a God creating the future of the world, instead they sought evidence and valid truths to prove their beliefs that all is created through science and man labor. Interestingly, there are similarities between Moses Mendelssohn and Immanuel Kant, who was a key figure of the European Enlightenment. Moses became a member of Wednesday Society, which was devoted to political subjects. He often gave lectures; his most common lecture was â€Å"What is enlightenment? Similarly, Immanuel Kant became known by answering the question: What is Enlightenment? † written as a response to the Reverend Zollner. Kant also proposed to eliminate certain church and state restrictions, just as Moses did in Jerusalem. Although a huge difference is Kant believed religion infringed on one’s ability to full reason, while Moses saw religion, specifically Judaism as an integral part of the Haskalah, it is important to notice the comparisons between the two, especially since they are regarded as holding such different ideologies (Perspectives on the Past). Overall, Moses Mendelssohn was a principal figure in the creation of the Haskalah. He was a model Jew, and made many contributions to Jewish life during the end of the eighteenth century. After reading the novel, Moses Mendelssohn and the Religious Enlightenment, I now have a better understanding and respect for Moses Mendelssohn and the Haskalah. David Sorkin succeeded in providing information that accurately describes Moses’ philosophical works and showed how Moses made the German Enlightenment compatible with Judaism.

Domains Of Culture: Technology And Material Essay

1. There’s no arguing that technology has helped make life easier. Americans use it every day to communicate, travel, build and entertain themselves, but is it all positive? Does technology replace that which makes us human? Is technology harmful to the preservation of cultural values? Think about these questions as the effects of technology and material on American culture are explored. In the first point, the production element of technology and material will be covered, how it’s thought up and how it’s made. Then in the second point, the adoption aspect of technology and material will be examined, with how it ends up in the hands of everyone and becomes a part of American culture. 2. To start off, how is new technology produced? To produce a new technology there first has to be a need, a need to do something faster or more efficiently. A surprising number of technologies in use in the United States have come from the research of defense contractors employed by the US military. A majority of American use the Global Positioning System (GPS) to get directions on how to get from point A to B. This started out as a military technology designed to guide troops, as well as ensure missiles and artillery hit their targets. Not everyone may know that the internet, which is well known and used, started out in the 1960s as a military communication system. It was designed so the enemy couldn’t take out computer communication networks from a single point. The first computer was developed for the US military during World War II; it took up 2,000 square feet and was used for ballistics calculationsi. There have also been technological advances from civilians widely used today, such as the telephone. The telephone, invented by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876, forever changed how Americans communicate as a society by providing instant communication without being face to face. 3. The motivations for the second element, adoption; are very different from production. When a new technology has been invented and produced, it is then up to private companies to sell the product to the public. This is how technology is adopted into American culture. Before a new technology is sold to the public, private companies m ust consider the perceived benefit,  the ease of use, immediacy of benefits, price, riskiness and return on investmentii. The motivations of private companies to make a profit are the primary factor considered in whether or not a new technology will be released, regardless of how much the technology is wanted or needed. There is no formal voting process that takes place for the public to decide what new technologies will be implemented into society. It all relies on private companies to sell them if they believe they can make money. The argument can be made though that the material and technology that consumers buy is them directly voting on what is adopted into American culture. 4. Arriving at the conclusion; It was explained how the production of technology and material has affected American culture. There have been numerous advances in technology that promise to make life easier and change how Americans operate as a culture. It was also explained how technology and material is adopted into society. Private companies are the primary force and they are motivated only by the promise to make a profit. As technology continues to advance and make lives easier, society is increasingly faced with the growing dilemma that was posed in the beginning. Will technology erode away cultural values and take away from what makes humans who they are?