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Historical Introduction to Philosophy/Libertarianism

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Libertarianism  Libertarianism is a political philosophy that focuses on the rights of individuals. It is the core belief in libertarianism that individuals have the right to do whatever they want with their person or possessions, as long as they do not infringe upon the same rights of others. Because of this belief, libertarians feel that groups, simply made up of individuals, have no more power than an individual. Therefore, most libertarians would say that there should be as little government as is practically possible. The main goal of libertarianism is to help individuals assume control of their lives. Many people feel that the first libertarians were the founding fathers of the United States of America, namely Thomas Jefferson and the Democratic-Republicans, although influences can be traced all the way back to the Epicureans, who believed that the basis of society was a social contract in which all individuals acted not according to justice, but rather in order to advance the happiness of society. John Stuart Mill and Adam Smith are considered to be extremely influential in the development of libertarianism. The most notable modern libertarians include Ayn Rand, whose philosophy of objectivism contains core libertarian beliefs, and Robert Nozick, who in his book Anarchy, State, and Utopia claims that libertarianism is the “framework for utopia” and that it is “inspiring as well as right.” Libertarianism should not be confused with liberalism. They were considered the same in the early to mid nineteenth-century, both sharing the same beliefs such as limiting state power and the benefits of a free market. But around the 1870s liberals were gradually moving toward the belief that the government was necessary in guaranteeing social justice. Liberalism developed into a philosophy which wants an increase in government power, taxes, and regulation. Libertarians feel this philosophy is very close to socialism and therefore do not agree with it. Libertarians believe that collecting taxes is another form of robbery. These are the basics of libertarianism, now lets go in depth. As stated above, libertarianism is often tied to liberalism. This is the true origin of libertarian thought, as then the beliefs of liberals were very much the same as today’s libertarians. The origins of libertarianism stretch back into the Renaissance with the humanist scholars of that time. Galileo and Erasmus were among the main humanists who began this type of thought about human rights. Galileo, who was tried on suspicion of heresy, was made to recant his scientific ideas which challenged Church doctrine. This whole event is seen as a crucial part in the development of human rights issues. Erasmus, in his De Libero Arbitrio Diatribe Sive Collatio -- challenges Martin Luther regarding his limited views of free will, also addressing human rights. With the Reformation and Enlightenment came further expansion on these topics. Thomas Hobbes was one of the chief contributors to liberal thought with his book Leviathan. In the book, Hobbes illustrates that in a state of nature, man has access to everything in his world. But, because of the issue of scarcity, a man is in a state of perpetual war with other men. He believed, as the Epicureans did, that men do not wish there to be war, and therefore have created a social contract, in which they can do and have what they want as long as they do not harm others. Law to Hobbes was simply an enforcement of this contract. This sounds like what we often think of as libertarianism. It is hard to read of Hobbes without also coming in contact with John Locke. Locke too believed in the social contract, but expanded on Hobbes’ ideas of governing such a society. He believed that in order for peoples’ rights to be assured, the government much be approved by the governed. He believed every man had a natural right to “life, liberty, and property,” and that a government should work to insure those rights. Replace property with pursuit of happiness and low and behold you have the preamble to the United States Constitution. Locke played an integral part in the evolution of libertarianism. As shown above he greatly influenced Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, as well as other founding fathers of America. Jefferson, who was the main author of the Declaration of Independence, retells the philosophies of Hobbes and Locke almost verbatim, and when looking at his career one can see that he was a staunch advocate for libertarian thought. Hamilton too, although often seen as Jefferson’s nemesis, shared some of the same liberal beliefs. Madison, who is often referred to as the “father of the constitution,” along with Jefferson and Hamilton, is responsible for the inclusion of these thoughts on liberty into what are thought to be America’s guiding principles. John Stuart Mill, who carried on the tradition of liberal (or libertarian) thought, wrote in his essay On Liberty about the struggle between authority and liberty. A crucial point he makes which may put libertarian beliefs into question is his idea of "the tyranny of the majority." If the social contract theory remains in tact, and it is the peoples' job to create the contract while it is the government's job to enforce it, what is to be said if the prevailing opinion is one which an individual feels is immoral or simply does not agree with? Mill, then, is forced to develop a list of the very basic liberties an individual has. Let us see if any of them sound familiar. 1. The freedom to think as one wishes, and to feel as one does. This includes the freedom to opinion, and includes the freedom to publish opinions known as the freedom of speech. 2. The freedom to pursue tastes and pursuits, even if they are deemed "immoral," as long as they do not cause harm. 3. The "freedom to unite" or meet with others, often known as the freedom of assembly. These were the basic human rights, and to explain how the only way these liberties could be questioned, he is quoted as saying, "That the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilised community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others." Around the time Mill published his essay, the divide between what we think of as liberals and libertarians began. Those now considered to lean more towards the liberal side began showing an interest in more government power, most notably in the realm of economics. The twentieth-century saw the further development of libertarian thought. It was being taught in various schools in the United States during the 60's and was greatly elaborated upon by Robert Nozick, a Harvard philosopher who many consider to be the greatest contributor to libertarian philosophy in recent times. In his book Anarchy, State, and Utopia, Nozick describes in detail the core libertarian beliefs and the problems in attaining a libertarian society, and the framework for such a "utopia." This is perhaps the most eclectic handbook on the principles of libertarianism out there. In it, he outlines the beliefs of John Locke and in essence, those of John Stuart Mill. Among the issues Nozick delves into in depth is that of the unique individual. In a libertarian society, or a "utopia" as he puts it, everyone has different interests ranging from their spiritual or intellectual drives to where they wish to live. Therefore, there is no society which will be completely "ideal" for everyone living in it. In Part III or the "Utopia" section of his book, however, he gives a list of "filters" and other ways to get around this. Obviously, there will be problems which arise when looking over his explanation of this "Utopia." But, it is apparent that criticism of libertarian thought is not a new thing. Libertarianism is still a recognized political philosophy which maintains a place in our current system. Research after the 2004 Presidential election showed that 2% of American voters actually claimed themselves libertarians, while 16% said they hold libertarian views. This implies then, that people with libertarian views are increasingly becoming the swing votes in elections. Current libertarians who are active and have plans to run in future elections include T. Lee Horne, III who will be running for governor of Louisiana in 2007, and both Steve Kubby and George Phillies will be running for President in 2008 on libertarian tickets. References  Nozick, Robert. Anarchy, State, and Utopia. USA: Basic Books, 1974. Kolak, Daniel, and Garrett Thomson. The Longman Standard History of Philosophy. New York: Pearson Education, Inc., 2006. Raymond, Eric. "The Libertarianism FAQ." Eric's Homepage. 17 November 2005. 30 November 2006 <[http://raymond,%20eric.%20%22the%20libertarianism%20faq.%22%20eric%27s%20homepage.%2017%20november%202005.%2030%20november%202006%20%3chttp://catb.org/esr/faqs/libertarianism.html%3E. http://catb.org/esr/faqs/libertarianism.html]>. Libertarianism.com. Advocates for Self-Government. 11 Dec 2006 <[http://www.libertarianism.com/>. http://www.libertarianism.com/>.] Wikipedia Contributors, "History of Libertarianism." Wikipedia. 2006. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. 11 Dec 2006 .  Study Questions  1. Go to the website listed above entitled "libertarianism.com." Compare and contrast the ideas put forth by the Advocates for Self-Government with the historical figures of libertarianism. Have they changed or remained the same?

2. Click on the link to Robert Nozick's page on the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Explain Nosick's views on the state and what powers they should be able to exercise. 3. Explain Nozick's view on self-ownership and who or what may have led to the development of his ideas. How does this relate to his notion of slavery which is further explained in his book? 4. First click on the "objectivism link," read the explanation of this philosophy. Then click on "Ayn Rand" and read. With your knowledge of libertarianism, why might Ayn Rand feel the way she does about libertarians and the philosophy in general? 5. Click on the link to the "United States Constitution." Reading through the introductory paragraphs, does it seem that the United States has tried to secure the individual rights it declared it would in the beginning? How have the libertarian visions of the "founding fathers" of the United States changed ?

