Artistic Freedom, Commercial Demands, and Ethical Responsibility Case Study

Artistic Freedom, Commercial Demands, and Ethical Responsibility - Case Study Example The media has its own justification of releasing such content. These justifications will be elaborated upon in this paper along with its impact on the moral, artistic and commercial landscape of the media. A discussion on censorship will also be covered within this paper. Justifying Questionable Content The media has been quite vociferous in justifying questionable content. They present their perspective of the story which does not completely alleviate the concerns of responsible citizens. One argument presented by the entertainers is that the impact of media is not as strong as is being propagated by anti-media parties. They argue that while there may be a relationship between violence and media, this relationship is not properly understood. It may be possible that people with a violent streak may be more inclined to watch violent movies (Smith, 2002). In such cases, it is not the media that is impacting the person but rather the person being attracted to media for what is provides to the individual. The individual may even live out his fantasy of violence by watching the movie and may not commit such acts in his real life. However, the media cannot make a strong case that its content does not impact the minds of the young consumers who have little knowledge of differentiating between right and wrong. The media does not take into account its moral duty (Ganguzza and Morgensten, 1992). Entertainers and their supporters also argue that questionable content could not be completely removed from media as this would subsequently harm the freedom of speech of the media. Preventing the media from freely expressing their content is a violation of their First Amendment Act (Magoon, 2010). The media is entitled to its own opinions even if they are objectionable to certain groups. For example, Eminem may be producing questionable content according to certain people but entertainers argue that he is merely expressing his opinions. The voice of Eminem represents the voice o f millions of black people and to silence this voice is to prevent the media from being truly free (Christians, et. al, 2012). Moral, Artistic and Commercial Relevance of the Argument If considered morally, the presence of questionable content is destroying the fabric of the society. It is doing this by promoting a culture that is filled with violence, hate and sexual overtones. While the society stresses on the importance of morality and ethic, the media is promoting a culture that is just the opposite. For example, it gives the lesson through a variety of films such as Kill Bill, that a common man may arise above the law and take revenge for the wrong inflicted upon him. If the media is allowed to go unchecked, the youth will have a completely different and distorted view of morality. When parents check mortality, it is sometimes quite the opposite of what children watch on the media. This will lead to doubt in the minds of the children and may even impact the authority of the par ents (Eden, Grizzard and Lewis, 2012) However, the artistic freedom of the media is sometimes comprised if they are not able to truly depict their opinions and views. If

Western Classcial Music Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Western Classcial Music - Essay Example At the time when he left his country due to the ongoing revolution he gave his first ever concert of piano as well as the Etudes Op 10 which established his genius talent (Jonson 49). After going on to Germany and then Austria in his quest of establishment as musician he finally found his base at Paris where he then spent major part of his life. Despite his Nostalgia for Poland, his homeland, he enjoyed an immense success in Paris. He was said to be at the heart of growing Romanticism, the aspirations of whom he had perfectly adhered. Western classical music falls into three categories, of which Chopin was an integral part of the second, romantic and classical in the nineteenth century. In the instrumental classic western music Piano and the Violin occupied the highest ranks. Chopin has piano in all of his compositions which made him very important in the history of western classical music. Frederic Chopin was born on 1st March 1810 near Warsaw at Zelazowa-Wola, his birth date on his birth certificate although was written as 22nd February 1810. His father had French origin where as his mother was Polish, he was the third child. His first musical teacher was Czech musician, Adalbert Ziwny. He got into one of the first colleges in Warsaw with support of Prince Antoine Radziwill, who was a music composer himself and aimed to protect talents of artists. His protection and musical abilities opened gateway for Chopin into high end Polish circles (Ellis 746). At college he learnt theory regarding his art from the director of conservatoire in Warsaw as well as an experienced musician, Joseph Elsner. He was perfectly trained by the time he left his hometown to go to Vienna in 1829, where the debuted as pianist. Chopin had his own style and individuality which made him stand out especially in the variation set on La ci darem; these stirred the attention of Robert Schumann. When he left Vienna in 1831 his intention was to go to London, but instead