6. Go again to "libertarianism.com." Scroll down to the heading "Libertarian Positions on the Issues" and click. Pick one of the issues and explain how it directly relates to libertarian views and how it contributes to the libertarian cause. 7. Click on the links to both Steve Kubby and George Phillies' websites. Explain some of the issues both candidates are concerned about. What are these men doing in their presidential campaigns to further libertarian ideals and ensure a larger libertarian vote in the next election? Essay: Give a brief history of the development of libertariansim, paying close attention to the core beliefs of libertarians and the similarities and differences among the contributors to this philosophy. If the society these thinkers wished for were to one day become reality, given your knowledge of libertarianism, what challenges might such a society face and how might those challenges be overcome?

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Historical Introduction to Philosophy/Compatibilism

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Welcome to the world of compatibilism! A world in which philosophers try to reconcile the notion of determinism and free-will. Throughout the philosophical ages, and especially in our age, materialistic philosophy is presupposed by many contemporary philosophers, and determinism naturally follows from this presupposition. If our entire being is nothing more than a conglomeration of atoms crashing into another, as the materialistic philosopher assumes, then our will, motives, desires, and behaviors are nothing more than the product of those atoms randomly colliding producing consciousness, thoughts, motives, desires, and eventually actions. How, exactly, do atoms do this? This assumption is impossible to prove, however, we can provide scientific and logical evidence for our philosophical theories and make an inductive inference, which, unfortunately, will only get us to some sort of probability, not the hard core palatable certainty that causes your minds to salivate. It seems to me that this question of how atoms just so happened to come together throughout time, producing conscious living matter that has the ability to do philosophy, needs to be answered affirmatively before we can even begin to truly speculate about what is ultimately causing our behaviors, especially moral behaviors. Granted, atoms, chemicals, and neurons may very well correlate with consciousness, thoughts, etc., but most educated people realize that correlation does not prove nor imply causation. Please keep in mind, that it is not necessary to have a complete historical account of how our being came into existence, but it would provide some very good clues that may help us answer this question. Whether or not God created us, we evolved from the primordial soup, or some combination of the two is another debate, but, as we will see, theories of origins do have implications. Therefore, I am afraid that we cannot currently call upon science or the historians to answer our metaphysical questions, but we must open the door to the philosophers of the past and present. (Wait, maybe science does have an answer. Please see 'Contemporary Problems' in Determinism and the Problem of Free-will article, but watch out for tricky philosophical words, e.g., believe, probably, and suggests. For more information on tricky philosophical words, study logic and a philosophical dictionary!) I believe this understanding of metaphyscial positions, e.g., materialism or dualism, and their relation to determinism and free will is essential to comprehending the complexity and inter-relatedness of philosophical problems, i.e., how they hinge upon various assumptions and interact with other philosophical problems,e.g., the mind/body problem and theories of origins. It appears to be a logical necessity to have a complete and coherent belief system. It is also important to understand that most compatibilists that we will mention assume determinism is true, and in a sense, they try to demonstrate that free will has no problem, because free will is an illusion, or misperceived. They then attempt to solve the problem of free will by playing word games, i.e., they create definitions of words in an attempt to dissolve the problem. Keep in mind that the compatibilists that we are going to study accept a type of determinism that is essentially saying that all human thoughts and actions are determined or caused by the human will. This may be very different from what the "hard" determinist means by determinism. Are the compatibilists successful in solving this dilemma by manipulating words? They may be able to convince or deceive themselves, but can they convince or deceive you? Before we begin I will assume and expect that you have taken the course on Determinism and the Problem of Free-will and Libertarianism in the Historical Introduction to Philosophy course. Therefore, I will not define, nor explain concepts within those domains, assuming that you are well aware of those concepts and the major issues.
 * We will first begin our study with the Stoic philosophers. Epictetus (55-135 A.D.), in his work Encheiridion, said, "Some things are under our control, while others are not under our control." (1) Some things are determined, while others are not. This concept presented by Epictetus sets the stage for much of Stoic philosophy, which is to achieve inner peace by not grieving what you cannot control and controlling what you can to serve your happiness. Epictetus also said, "Remember that you are an actor in a play, the character of which is determined by the Playwright... For this is your business, to play admirably the role assigned you; but the selection of that role is Another's." (1) How can you argue with that? Did you choose your body, the way you look, your upbringing, your parents, your heart beat? So many things in life we did not choose, but were dealt a hand of cards that we must play. How should we play the role we've been given? According to Epictetus, we should play admirably, controlling our "conceptions, choice, desire, aversion, and in a word, everything that is our own doing." (1) In other words, compatibilism. Somethings were determined, and others are not. Many other Stoics, such as Chrysippus and Posidonius, and the "Megarians," such as Diodorus Cronus, held the idea of logical determinism, which is that logic alone suggests that humans have no free will. (2) However, their philosophy is not consistent, because the Stoics consistently argue that we should strive for happiness. Why should we strive for something that we cannot alter? If we have no free will, then our happiness or lack thereof isn't up for grabs. We cannot choose to seek happiness, because our state of happiness was fated. Please keep in mind that these philosophers are not arguing for compatibilism, but they cannot seem to live according to the determinism that they preach. We begin to see the seeds of this debate very early in our philosophical past, although the philosophers of that time may have not even been aware of this inconsistency. Many people that we will study will argue for determinism, but they cannot seem to escape free will in one form or another. Sometimes in philosophy I find people will argue for one postion, but live according to another. Their faith is manifested in their actions. If a philosopher truly believes something to be true, it will be manifested in their actions; if not, then maybe they really don't believe in what they preach.
 * Does Divine Omniscience and predestination preclude free will? Augustine would say, "No." If God knows everything in advance, then how can people act otherwise? St. Augustine argues that God knows all that is going to happen in advance, but those events don't happen because God foresees them. Hence, by our free will, we may will something to happen, but that does not mean that God caused or determined that event would occur beforehand. I may very well know that my 2 year old son is going to throw his toy in the toliet, but my knowing is not the cause of his throwing. Many problems with the idea of divine omniscience, according to Augustine, seemed to disappear once one understands that God's existence is independent of time. God views the whole of history in the same manner that we do the present, which implies that God's knowledge does not cause things to happen. (2) With Augustine and other Christian philosophers, e.g., Thomas Aquinas, we see a re-interpretation or re-definition of determinism opposed to re-defining free will. If we properly understand divine omniscience, then it will allow for free will to exist without any apparent problems. This is not the case with Jonathan Edwards, a eighteenth-century American theologian, who argues that predestination, divine omniscience, or foreknowledge precludes any form of free will. Augustine couldn't maintain human free will in light of God's power and the concept of predetermination. He maintained that men are only capable of sinning, and only by God's good grace and power does He assist us in doing good. Therefore, our good behavior is caused or determined by God. So, according to Augustine we don't choose good, but God works within us, causing us to do what we are inable to do. (2) Again, we see the manipulation of words and concepts to justify philosophical positions and the inconstistency in one's position.

 * Now, we will begin to study modern philosophers, beginning with Thomas Hobbes's work, The Leviathan, which was published shortly after his return to London in 1651 (1). Hobbes's determinism is considered by some to be best example of determinism in modern philosophy in which he explains human nature according to the basic presuppositions of science, particulary in the areas of physics (2). Although he was a materialistic philosopher and an advocate of determinism, he was the first person, as far as I can tell, to insist that determinism is compatible with human liberty (2). He defined liberty as the absence of external restraint or impediment, saying that liberty is the "absence of all the impediments to action that are not contained in the nature and intrinisical quality of the agent," concluding that any unimpeded moving thing can be free (2). Hobbes considers it ridiculous to speak of an agent's act of will as 'free', which would be the same as saying that an agent is able to perform an action if he wills due to something uncaused, implying that an agent's unimpeded will caused an action. Hobbes maintained that acts of the will are caused by some type of desire, which are caused by psychological processes of brain matter (2). Hobbes said that nothing "taketh a beginning from itself." (2). He's simply saying that whatever happens within human thoughts or behaviors is caused or determined by material particles. Although Hobbes believed that acts of the will are caused by desires, he still insisted that people are responsible for their actions (2).
 * Next we will turn to John Locke's work, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, which he published shortly after an inconclusive discussion he had with friends concerning morality and religion in 1671 (1). Locke believed that the mind and body were distinct from another and described both as substances. He believed that volutary actions were caused or determined by the operations of the mind. Therefore, he thought it was misleading to label "freedom of the will" (2). He defined liberty or freedom as "a power in any agent to do or forbear any particular action, according to this determination or that of the mind, whereby either of them is preferred to the other" and as "being able to act or not to act, according as we shall choose or will." (2). So, he's saying that one is actingly freely as long as one is acting in accordance with the preferences of their mind, will, or choice, which he believed is causally determined. According to Locke, an act is causally determined by the mind, and the mind, in the determination of its volitions is causally determined by the satisfaction or unsatisfaction of doing a certain action. He thought that by trying to show how concepts such as "voluntary," "free," etc. are properly defined and understood the problem of free will would disappear, reconciling determinism and free will (2).
 * Now we will turn to David Hume (1711-1776) on freedom and necessity. Hume thought that all men believed that men are free and that all their actions are causally determined, and that the whole debate was due to confusion in the meaning of words (2). Hume defined freedom as being able to act according to the determination's of one's own will/motives, suggesting that one's actions are caused. Therefore, one's actions are not free if they are caused by something other than the determination of one's own will (2). According to Hume's view, people are still responsible for their actions, because responsibility depends on the causation of actions by motives. John Stuart Mill defended a theory that was nearly identical to Hume's. Immanuel Kant also had an interesting perspective on this issue, but it is difficult to verify if he was a compatibilist, because he did try to make freedom consistent with determinism, but he seems to be thinking more along the lines of an incompatibilist.

 * William James (1842-1910) distinguished between "hard" and "soft" determinism. By "soft" determinism he meant all the theories like Hobbes, Hume, and Mill, who affirm determinism is true, and then by contorted definitions, preserve notions of liberty, and responsibililty. "Hard" determinism is the belief that no man can help being what he is and doing what he does and that moral distinctions are therefore irrational and should never be applied to men (2). More will be said about James when we read and discuss his essay, The Dilemma of Determinism.

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Historical Introduction to Philosophy/Ethics

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General Introduction to Ethics

Concepts: Ethics in terms of philosophy, is often referred to as morality. It is the right or wrong of any action taken, took, or will take place. We use its codes to lay judgement on standards we propose to follow. Ethics is often broken down into three main categories:
 * Metaethics : is the study of origin of ethical concepts. “Meta” means after or beyond, and conversely the idea implies that if one were to view metaethics they would encompass a whole concept of ethics. Metaethical issues give rise to such questions as; ‘where do rights come from?’ and ‘what kind of beings have rights?’
 * Normative ethics : are the principles established that guide or regulate human conduct. They are often what society considers the norm. It is the litmus test of proper behavior that society sets as their standard. The golden rule is a classic example of normative ethics. "Act onto others as you would have them do to you."
 * Virtue Theories: place most emphasis on developing good habits of character.
 * Duty Theories: place most emphasis on principles of obligation. Some times known as "Deontologicalists."
 * Consequentialist Theories: place most emphasis the outcome of the action. If it is more favorable than not, it is moral. Also known as "Consequentialists."
 * Applied ethics: the study of specific problems or issues with application of Normative ethics and/or Metaethics. Sometimes the applied ethics may be about political or social questions, but they always involves some moral aspect.

 PLATO   ARISTOTLE

Background: Many positions of ethics in history were based on western philosophy. Plato and Aristotle played a crucial role in its development. Plato thought people were more likely to be good than bad. He believed that people did not understand for the most part that they did wrong and that there wrong came from error, not intent. "Plato also suggested four virtues: wisdom, courage, justice and temperance; Aristotle agreed but added others, like generosity, truthfulness, friendliness and prudence."(1) However, Aristotle expanded from Plato's work and said in his Nicomachean Ethics "that goodness is in the actor, not the action; that is, an act is virtuous because of the manner in which a person has chosen it." (2). The idea was important because it showed that we could chose to be good. That gives rise to be able to question how shall we live? And a possible answer could be by being good, instead of by doing good. The outcome of such a notion was the beginning of building an ethical system. Aristotle and Plato never continued on to develop normative ethics. Tales, and epics thereafter, became away of displaying virtue, duty and consequence became a way to practically display such normal behavior. Values like justice and/or loyalty were displayed by their illustration and use. In many of the stories depicted by homer the gods made mistakes and this portrayed how ethics should be lived by.

David Hume first discusses ethics in his writing A Treatise of Human Nature. later, he will discuss it further in his writing An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals. Hume's approach to his ethics is obviously an empirical one. Hume, instead of trying to establish how one should think that morality should function, strives to tell us how we as humans make our moral judgements. It seems Humes is asking or even trying to possibly imply that we tend to make our moral judgements based on or in self-interest. This seems to be a difference from the approach of his fellow empiricist Thomas Hobbes.

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz contributed to the philosophical conversation of ethics with the idea that three kinds of evil exist in the world: Metaphysical evil, physical evil, and moral evil. Metaphysical evil is the limitation of all things due to their finite state. A theist, Leibniz believed that an infinitely perfect God existed, and that anything that is not part of God (including the world) is finite, with a limited amount of perfectness. Metaphysical evil is unavoidable, and no being can be held responsible for its existence. Physical evil is a lack of perfection of worldly things due to their nature. Humans can not be held responsible for this kind of evil, since God gave things their natures. Leibniz argued that this kind of evil exists to make the overall state of things better. An analogy is a shadowy portion of a painting which accentuates a brighter portion; the shadowy portion is necessary to make the overall work of art as beautiful as it is. The last kind of evil Leibniz recognized, moral evil, is the result of humans choosing to defy God’s will. With this theory of evils, man can measure the goodness of their behavior by how closely it is aligned with God’s will, but physical and metaphysical evils will ensure imperfection in the world regardless of man’s moral behavior.

 Suggested Readings  Nicomachean Ethics - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicomachean_Ethics Virtue- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtue Cardinal Virtues- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardinal_virtues Meno- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meno_(Plato)

 Literature  Boethius' Consolation of Philosophy Dante's Inferno Goethe's Faust .  Related Links and References  (1) http://www.galilean-library.org/int11.html (Good overview on Intro to Ethics)

(2) http://www.iep.utm.edu/e/ethics.htm (More in-depth break down on Ethics) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethics

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Historical Introduction to Philosophy/Consequentialism

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Consequentialism is a moral theory and the belief that what ultimately matters is the morality of producing the right kinds of overall consequences. "Overall consequences" of an action mean the action itself and everything the action brings about. Thus, from a consequentialist's view, the morally right action is would be the action that produces good consequences. It is the results of the action that are looked at, not necessarily the means to produce the action. It is nearly impossible for anyone to come up a standard, universal definition of consequentialism, but by looking at its roots it is possible to create a clear picture of this moral theory. The majority of consequentialist theories focus on maximizing good states, while other theories follow the stance that agents should try to produce good consequences, even if they might not produce the best possible results. With regards to philosophers, some notable consequntialists are: [Jeremy Bentham], Henry Sedgwick, Peter Singer, and John Stewart Mill. We will later discuss many of these thinkers. Although there are several different forms of consequentialism, we will discuss the most prevalent in this course.

G.E.M. Anscombe coined the term "consequentialism" in 1958 in her essay "Moral Modern Philosophy." This theory's roots are in utilitarianism and since the 1960's, many writers have used the term "consequentialism" instead of "utilitarianism" for the view that the extent of the rightness of an action depends on the value of its consequences. Due to this distinction, utilitarianism is now used to describe different forms of consequentialism. Therefore, let's dicuss some of the many forms of consequentialism.

Types of Consequentialism
Plain Consequentialism- At any given moment, of all the things that a person could do, the morally right action is the one with the best overall consequences. So, if we were to decide that the good is happiness, the right action would be the action that caused the most happiness, more so than would have been caused by any other alternative action. A good example of this would be the rationality of setting speed limits, which takes into account accurately balancing many considerations.