Cause and Prevention of Type2 Diabetes in Urban China Essay

Cause and Prevention of Type2 Diabetes in Urban China - Essay Example Rapid economic growth after reformation has lead to lifestyle changes in China's population. Reduced physical activity and unhealthy eating habits inevitably lead to obesity and diabetes, and in fact such lifestyle changes have led to rapid increase in the incidence of Type2 diabetes in urban China. Furthermore, China has now overtaken India as the country with the largest number of diabetes patients in the world, with 50 million patients currently, and an annual incremental rate of 1-2 million. It is predicted that 100 million of China's 1.3 billion people will have diabetes by 2025. In urban regions of China, around 50% of Type2 patients are children. Type2 diabetes in children is easily overlooked, and delays in treatment can have serious consequences. Hence, medical experts warn that vigilance is essential to prevent and treat the disease in children. Lifestyle intervention will play an important role in diabetes management, particularly because insulin injections are too expensi ve for the majority of Chinese. First, a systematic review of existing literature will consider information about the following: causes of Type2 diabetes, medical treatments (effectiveness, cost and benefit), and lifestyle intervention approaches (effectiveness, cost and benefit). Following this, a number of methods will be used to gather and evaluate relevant data. Using the deductive approach will require starting with a general hypothesis; for example, "lifestyle changes are directly increasing incidence of Type2 diabetes and prevention strategies should be implemented". Inductive research, on the other hand, will allow the researcher to account for the possibility that there may be less obvious influences on the rising frequency of Type2 diabetes in China. A mixture of research strategies designed to obtain qualitative and quantitative data, such as questionnaires and interviews, will be applied on selected groups of diabetics, medical staff, schools, doctors and hospitals. Surveys and questionnaires will gather data used in the deductive approach, while interviews will gather qualitative data for an inductive approach. Various research methods used together will help cancel out the 'method effect'. (Smith 1975) Face-to-face interviews are essential to this research topic, and gaining qualitative data is the primary focus. Economic evaluation will involve a comparison of the costs and benefits of treatment versus prevention strategies. It is suggested that such a comparison will show that it is far more beneficial from an economic standpoint to prevent diabetes rather than to treat it. Feasibility Primary data will be obtained from publications by the World Health Organisation, China's Ministry of Health, and Official Chinese News Agents. A systematic

Science Trivias Essay Example for Free

Science Trivias Essay There are 62,000 miles of blood vessels in the human body – laid end to end they would circle the earth 2.5 times A thimbleful of a neutron star would weigh over 100 million tons A typical hurricane produces the energy equivalent of 8,000 one megaton bombs Blood sucking hookworms inhabit 700 million people worldwide The interstellar gas cloud Sagittarius B contains a billion, billion, billion liters of alcohol Polar Bears can run at 25 miles an hour and jump over 6 feet in the air And they are nearly undetectable by infrared cameras, due to their transparent fur The selfish giant The giant had a beautiful garden. It had lovely green grass, peach trees and rich fruits. Birds sang there and children played. The giant was away staying at his friends place. When he came back he scared the children away from the garden. Now the children had no place to play and were sad. That year spring came all over the country but not in the giant’s garden. It remained covered with snow frost and hail. No flowers bloomed neither did the birds sing. One morning he found flowers in the garden, the birds singing and found children on the branches of the trees. But there was still winter in one corner of the garden. There was a little boy in that corner who could not climb the trees. The giant came out and helped him to climb the tree. He also played with the children. The little child kissed the