Reasonable Consequentialism- An action would be morally right if and only if it has the best reasonably expected consequences. This says that for any of my actions to be right, I should first come to a conclusion that is reasonable about the consequences.

Dual Consequentialism- The word "right" is ambiguous in that it has a moral sense and an objective sense; the action with the best consequences is the objectively right action and any action with the best reasonably expected consequences is the morally right action.

Double Consequentialism- Again, the word "right" is ambiguous in that it has a moral sense and an objective sense; the action with the best consequences is the objectively right action and any action that can be reasonably estimated to be objectively right is the morally right action. The difference between dual consequentialism and double consequentialism is the idea of a morally right action. Whereas Dual Consequentialism discusses any action with the best reasonably expected consequences, Double Consequentialism talks about the morally right action that is estimated to be objectively right.

Rule Consequentialism- An action is morally right if and only if and only if it doesn't violate the set of rules of behavior that is generally accepted in the community as creating the best consequences- which is at least as good as any competing set of rules or no rules. With this theory, an action is not judged as being right or wrong by its own consequences; it is right or wrong depending on if it violates the collective rules that would carry the best consequences.

Agent-neutral Consequentialism- Ignores the specific values a state of affairs has on the agent. Therefore, when evaluating what action I should take, my own personal goals don't count more than anyone else's goals.

Agent- focused Consequentialism- Focus is on the needs of the agent; being more concerned with the immediate welfare of myself, my family and friends, than with the general welfare. Both of the agent-centered approaches focus on the interests of an agent as an individual and as having membership in different groups, thus acknowledging the tension from trying to balance everyone's interests. Personal interests or motivations reflect how agents may act for an ends disconnected to their own drives and interests.

Hedonistic Consequentialism- A good action is one that results in an increase in pleasure, and that the best action is one in which creates the most pleasure possible. In this case, the term "happiness" refers to the maximization of pleasure and the minimization of pain. This form of consequentialism emphasizes the collective happiness; the happiness of everyone and the not happiness of a particular person.

What is a Consequence?
As was mentioned above, in consequentialism the consequences of an action include everything the action brings about, which includes the action itself. The consequences of an action include 1) everything the action causes and 2) the action itself. In most theories of consequentialism, the focus is on the moral quality of actions, and intentional actions are the actions that can be morally right or wrong. In this context, intentional actions are things that we do deliberately. Therefore, it could be understood that most consequences of most actions are not actual outcomes, but merely probabilities of outcomes. In many cases, the very concept of a consequence varies. Some writers may even include the performance of an action into the consequence and that performing an act is one of the consequences of the end result. On the same note, some claim that rather than moral rightness depending on actual consequences, it depends on foreseen/foreseeable, intended, or likely consequences. So, if a bad consequence is foreseeable and a person still performs the action to produce the bad consequence, then that person is morally wrong. Objective consequentialism is the name given to moral theories that focus on actual or fairly likely consequences. Adversely, subjective consequentialism focuses on intentional or anticipated consequences.

Consequentialists
Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) is best known as an early advocate of utilitarianism- the roots of conseqentialism. Not only did Bentham propose numerous political and legal reforms, he also pronounced a moral principle on which the reforms would be based. He argued that the best action or policy is one that would cause the "greatest happiness of the greatest number." Soon, Bentham primarily focused on what he called "the greatest happiness principle", which is commonly referred to as the principle of utility. Bentham's principal of utility- an act is right if and only if it tends to maximize the net overbalancing sum total of pleasure over pain for all parties concerned. There are a few allowable interpretations of Bentham's principle and it can be understood in two definite ways: the first being a guide for decision to decide what action to take, and the second being a guide for the evaluation of an action- yours or someone else's. Also, if the principle is used as a guide for decision-making, it provokes the objection that there is not a large enough time frame to consider all of the consequences before acting. Also, some interpretations examine other things besides acts, such as rules or attitudes and others annote the usage of the word "right" and instead use the words "obligation" or "duty".

John Stuart Mill ( 1806-1873) was a student of Bentham and also an advocate of Utilitarianism. Mill' s interpretation of "the greatest happiness principle" is hedonistic in nature; it states that there is a hierarchy of pleasures, which means that the pursuit of specific kinds of pleasure is of higher value than the pursuit of other pleasures. Whereas Bentham treats every form of happiness as being equal, Mill contends that moral and intellectual pleasures are preferable to the ones that are more physical forms of pleasure. Mill also claims that "happiness" is of more value than "contentment".

Henry Sidgwick (1838-1900) was an English philosopher as well as a Utilitarian who held views that were along the same lines of Bentham and Mill. The position that Sidgwick adopted was one that can be described as ethical hedonism; the illustration of goodness in any action is that it produces the greatest amount of pleasure possible.This hedonism is not limited to the self, but extends to the pleasure of others, which would make the principle universalistic.

Peter Singer (1946- ) is a more modern utilitarian thinker and has turned his ideas about universalization into a form of utilitarianism. Singer argues "on the strength of my thought that my own interests cannot count for more than the interests of others." Singer also advocates the principle that it is morally required to abandon a small pleasure to alleviate someone else's considerable pain.

Criticisms of Consequentialism: Consequentialism has been heavily criticized in the past. One of the major arguments, made by G.E.M. Anscombe, against it is that the moral theories of consequentialism hold agents accountable for unintended consequences of their actions, which in turn, questions the moral character of the agents involved. Bernard Williams Another major argument is that consequentialism estranges the agent because they are left to put too much distance between themselves and their own commitments and duties.
 * IEP
 * |Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
 * Consequentialism

Home Back Forward


text:
QuantLib/VtkIntegration

This is the page for discussion of research integrating QuantLib with Vtk

VTK First Example
The VTK source code comes with a multitude of examples, including a tutorial in the scripting language of your choice (currently supported are Tcl, Python and Java). They are located in the Examples directory that can be downloaded with the source code distribution.

Assuming you are interested in something a little bit more elaborate, you can download here a very simple example that uses Tkinter to produce the viewer shown below:

Below is the entire source code used to produce this output. In my opinion, the main contribution of the script in terms of learning to use VTK is the organization of the code and the integration with Tkinter (which can take a little while to figure out). Other than that, it is quite easy to see that the actual VTK code is very thin. You can test the code yourself by using the input surface provided here.

Building VTK with Python support
When downloading the Windows binaries for VTK, for example, the only scripting language that is automatically supported is Tcl (the same happens under MacOS, to the best of my knowledge). To enable Python support, you have to enable the appropriate settings when building VTK with cmake. Namely, you have to enable VTK_WRAP_PYTHON. This also means you will have to build shared libraries, but the cmake process will kindly guide you through it.

Once built, you can learn more on how to actually use VTK through Python reading the VTK/Wrapping/Python/README.txt.

title: QuantLib/VtkIntegration


text:
Software testing/Design technique

One possible classification (another one could be black box, white box, grey box: see here) of the design techniques could be: static and dynamic techniques. The static techniques also test software (like the dynamic ones), but the software is not executed during this. Goal of both types it is amongst others to find anomalies (more goals you can read here). We could also phrase it like this: software interacts/reacts while dynamic testing - but for the static techniques software just lies like a skeleton before us and we can dissect it like a pathologist. Examples to some of the techniques you can find in: Standard for Software Component Testing from BCS SIGIST.

manual
For the following design techniques the ability of humans to analyze and think is of primary importance. For this there are used different kind of reviews:

 * informal review
 * walkthrough
 * technical review
 * inspection
 * management review
 * audit

with tools
Tools for static analysis need the test object to have a formal structure/syntax (so a test object can also be something else than source code). Then the tools search for certain patterns. Tools can be:

Compiler: they check if e.g. for the syntax of the used programming language or they calculate metrics analyzer: e.g. this can be also "just" a program for spell checking tools for modeling: they create first a model of e.g. the specification or the source code - so other tools can start also other open source and commercial tools (please see discussion)

dynamic design techniques
In complement to static techniques the testobject is being executed for testing.

systematic techniques
An overview about black box, white box and grey box you can find in the article here.

black box

 * equivalence partitioning
 * classification tree method
 * boundary value analysis
 * domain analysis testing
 * decision table testing
 * state transition test
 * uses case test
 * process cycle test
 * pairwise testing (orthogonal arrays, Allpairs algorithm)
 * data cycle test
 * elementary comparison test
 * semantic test
 * syntax test
 * random test
 * smoke test

white box
white box design techniques can be grouped into control flow based or data flow based.

control flow based
 * statement coverage
 * branch coverage
 * decision condition coverage
 * simple condition coverage
 * modified condition decision coverage or minimal multicondition coverage
 * multiple condition coverage
 * path coverage

(todo: explaining advantages of control flow graphs and CSD)

data flow based Data flow based techniques build on and extend control flow based techniques. Data is saved in variables and these variables have a defined lifecycle:
 * undeclared/undefined (u): variable has no value and no memory
 * declared (d): variable has no defined value, but there is already memory assigned
 * initialized (i): assign a value to the variable
 * referrenced (r): use/read of the value of the variable

Then there can be many dataflow anomalies: e.g. dr, id, ii. This shall be explained with one part of the source code of the algorithm BubbleSort: 4.        temp, swaps : INTEGER; .. 13.                IF ~(a[i] <= a[i+1]) THEN 14a. temp  := a[i]; 14b. a[i]  := a[i+1]; 14c. a[i+1] := temp; 15.                     INC(swaps); 16.                END

Let's say the source code has now anomalies (line 14a - 14c): 4.        temp, swaps : INTEGER; .. 13.                IF ~(a[i] <= a[i+1]) THEN 14a. (* line 14a is now deleted                                   *) 14b. a[i+1] := temp; (* dr-anomaly: variable temp from line 4 was not yet defined, *) (*            but it is used.                                *) 14c. a[i+1] := a[i]; (* ii-anomaly: there are now two a[i+1] (line 14b + 14c)     *) (*            this should make you wonder.                   *) 15.                     INC(swaps); 16.                END

grey box
Here the advantages of black box and white box techniques are combined to design better tests. (TODO: examples)

tools for dynamic analysis

 * test execution tools
 * GUI-capture and playback: Actions on the screen are recorded in a test script. These type of tools have disadvantages like more effort when reusing due to editing of the script.
 * data driven: The advantage here is: the same recorded test (which is saved in a test script - like above) can be repeated with different input data (which the user adds e.g. over Excel).
 * keyword-driven/actionword-driven: difference to data-driven: each line of input data has now its own keyword, which tells what to do with the input-data. Imagine it like this: the keyword is something like a function, which tells what to do.
 * interaction-driven: If something has changed on the testscripts itself, the maintenance effort decreases, because other testscripts, which work with this test script get changed automatically. The scripts/modules can be taken by drag and drop from the database.
 * comparator/comparison tools
 * dynamic analysis tools
 * coverage tools
 * test frameworks
 * debugger
 * and other

non-systematic techniques

 * ad-hoc/explorative testing
 * intuitive
 * weak point testing
 * testing based on a defect taxonomy

title: Software testing/Design technique


text:
Software testing/Laboratory course

With these exercises you can deepen your learned knowledge so far (If not, please tell us here, what we can improve - there is always something to improve).

Exercises for doing Alone
Here you can learn in your own speed, e.g.
 * Examples which you can work through
 * Videos/tutorials for watching
 * e.g. usage of test tools

Graphic Display of Algorithms in a Source Code
In the following tutorial you will see, how the appropriate graph to a source code looks like. In detail: With the tool jGRASP there is created for the Java source code MergeSort.java from the Wikiversity course algorithms and data structures (Algorithmen und Datenstrukturen) the CSD (Control Structure Diagram).

Reason of this Tutorial: To show you, how fast such a graph can be created. It should show you that there is nothing complicated behind this - with a tool this is done automatically and easy. Here you can see the Shockwave-Tutorial <- German version (I will create an English version soon) and still under review (condition: Shockwave-Player).

Online-Sessions with Tutors
Is still under creation

Goal: Together we will test example applications, about 30-50 minutes team-sessions

Advantages:
 * You can ask immediately
 * And you can get immediate feedback on your approach

Participants and tutors agree on a date (especially over different countries/timezones needed)

At the beginning:
 * Only with telephone (e.g. skype)
 * We will use an application which everybody has on his/her PC (e.g. notepad) and which everybody knows (at the beginning this is helpful - later we will also do new applications, so learning new terrain - we all are researchers).

Later - If there are problems with communciation, editing - we can add boards, remote access,...

example session:

moderator : In notepad, go to print menu: File>Print the dialogue "Print" appears. What do you see? participant: Possibilities for the settings for printing moderator : Please describe more in detail participant: Different buttons, different printer, input fields, pictures, .... And then we will test the different objects/functions, e.g. with design technique equivalence partitioning if the method is not applied correct, the participant can get immediate feedback to increase her/his knowledge

Other Collaborations
Besides learning in this course here, please also try to apply your knowledge elsewhere. You will learn or did learn already, how to test. So, here some places, to be active:
 * Everywhere

or perhaps:
 * Wikiversity Game Design, e.g.
 * Game Creation Guidelines/Testing
 * Games in Development/Liberal Diplomacy
 * A Hands-On Introduction to Game Design and Production Processes
 * Game Critiques
 * Wikiversity: Website Performance Test Plan
 * academia.wikia.com: Journal of Computer Science and Software Engineering
 * Wikipedia

title: Software testing/Laboratory course


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Software testing/Test tools

Here there will be presented test tools (also with a video tutorial).

special attention
Following test tools will be made available for public usage for the participants. Tutor Erkan Yilmaz shows their importance in the daily testing, their usage and also common mistakes.
 * bug tracking system: used for recording of anomalies (e.g. here some info on the bug tracking system of MediaWiki, e.g. Wikipedia)
 * trouble ticket system: to communicate with customers
 * version control: so that you can restore old versions (of source code, documents of any kind like user manuals, requirements, ...)

documentation of source code
Following tools are a very simple way to summarize comments (examples for comments for programming languages you can find here) out of source code:

 * Doxygen: can be used for C++, C, Java, Objective-C, Python, IDL (Corba and Microsoft flavors) and to a certain extent als for PHP, C#, and D. examples and projects, which use it.
 * Javadoc with example
 * PhpDocumentor (also called: phpdoc or phpdocu) with example
 * ROBODoc for e.g. C, C++, Fortran, Perl, shell scripts, Assembler, DCL, DB/C, Tcl/Tk, Forth, Lisp, COBOL, Occam, Basic, HTML, Clarion. And here examples
 * NDoc for .Net projects with example

and here more tools

other tools
more tools will be added over time, see also discussion (at the moment go to German discussion)

title: Software testing/Test tools


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Software testing/Glossary

Anomaly

 * In software testing an anomaly is everything that differs from expectation. This expectation can result from a document or also from a persons notion or experiences. Also an anomaly can be a feature or an usability problem, because the testobject may be correct regarding the specification - but it can be improved. Another possibility for an anomaly is that a tester executed the testcase wrong and therefore the expected result is also wrong.
 * see here for more info.
 * (see IEEE 1044-1993: Standard Classification for Software Anomalies., page 1, The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc., New York, USA, 1994, ISBN 1-55937-383-0)
 * For the United States Department of Defense (DoD) an anomaly in test is an event that occurs outside the scope of the test, but affects the test. For example, a lightening strike knocks out the power or a tester uses the wrong test plan. Unexpected test results which indicate a system weakness are called deficiencies. Initially, all unexpected results are viewed as deficiencies until analysis shows they are anomalies. For example, if power is suddenly cut off to the entire neighborhood resulting in an abnormal end to testing, analysis must show the power outage was not caused by the system under test before it is labeled an anomaly.
 * See DoDI 5000.02: Operation of the Defense Acquisition System and many service-specific instructions on deficiencies; there are no DoD documents on anomalies because they are of no value by DoD definition.

Software

 * Is more than just source code. There belongs also: programs, procedures and documentation, and data for the concerning processing on a computer system. We (the tutors of this course) count also any testware.
 * (see IEEE 610-1990: The collection of computer programs, procedures and data, together with possibly associated documentation necessary to understand, install and use it.)