giant. This melted the giant’s heart. The children played everyday in the garden after school. One afternoon the little child was missing. The giant looked for him daily but couldn’t find him. Years passed. The giant grew old and weak. One winter morning that very child was again seen in the garden. The giant ran to him and found that the child had prints of nails on his palms and feet. The child said that they were the wounds of love. He said he wanted to take him to his garden, which is the Paradise. That afternoon the children found the giant lying dead and covered with flowers in the garden. film review: the sound of music: This classic musical continues to have wide appeal despite, or perhaps even because of, its cringe factor. Like that other widely-popular sing-a-long extravaganza, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, The Sound Of Music draws loyal and enthusiastic audiences as well as newcomers who wonder what all the fuss is about. The mostly-happy Cinderella tale of nun-turned-governess-turned-wife, however, aims straight for the family market. Maria (a smiley Julie Andrews) does her best as governess to the seven wealthy but unruly von Trapp children. It wont spoil the movie to reveal that she wins over not only the children, but their stern naval-officer father (Christopher Plummer in fine form) with her musical talents and upbeat view on life. For those of us who grew up watching it every year on TV at Christmas, the nostalgia it evokes contributes to a strange bond with people from around the world, so that someone from Canada might find themselves laughing, and yes, even cringing, with a South African who knows all the songs from the film. There is more than nostalgia and family values, however, to this movie. The true story of the von Trapps takes place during the Nazi occupation of Austria, following which the family is forced to make a daring escape through the Alps. Mostly, however, this is a tale about looking on the sunny side of life, accompanied by such classic songs as My Favourite Things and Do-Re-Mi. Anyone who appreciates the power of music cant deny the strange uplifting charm of this admittedly sappy movie.

A Closer Look at Watchmens Dr Manhattan Essay Example for Free

A Closer Look at Watchmens Dr Manhattan Essay Neil Armstrong, Clark Kent, John F. Kennedy, Professor Charles Xavier, Gandhi, Chuck Norris, Master Yoda. The men mentioned above are fictional or real characters with quite a few things in common. They are all heroes in their respective universes, they fight for what is good, and they are all experts in their fields of profession. In fact, they are the supposed best or the most renowned at what they do. Neil Armstrong has to be the most famous Astronaut of all time while Clark Kent’s alter ego, Superman is arguably the greatest superhero there is and if not, he is definitely the most famous. Chuck Norris is the best ass-kicker in the world while Professor X is the greatest telepath in the Marvel Universe. JFK was a great president, Gandhi changed revolution, and Master Yoda taught nine hundred years’ worth of Jedi Knights. Yes, these men are all very talented and very powerful. However, these outstanding heroes have one more thing in Common: they all fall nothing short of insignificant to the power, intelligence, and capabilities of Dr. Manhattan. Dr Manhattan’s powers and abilities include immortality, shapeshifting to any form he chooses, seeing the future, reading minds, teleportation, and bending matter to his will. He practically has no physical weaknesses. Superman and Yoda could possibly put up a fight but that’s another story. In the world of Watchmen, Dr. Manhattan made human life appear insignificant. Yes, insignificant. Can you imagine? The supposed dominant species in the world could have been a clump of dirt on Dr. Manhattan’s shoe compared to his Godlike persona. This became the aggravating external conflict Dr. Manhattan had with humans. In fact, Dr. Manhattan ended up believing that Humans had become irrelevant and mattered little to him, thus, resulted in him eventually leaving Earth and living on Mars. This caused momentous discomfort and major uproar in Earth, namely, The United States. Dr. Manhattan may have lost his purpose of necessity for human beings but The United States needed him as if their lives depended on it. In fact, The United States practically worshipped him as a God. In the Watchmen storyline, The Cold War between the Russians and the Americans was at the brink of becoming nuclear warfare and either side was very close to opening fire and sending all their nuclear warheads at each other. If both sides fired every missile they had, they would destroy all human life on Earth. Dr. Manhattan, being America’s greatest weapon and greatest defence, was expected to use his power and eliminate every Russian warhead that he could and give the United States a chance to fire back at Russia and ultimately win the Cold War. What the Americans hadn’t counted on was Dr. Manhattan leaving Earth after losing his temper during a live-on-television interview. The Russians took this once in a lifetime opportunity of an AWOL Dr. Manhattan to ready their missiles to fire at the United States. Of course, that is not what happened. But we will get back to that later. You may be wondering, â€Å"Okay what’s your point? Why are you mentioning all of Dr. Manhattan’s capabilities and how he serves the United Sates? † Well to answer your question, let me restate what I pointed out earlier: In the world of watchmen, Dr. Manhattan makes human achievements and ultimately being human, almost completely irrelevant. Imagine, the nuclear warhead is possibly the most powerful weapon humankind has to offer and Dr. Manhattan can make them disappear with a wink of an eye. Man’s mission to the moon took billions of dollars, a rocket ship, and years of planning and preparation for this life-changing project to become a reality. However, as seen in the opening credits of the film version, Neil Armstrong was not the first person to arrive on the moon. When Armstrong first set foot onto the moon’s surface, what does he find? He finds nothing other than Dr. Manhattan in his, blue, naked form with no spacesuit, no spacecraft, and no artificial aid whatsoever. What does this tell us? Whatever humans can do, Dr.  Manhattan can do it much better. And if humans are ever to make a new life-changing discovery, Dr. Manhattan has already discovered it. However, Dr. Manhattan does have some personal, noteworthy, and very human limitations. In his eyes, he would even call them â€Å"Flaws†. Let’s take a closer look at some of these flaws. For one thing, Dr. Manhattan may be all-powerful and superior to humans but he still experiences human emotions. Namely, love. To expound on the significance of Dr. Manhattan’s ability to love, let me first talk about another flaw of his. Dr. Manhattan is the most powerful being in the Watchmen Universe and he knows it. Soon, his Godlike power eventually causes him to lose all respect for humanity and he begins to question their significance in his life. Getting drunk with power and losing respect for anyone under your power is indeed a very human imperfection. Now, going back to his ability to love, the only reason Dr. Manhattan has not given up on humans and abandon Earth completely was because of one person, Laurie, better known as The Silk Spectre. Dr. Manhattan was in love with her. He even tells her that she had become his only link to humans and without her, he would have no longer cared and simply let the United States and Russia destroy each other. It can even be inferred that if it wasn’t for Dr. Manhattan’s ability to love, Veidt would not have gotten his way and the Russians and Americans would have still caused nuclear war. In the Watchmen storyline, Adrian Veidt, also known as Ozymandias, was meant to appear as the villain. Readers and the audience would be quick to assume that since he was not on the side of Dr.  Manhattan, NiteOwl, Rorschach, and Silk Spectre, and the fact that he killed The Comedian, he was automatically the villain. However, in the end, and to everyone’s surprise, Ozymandias ironically turned out to be the unconventional hero. Veidt’s subtitle of â€Å"World’s Smartest Man† suited him because he knew that the solution to preventing the nuclear war was to direct both superpowers against a common enemy. And that enemy had to be none other than Dr. Manhattan. Somehow, Veidt just knew that the only way to prevent global destruction via nuclear war was to make the United States fear Dr.  Manhattan just as much as The Soviets feared him. Veidt tricked Dr. Manhattan into helping him make generators that could replicate the energy that gave Dr. Manhattan his power. When Dr. Manhattan left the planet and exiled on Mars, Veidt seized the opportunity to attack a number of major cities in the world using energy from the generators he and Dr. Manhattan made. Because of these attacks, thousands of people were killed and the areas affected by the blasts endured colossal damage. Yes, Veidt had killed thousands of people but he believed that sacrifices had to be made if we truly wanted to save the world. After the attacks from Ozymandias, scientists examined the affected areas and the energy readings led the humans to conclude that Dr. Manhattan himself had caused these global crimes. Thus, causing the Americans and Soviets to turn their weapons away from each other and point them towards an even greater threat: Dr. Manhattan. Dr. Manhattan knew that Veidt was right and he also knew that if he stayed on Earth, it would cause even more destruction and more unnecessary deaths. Without hesitation, he left the planet once again.