Testware

 * Including any kind of products, which is helpful for testing. Especially persons from the testing field produce these:
 * test plans, test cases, test reports, anomaly reports, input files/scripts for test tools, ...
 * They all should be reusable and therefore managed by configuration management.

title: Software testing/Glossary


text:
Software testing/Literature

On this page you find literature, which is mentioned in the course. Also there are external links, which deal with topics in software testing.

B

 * BCS SIGIST - British Computer Society Specialist Interest Group in Software Testing: Standard for Software Component Testing,, Working Draft 3.4, 27. April 2001. (design techniques)

G

 * D. Gelperin, B. Hetzel: The Growth of Software Testing. CACM, Vol. 31, No. 6, 1988, ISSN 0001-0782. (time phases in testing)

I

 * IEEE Std 610.12-1990: IEEE Standard Glossary of Software Engineering Terminology, (Revision and redesignation of IEEE Std. 729-1983), February 15, 1991, Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers and the American National Standards Institute.

 * IEEE 1044-1993: Standard Classification for Software Anomalies., The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc., New York, USA, 1994, ISBN 1-55937-383-0. (here: page 1: anomalies)

L

 * G. T. Laycock: The Theory and Practice of Specification Based Software Testing. PhD Thesis, Dept of Computer Science, Sheffield University, UK, 1993, freely available PDF version. (time phases in testing)

title: Software testing/Literature


text:
Talk:Software testing/Overview

next steps
Hello, I have put on every page the link to the German page (see in the left wiki-menu "In other languages"). So, that also some other person capable of German language can help. First I will translate the German topic-pages, then I will add each discussion-page (but only the important points, because some of the points were because of the kick-off of the project). The advantage of this approach is: people can see sooner all pages of the course (please remember: the German course is also not yet finished) and since having no translated discussion-pages yet, perhaps we can gather some new ideas. --Erkan Yilmaz 08:23, 28 November 2006 (UTC)

Inter-lingua

 * The discussion in German.

Software tutors
There are a lot of projects that are using outside software, like Aladin previewer, BoomCode, 3DTheater.org, and [Finaldraft]. Instead of testing your own software, could you test these guys out?--Rayc 00:15, 7 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Hi Rayc, will have a look at these in the evening. CU, --Erkan Yilmaz 07:42, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

title: Talk:Software testing/Overview


text:
Talk:Software testing/history of testing

LINKS in: history of testing > phases in software development models
I added here the links to Wikipedia. One of my goals it is with this initiative to clean up the different software testing articles in the wikis. As you can see many of them are not finished and have comments. Reason I propose this is: Why invent something new, when already somebody started an article? Saves time. Also with this approach people who are not participants of this course will profit in the better articles. Disadvantage is: Until the "external" wikipedia-links are not finished/reviewed, participants will not have that good info. But for the sake of finishing the translation and in hope, that later people will join, this approach is selected. --Erkan Yilmaz 16:17, 30 November 2006 (UTC)
 * This entry was translated into German here. --Erkan Yilmaz 16:27, 30 November 2006 (UTC)

Inter-lingua

 * The discussion in German.

Missing link in "Methods & Tools survey: How is unit testing performed at your location?"
Dear all, unfortunately, the page "Methods & Tools survey: How is unit testing performed at your location?" points to a dead link, since the good people from Methods & Tools doesn't offer it anymore.

I found two interesting articles on the subject, and I would like to know if I can replace the missing link to Methods and Tools to one of them.

All the best --Hgfernan (discuss • contribs) 12:58, 24 June 2021 (UTC)

 * The link is available from archive.org, so I updated it. However, you are welcome to add new or replace it with better link(s). Thanks! -- Dave Braunschweig (discuss • contribs) 17:09, 24 June 2021 (UTC)

 * Thank you, ! This course is very interesting. I'm following it, and I hope to follow it, and if possible I'll be glad to contribute. Have a nice day.

 * --Hgfernan (discuss • contribs) 11:13, 25 June 2021 (UTC)


text:
Talk:Software testing/Design technique

white box
It is incredible, but none of the white box design techniques is created in English wikipedia, but in German wikipedia nearly all of them are available (I do not assess yet the quality of the German articles :-) ):
 * statement coverage
 * branch coverage
 * decision condition coverage
 * simple condition coverage
 * modified condition decision coverage or minimal multicondition coverage
 * multiple condition coverage
 * path coverage

So here is definitely action needed to create this articles. How come, this was never done? Interesting question. --Erkan Yilmaz 19:00, 1 December 2006 (UTC)
 * E.g. black box techniques are well represented in both wikipedia.
 * So, can there be concluded (please do not take this too serious now :-) ):
 * that white box techniques are not that much used in English speaking countries?
 * Also a comment by Boris Beizer:
 * "When most people first start testing, especially if they do so without for-mal training in the subject, they rediscover black-box testing ..." ((in: Black-Box Testing - Techniques for Functional Testing of Software and Systems, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1995, ISBN 0-471-12094-4, page xi)
 * or that testers applying white box techniques do not have any time to create them in wikipedia?
 * in Germany there is more white box testing used?
 * white box testing is not important? (don't kill me now for this statement - it is just to keep the discussion going)
 * nobody wants to know how the white box techniques work, because there are many tools which do this automatically?
 * --Erkan Yilmaz 20:34, 1 December 2006 (UTC)

 * I have requested for help to publish this info here:
 * in academia.wikia.com: at the Journal of Computer Science and Software Engineering here. Let's see what will happen. --Erkan Yilmaz 18:40, 3 December 2006 (UTC)

Inter-lingua

 * The discussion in German.

title: Talk:Software testing/Design technique


text:
Talk:Software testing/Laboratory course

Inter-lingua

 * The discussion in German.

Website Performance Test Plan
Just found following: Website Performance Test Plan. Let's see what we can do there. --Erkan Yilmaz 22:25, 3 December 2006 (UTC)

 * please do! It'd be great to work together on a solid test plan! At the very least we can build on each others improvements! Michaelnelson 08:39, 10 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Hello Michaelnelson, great, we will start this then, when we have more participants in the course.
 * On the Website Performance Test Plan I corrected some typos, formats.
 * It would also be great, if there could be a website, where people can see the different versions of the website and then we can do real life tests and also we can see, how the test-website improved over time. Best would be to make this site available inside wikiversity itself, then there is not the danger, that the material gets lost (or, if not appropriate enough technically: either you can set up a website or I can do).
 * Another thing, perhaps you can change the colors in the example: e.g. the term "successful" could be in green, to see faster the result. (analog later: errors in red)
 * Also here is a document which can help you on test plans: IEEE Std 829-1998: IEEE Standard for Software Test Documentation.
 * CU, --Erkan Yilmaz 15:38, 10 December 2006 (UTC)

title: Talk:Software testing/Laboratory course


text:
Talk:Software testing/Test tools

Inter-lingua

 * The discussion in German.

title: Talk:Software testing/Test tools


text:
Talk:Software testing/glossary

Inter-lingua

 * The discussion in German.

title: Talk:Software testing/glossary


text:
Talk:Software testing/Literature

Inter-lingua

 * The discussion in German.

title: Talk:Software testing/Literature


text:
Filmmaking Basics/3D Storyboard/Sample FrameForge 2

Why Did You Create The Thuumbnai Storyboards?

 * Since the 3D storyboards look so good, why bother making thumbnail storyboards which look so ugly? Thumbnail storyboards are quick and dirty so see if the scene will work.  3D storyboards explain to everyone how the scene will be shot.  Each has its own purpose.  Each is important.

FrameForge 3D Studio - Demo Version

 * Important to all filmmakers
 * The most important thing to understand about this lesson is you can download and begin using the demo version of FrameForge 3D Studio immediately. All of the figures and the movie sets construction tools are built in.  You can place characters into the scene and immediately look at them through different lenses.  For a filmmaker, this is amazing.  And since the demo version is free (for 20 uses), it is fantastic!  It is rare that I can find a program that I can really recommend so highly. Robert Elliott

{| cellpadding="10" cellspacing="5" style="width: 100%; background-color: inherit; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto"
 * style="background-color: #ffffe0; border: 1px solid #777777; -moz-border-radius-topleft: 8px; -moz-border-radius-bottomleft: 8px; -moz-border-radius-topright: 8px; -moz-border-radius-bottomright: 8px;" colspan="2" |

Your Next Step

 * Take your thumbnail storyboard and turn it into a 3D storyboard with FrameForge 3D Studio. When you have finished even just a few of the storyboards, email them to me.