MicroRNA-21 Concentrations in Breast Cancer

MicroRNA-21 Concentrations in Breast Cancer Direct Serum Assay for MicroRNA-21 Concentrations in Early and Advanced Breast Cancer Abstract Background Small noncoding RNA molecules known as microRNAs (miRs) are involved in the regulation of gene expression. The hypothesis was based on the biomarker, miR-21 present in the serum, which related to the presence and stage of breast cancer. The direct application of reverse-transcription quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR) in a direct serum assay has been used for the quantification and detection of the miR-21 in breast cancer patients. Methods A total of 102 breast cancer patients with varying stages of breast cancer and 20 healthy female patients were tested by the RT-qPCR applied directly in serum assay for miR-21. Results Detection for RT-qPCR-DS was limited to 0.625 µl of serum. miR-21 levels detected in the healthy donors were comparatively lower with respect to breast cancer patients with different stage of the disease. A significantly higher levels of miR-21 was detected in patients with stage IV breast cancer compared to patients with other stages of the disease. The odds ratio was 1.796 and area under the curve was 0.721 for the distinction of loco regional breast cancers and healthy donors. Multivariate analysis confirmed that a correlation of miR-21 concentrations and stage of breast cancer existed. Conclusion- The novel RT-qPCR-DS serves as a better technique in detecting circulating miR. miR-21 proves to be a significant biomarker for breast cancer, which could also probably detect the progression of the disease. Further research could lead to improved breast cancer care by this serum biomarker as a key tool. EVALUATION Traditional methods Mammography (also known as film mammography) is a traditional method for screening breast cancer (Boyd et al., 2007). Its principle lies in the use of low-dose x-rays. Soft tissue such as fat is radiographically lucent, which appears dark on a mammogram. In contrast, stroma and epithelial tissue are radiographically dense, which is termed mammographic density, appearing light on a mammogram (Boyd et al., 2007). It has been established that the more immense the density, the more association it had with regard to the greater risk of breast cancer. A dense tissue present in 75% or more of the breast poses a risk of breast cancer (Boyd et al., 2007).   A limitation of this method revolves around the fact that expansive mammographic density may be difficult to detect by mammography, thereby indicating a false negative (Boyd et al., 2007). Cancers may be masked by surrounding dense breast tissue, limiting the sensitivity of the screening (Boyd et al., 2007), thereby increasing the risk o f breast cancer (Pisano et al., 2005). High false positive results and costs are drawbacks of mammography (Asaga et al., 2010).   An alternative breast cancer screening technique is the MRI, which is sensitive, but its limitations include the lack of cost-effectiveness and specificity (Esserman et al., 2007). Digital mammography, an upgrade to film mammography allowed the manipulation of the degree of contrast on digital images. This allowed the differentiation of dense breast tissues from malignant cells (Pisano et al., 2005). Women under 50 years of age, with dense breast tissue or those who are pre-menopausal or peri-menopausal were mostly detected by digital mammography (Pisano et al., 2005). In comparison to the film mammography method, digital mammography has an increased cost (1.5-4 times more), but is quicker at developing the image (Pisano et al., 2005). BRCA1 and BRCA2 are tumour markers used to identify individuals who are at risk of developing breast cancer via inheritance (Duffy, 2001). Only 5-10% cases of breast cancers are hereditary. 80-85% risk of developing breast cancer was reported in individuals carrying either the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene (Duffy, 2001). Cancer antigen 15-3 (CA 15-3) is a gene product of the MUC1 gene. Overexpression of MUC1 gene in malignant breast tumours allows CA 15-3 to be used as a tumour marker for breast cancer (Kabel, 2017). False positive results were reported in benign breast and benign liver diseases (Kabel, 2017). The serum concentration of patients with elevated levels of CA 15-3 became more detectable as the size of tumour and severity of the disease increased. Therefore, this is suitable as a prognostic and pharmacokinetic biomarker (Kabel, 2017). The lack of sensitivity for women with early disease have been a main limitation of CA 15-3 biomarker (Duffy et al., 2010). Rising levels of another extensively used biomarker, carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) indicated poor treatment or the risk of recurrence following treatment (Kabel, 2017). The lack of disease sensitivity and specificity prevents the use of CEA as predictive biomarker (Kabel, 2017). Estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR) and human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER-2) serve as pharmacokinetic biomarkers (Kabel, 2017). Relevance to current article Elevated levels of miR-21 was observed in breast cancer patients (N = 102) compared to healthy females (N = 20) in the study done by Asaga et al., (2010). Detection of circulating miR by RT-qPCR-DS was robust and effective (Asaga et al., 2010). The differentiation of patients with stage I, stage II or stage III from patients with stage IV breast cancer was possible with the direct assay, but not by the standard RT-qPCR (Asaga et al., 2010). The assay had a sensitivity and specificity of 67% and 75% respectively in distinguishing loco regional breast cancer patients from healthy patients. The specificity and sensitivity in distinguishing patients with stage IV breast cancer from the earlier stages was 86% and 70% respectively (Asaga et al., 2010). The use of the novel RT-qPCR in direct serum assay reduced mechanical and human errors and minimized the time and overall cost (Asaga et al., 2010). CA 15-3 and CEA are low in sensitivity and specificity, therefore cannot be used as a diagnostic marker (Ng et al., 2013). Comparatively, miR-21 shows a better specificity and sensitivity (Asaga et al., 2010). Current methods 3D mammography is an evolution of the mammography technology (Houssami et al., 2017). 3D mammography improves cancer visibility by reducing the images of overlapping breast tissue, leading to the visualization of benign and malignant breast lesions which would have been masked in traditional mammography (Houssami et al., 2016). It may also decrease the false positive recall. Cost and time-taken to read a 3D mammography are limitations of this method (Houssami et al., 2017). A study by Ng et al., (2013) detected elevation in miR-451, miR-16 and miR-21, while a reduction in miR-145 was observed in the plasma of breast cancer patients. The combination of miR-451 and miR-145 served as the best biomarkers for breast cancer with an optimal specificity of 92% and optimal sensitivity of 90% in distinguishing breast cancer patients from control subjects of other types of cancers (gastric cancer, lung cancer) recruited in the study (Ng et al., 2013). This study by Ng et al., (2013) recognized a combination of miRNAs specific to breast cancer and not the other cancers. Drawbacks include the lack of information regarding whether these miRNAs can be used to distinguish between the subtypes of breast cancer and between sporadic and familial forms (Ng et al., 2013). The study done by Asaga et al., (2010) only focused on miR-21 as a predictive marker in breast cancer, but miR-21 has been implicated in other types of cancer too. Comparatively the study done by Ng et al. , (2013) has identified biomarkers specific to breast cancer. In conclusion, the use of miR-21 as a biomarker in breast cancer presented a correlation of circulating miR-21 with the stage of breast cancer. More research is required to establish miR-21 as an important biomarker in breast cancer (Asaga et al., 2010). A combined expression analysis of miR-21 and miR-191 increased the specificity to 100% and sensitivity to 92% (Chen and Wang, 2013). The study done by Chen and Wang (2013) proved that a combination of miRNAs were better as a predictive biomarker for breast cancer. WORD COUNT ABSTRACT 243 EVALUATION 1039 REFERENCES Asaga, S., Kuo, C., Nguyen, T., Terpenning, M., Giuliano, A. and Hoon, D. (2010). Direct Serum Assay for MicroRNA-21 Concentrations in Early and Advanced Breast Cancer. Clinical Chemistry, 57(1), pp.84-91.Boyd, N., Guo, H., Martin, L., Sun, L., Stone, J., Fishell, E., Jong, R., Hislop, G., Chiarelli, A., Minkin, S. and Yaffe, M. (2007). Mammographic Density and the Risk and Detection of Breast Cancer. The New England Journal of Medicine, 356(3), pp.227-236. Chen, J. and Wang, X. (2013). MicroRNA-21 in breast cancer: diagnostic and prognostic potential. Clinical and Translational