 * Once you are finished, we will discuss which direction you should go next.

Contact Your Instructor

 * Your instructor for this class is Robert Elliott. To email me, you simply Click Here.

 * }


text:
User:Laleena~enwikiversity

Hello, this is my virtual office. Currently, I am making the rounds on Wikiversity to recommend a Wikimedian Arts studies program. Also, here is the old Brazilian History Wikibook. Wikibooks is where I'm active mainly. Here is another Wikibook. Here is yet another Wikibook.

title: User:Laleena~enwikiversity


text:
Talk:Michel Foucault reading group

the Introduction to The Archeology of Knowledge
Sometimes it is possible for an author to be so immersed in the topic of interest that the author's ongoing struggle to come to grips with the topic distracts the author from providing readers with a "bird's eye view" of the struggle. We are invited to get down in the mud and role around with the author; join in the struggle. That is fine if you are already in your work clothes and ready to get dirty. However, those of us who are in a more fastidious mood might need to first know if by joining Foucault in his struggle we will learn something useful or just get dirty. "My aim is to uncover the principles and consequences of an autochthonous transformation that is taking place in the field of historical knowledge." Phrased this way, it does not even sound like Foucault believed that goal had been reached. I admit to being spoiled by the scientific literature in which it is common to be provided with "abstracts" and "introductions" that contain short lists of what has been accomplished by the author(s) in each particular publication. After looking at The Archaeology of Knowledge I wonder if it would be possible to say something such as: "Foucault describes a few Western historical ages in terms of cultural systems that generated particular distinctive types of human activities, with particular emphasis on those activities that generate feedback and lead to changes in the cultural system itself, eventually leading to transitions between historical ages." --JWSchmidt 15:40, 28 November 2006 (UTC)

title: Talk:Michel Foucault reading group


text:
Materials Science and Engineering/magnetic materials/giant magneto-resistive tunnelling effect Giant

The magneto-resistance effect (MR effect) describes the change in the electrical resistance of a material due to the application of a magnetic field. The giant magneto-resistance effect was discovered in 1988. Several other magneto-resistive effects have been discovered, and they are classified under XMR effects or XMR technology.

Research advances related to electron spin, tunneling effects, and production of ultra-thin layers have made possible the design of electrical devices based on quantum mechanical effects of the electron.


title: File:Exmachina001.jpg


text:
Talk:Demography

I have strongly augmented the basic page. --Ian Kennedy 18:29, 28 November 2006 (UTC)

title: Talk:Demography


text:
User talk:Exmachina

This is my talk page. Feel free to drop a line, a message, a question, a suggestion. Feel free to drop anything. Except your pants. You might need those. --Ex Machina 21:09, 28 November 2006 (UTC)

Welcome!
Hi there Exmachina. Welcome to Wikiversity! I notice you have an interest in creative writing. You might want to look at the Writing Center. CQ 19:37, 28 November 2006 (UTC)

Foreign language learning orientation
Hello, Exmachina. You have a link to Orientation on your user page which at this time redirects to Foreign language learning orientation. The page Foreign language learning orientation when at Orientation was in the incorrect namespace. I am deleting the redirect to use the page for Wikiversity development. I just wanted you to be notified to avoid any future confusion. Hopefully we will see you back here soon. --Remi 07:14, 23 May 2007 (UTC)

title: User talk:Exmachina


text:
Portal:Italian

Welcome to the Italian Department at Wikiversity, part of the Center for Foreign Language Learning and the School of Language and Literature.

Introduction
The Center for Learning Italian is a Wikiversity content development project where participants create, organize and develop learning resources for Italian.

The "topic" namespace contains pages that are for management and organization of small academic units at Wikiversity such as departments (see: Topics).

Department news

 * 28 November 2006  - Department founded!
 * 4 November 2009  - Introduction to Italian added.
 * 20 February 2013  - Wikibook: Italian Language Course added.

Learning projects and resources
See: Learning Projects and the Learning model.

Learning materials and learning projects are located in the main Wikiversity namespace. Simply make a link to the name of the learning project (learning projects are independent pages in the main namespace) and start writing! We suggest the use of the learning project template (use "subst:Learning project boilerplate" on the new page, inside the double curved brackets – ).

 * Introduction to Italian - An extensive first course in Italian that teaches everything you would learn in an introductory college Italian class.
 * Wikibook: Italian Language Course - A Wikibook that teaches most Italian grammar and beginning vocabulary.

Remember, Wikiversity has adopted the "learning by doing" model for education. Lessons should center on learning activities for Wikiversity participants. We learn by doing. Select a descriptive name for each learning project.

Italian literature
This section has been recently added. See the course in progress on Italian literature.

External resources

 * Italian Lessons
 * Online Italian Help
 * BBC Learn Italian
 * Italian Guide - IE Languages
 * About.com: Italian Language
 * Livemocha: Learn Languages Online
 * Duolingo.com: free language-learning website

Fachbereich Romanistik/Arbeitsgruppe Italienisch Departamento de Italiano fr:Département:Italien pt:Portal:Letras/Italiano

title: Portal:Italian


text:
Materials Science and Engineering/Magnetic Materials/Giant Magneto-Resistive Tunnelling Effect

The development of devices that sense and store information is driven by the demand for more capable computers. The utilization of the phenomenon of giant magneto-resistance (GMR) has led to the creation of more sensitive sensors that read bits coded on magnetized regions of disks. An understanding of GMR has led to a large increase in information storage capacity. The phenomenon of GMR has also been of interest to physicists.

The magneto-resistance effect (MR effect) describes the change in the electrical resistance of a material due to the application of a magnetic field. Research advances related to electron spin, tunneling effects, and production of ultra-thin layers have made possible the design of electrical devices based on quantum mechanical effects of the electron. The giant magneto-resistance effect is dependent on spin properties of electrons. Several other magneto-resistive effects have been discovered, and they are classified under XMR effects or XMR technology.

An example of a structure where the giant magneto-resistive effect is observed consists of a layer of copper, a normal metal, between layers of cobalt, a ferromagnetic material. When the magnetic moments of the ferromagnetic layers are parallel, there is less resistance to the flow of current. In current devices, the direction of magnetization of one layer is typically fixed in one direction, while the other is determined by an external field. The difference of resistance between parallel and anti-parallel configurations is 10-15% in current devices.

The effect of GMR is similar to phenomenon of polarization. In a polarization experiment, light cannot pass through if two polarizers are perpendicular to one another. Similarly, one magnetic layer may allow electrons of one type of spin to pass, and, if the second structure is aligned in the same direction, current can easily pass through. If the second layer is misaligned, neither spin channel can pass through the structure easily, and the electrical resistance is high.

Early studies in which GMR was first observed may have been published in 1987. The patent of the effect is owned by Peter Grunberg, who led a team at the Julich Research Centre and observed the effect in trilayers of Fe/Cr/Fe. The effect was simultaneously and independently observed in multilayers of Fe/Cr.