Oncology, 16(3), pp.225-233. Duffy, M. (2001). Biochemical markers in breast cancer: which ones are clinically useful?. Clinical Biochemistry, 34(5), pp.347-352. Duffy, M., Evoy, D. and McDermott, E. (2010). CA 15-3: Uses and limitation as a biomarker for breast cancer. Clinica Chimica Acta, 411(23-24), pp.1869-1874. Esserman, L., Shieh, Y., Park, J. and Ozanne, E. (2007). A role for biomarkers in the screening and diagnosis of breast cancer in younger women. Expert Review of Molecular Diagnostics, 7(5), pp.533-544. Houssami, N., Là ¥ng, K., Bernardi, D., Tagliafico, A., Zackrisson, S. and Skaane, P. (2016). Digital breast tomosynthesis (3D-mammography) screening: A pictorial review of screen-detected cancers and false recalls attributed to tomosynthesis in prospective screening trials. The Breast, 26, pp.119-134. Houssami, N., Bernardi, D., Pellegrini, M., Valentini, M., Fantà ², C., Ostillio, L., Tuttobene, P., Luparia, A. and Macaskill, P. (2017). Breast cancer detection using single-reading of breast tomosynthesis (3D-mammography) compared to double-reading of 2D-mammography: Evidence from a population-based trial. Cancer Epidemiology, 47, pp.94-99. Kabel, A. (2017). Tumor markers of breast cancer: New prospectives. Journal of Oncological Sciences. Ng, E., Li, R., Shin, V., Jin, H., Leung, C., Ma, E., Pang, R., Chua, D., Chu, K., Law, W., Law, S., Poon, R. and Kwong, A. (2013). Circulating microRNAs as Specific Biomarkers for Breast Cancer Detection. PLoS ONE, 8(1), p.e53141. Pisano, E., Gatsonis, C., Hendrick, E., Yaffe, M., Baum, J., Acharyya, S., Conant, E., Fajardo, L., Bassett, L., DOrsi, C., Jong, R. and Rebner, M. (2005). Diagnostic Performance of Digital versus Film Mammography for Breast-Cancer Screening. New England Journal of Medicine, 353(17), pp.1773-1783.

Isaiah Berlin’s Two Concepts of Liberty Essay -- Politics Political Es

Isaiah Berlin’s Two Concepts of Liberty In his article "Two Concepts of Liberty", Isaiah Berlin identifies and contrasts the two components of freedom: negative and positive liberty. While the author’s voice is often confused amidst the frequent references to other political philosophies from Platonic to Millian theories, Berlin successfully argues that both of these notions can be misconstrued to the point where liberty itself is sacrificed. Although reasonable, Berlin’s assessment of the two concepts seems artificial and effortlessly simple, as if freedom could be defined according to a rubric; one can, however, agree with his statement that absolute freedom for one individual undoubtedly limit’s the freedom of another. Positive liberty, in the simplest sense, is freedom to, answering the question "Who governs me?"; it is the liberty of self-government. Negative liberty, on the other hand, is freedom from, and answers the question "How far does government interfere with me?"; it is the liberty of limited control by government. According to Berlin, negative liberty is freedom from interference from others; the larger the range of non-interference, the greater one’s negative liberty. As no individual’s actions are committed in a vacuum and will always indirectly affect others, this liberty must be reasonably restricted for the sake of other values, such as equality and justice. As an extension in one’s negative liberty reduces that of another, Berlin states that negative liberty ought to be restricted by law in order for every individual to enjoy it at a minimum. The author reasons that maximum negative liberty could only be feasible in a utopia where all individuals are wholly rational, and where the wishes of all su... ... same. Unfortunately the author never presents a wholly sound distinction between negative and positive liberty, as each negative liberty can logically render itself a positive one. Berlin’s final arguments suggest pluralism, highlighting that there is no single compatible goal or ideal uniform to all individuals; Berlin is clear that a strict minimum of negative liberty is necessary. His estimations of such implications of liberty are both logical and convincing: that an intrusion on the rights of others will always occur in the case of one’s heightened liberty, and that any endeavour to broaden one’s liberty would require the restructuring of the definition of freedom itself. Liberty, according to Berlin, is not committed to democracy; thus, just as authority must be limited for liberty to subsist, so must liberty be restrained for it to be of any significance.