Three types of GMR are multilayer, granular, and spin-valve GMR. The effect was first observed in multilayer configurations and the effect in granular GMR is not as large as multilayer GMR. Spin-valve GMR is the most useful industrially, and the magnetic recording industry is researching structures that are very sensitive to magnetic fields. IBM and Seagate develop high density disk and tape playback heads. Additional applications include avionic compasses, swipe-card readers, wheel rotation sensors in ABS brakes, and current sensors for use in safety powerbreakers and electricity meters.


text:
The Special Cubic Formula

Part I: The Special Cubic Formula
This article discusses a way to solve special cubic equations in the form of

$$ax^3+bx^2+cx+d=0,\quad\text{where }c=\frac{b^2}{3a}$$

If the cubic equation satisfies that condition, then you can use the special cubic formula to find the value of $$x$$.

$$x=\frac{-b + \sqrt[3]{b^{3} - 27 a^{2} d}}{3a}$$

Part II: Derivation of the Special Cubic Formula
start with $$ax^3+bx^2+cx+d=0$$

1.) subtract $$d$$ from both sides of the equation and divide both sides by $$a$$

$$x^3 + \frac{b}{a} x^2 + \frac{c}{a} x = -\frac{d}{a}$$

2.) find the value of $$k$$ so that

$$x^3 + 3kx^2 + 3k^2 x + k^3 = (x+k)^3$$

There’s a problem with this that puts a limitation on the values of $$b$$ and $$c$$. $$\frac{b}{3a}$$ must equal $$\sqrt{\frac{c}{3a}}$$ and thus $$\quad c=\frac{b^2}{3a}$$ for the formula to work.

If this condition is true, then the value of $$k$$ is $$\frac{b}{3a}$$

3.) add $$\left(\frac{b}{3a}\right)^3$$ (which is $$k^3$$) to both sides of the equation

$$x^3 + \frac{b}{a} x^2 + \frac{c}{a} x + \frac{b^3}{27a^3} = -\frac{d}{a} + \frac{b^3}{27a^3}$$

4.) factor the left side of the equation

$$\left( x + \frac{b}{3a} \right)^3 = -\frac{d}{a} + \frac{b^3}{27a^3}$$

5.) rearrange the right side of the equation

$$\left( x + \frac{b}{3a} \right)^3 = \frac{b^3 - 27 a^2 d}{27a^3}$$ 6.) take the cubic root of both sides of the equation

$$\left( x + \frac{b}{3a} \right) = \frac{\sqrt[3]{b^3 - 27 a^2 d}}{3a}$$ 7.) subtract $$\frac{b}{3a}$$ from both sides of the equation

$$x = \frac{\sqrt[3]{b^3 - 27 a^2 d}}{3a} - \frac{b}{3a}$$ 8.) simplify the equation

$$x = \frac{-b + \sqrt[3]{b^3 - 27 a^2 d}}{3a}$$

Part III: Limitations of the Formula
As stated above, this formula can only be used in special cases where $$c$$ and $$b$$ are dependent on each other. The equations that display this are:

$$c = \frac{b^2}{3a}$$ or equivalently $$b = \pm\sqrt{3ac}$$

If the cubic equation in question does not obey these equations, then a much longer formula must be used to find the solution. These two equations also restrict the cubic formula to cubic equations that only have one solution.

Part IV: Examples
 Example 1:  $$3x^3 + 6x^2 + 4x + 9 = 0$$

Step 1: Check if the equation obeys the limitations

$$c = 4 \quad=\quad \frac{b^2}{3a} = \frac{6^2}{3 \cdot 3} = 4$$

Step 2: Since the equation obeys the criteria of a special cubic equation, the special cubic formula may be applied

$$x = \frac{-6 + \sqrt[3]{6^3 - 27 \cdot 3^2 \cdot 9}}{3 \cdot 3} = \frac{-6 - \sqrt[3]{1971}}{9} \approx -2.05978$$

Step 3: Check the answer

$$3(-2.05978)^3 + 6(-2.05978)^2 + 4(-2.05978) + 9 \approx 0$$

 Example 2:  $$3x^3 + 21x^2 + 2x + 3 = 0$$

Step 1: Check if the equation obeys the limitations

$$c = 2 \quad\neq\quad \frac{b^2}{3a} = \frac{21^2}{3 \cdot 3} = 49$$

This equation doesn’t obey the limitations, so it is not a special cubic equation.

 Example 3:  $$3x^3 - 6x^2 + 4x - 5 = 0$$

Step 1: Check if the equation obeys the limitations

$$c = 4 \quad=\quad \frac{b^2}{3a} = \frac{(-6)^2}{3 \cdot 3} = 4$$

Step 2: Since the equation obeys the criteria of a special cubic equation, the special cubic formula may be applied

$$x = \frac{6 + \sqrt[3]{-6^3 - 27 \cdot 3^2 \cdot -5}}{3 \cdot 3} = \frac{6 + \sqrt[3]{999}}{9} \approx 1.7774$$

Step 3: Check the answer

$$3(1.7774)^3 - 6(1.7774)^2 + 4(1.7774) - 5 \approx 0$$

title: The Special Cubic Formula


text:
Materials Science and Engineering/Magnetic Materials/Saturation Magnetization Near Curie Temperature

Part 1
'''Discuss the physical implications of the use of the mean field theory in solving ferromagnetic problems. Where in the dynamical equations for magnetization does this approximation get used? What obvious problem in the solution of such equations does it obviate? When is it appropriate?'''

A material placed in a magnetic field can respond a number of different ways. The interaction of the field with the angular momenta of the atomic components is the origin of a response. In a paramagnetic material, there is a small interaction among magnetic moments. Interactions among atomic moments in ferromagnetic materials is so strong that there is magnetic ordering in the absence of applied fields, and this produces very large magnetizations.

There is complexity in the response of a ferromagnet to external magnetic fields. The ferromagnet consists of regions, called domains, whose net magnetic moments are in different directions. Mean field theory assumes only nearest neighbor interactions of spins in a ferromagnet exist. Magnetic energy is determined by interaction of spin with the magnetic field that arises from configurations of spins on nearest neighbors. In the mean field approach of Weiss, each configuration of neighbors is replaced by a statistical mechanical average. Each spin is subject to an effective internal magnetic field that is proportional to the overall magnetization of the crystal. The problem is reduced to one that is identical to the model of independent paramagnetic atoms. Each atom is treated as if it were an independent magnetic moment. Instead of using only the external field $$H$$, the internal field $$H_i$$ is added. A total field of $$(H + H_i)$$ is used in the Brillouin function.

The mean field approximation becomes unreliable in the case below. The term $$E_F$$ is the fermi energy, and $$B$$ is the band width.

$$U \ge E_F \approx B$$

Part 2
'''Show that in the mean field approximation the saturation magnetization just below the Curie temperature has the dominant temperature dependence ($$T_c - T)^{\frac{1}{2}}$$. How does this compare with experimental data?'''

The total angular momentum of an atom gives rise to a magnetic moment whose $$z$$ component is expressed below.

$$M_z = -g \mu_B M_s$$

$$\mu_B = \frac{e \hbar}{2 m_e}$$

Terms above are the Bohr magneton,$$\mu_B$$, electron mass, $$m_e$$, gyromagnetic ratio, $$g$$, and azimuthal quantum number of the total angular momentum.

Choose the z-axis to be in the direction of the field. The energy of the atomic moment in the field is expressed below with $$H$$, the magnitude of the field..

$$\mu_m = g M_s \mu_B H$$

The total magnetization is the atomic moment times the number of atoms per unit volume. Find the statistical mechanical average of $$M_s$$ since the energy and magnetization are proportional to the azimuthal quantum number.

$$\overline{M_s} = \frac{ \sum_s M_s e^{-g M_s \mu_B H / kT}}{\sum_s e^{-g M_s \mu_B H / kT}}$$

Note that an assumption is that the magnetic field does not affect the lattice vibrations. Write the partition function as below.

$$Z = \sum_{M_s = -S}^{M_s = S} e^{-M_s y}$$

$$Z = \sum_{M_s = -S}^{M_s = S} x^{M_s}$$

$$y = g \mu_B H / k T$$

$$x = e^{-y}$$

Sum by using the formula for the sum of a geometric series.

$$z = x^{-s} + x^{-s+1} + x^{-s+2}$$

$$z = x^{-s} (1 + x + x^2 + ... + x^{2s})$$

$$Z = \frac{x^{-s} - x^{s+1}}{1-x}$$

$$Z = \frac{e^{s y} - e^{-(s+1)y}}{1-e^{-y}}$$

$$Z = \frac{e^{(s+1/2) y} - e^{-(s+1/2)y}}{e^{y/2}-e^{-y/2}}$$

$$Z = \frac{\sinh [(s + 1/2)y]}{\sinh(y/2)}$$

Find the average $$\overline{M_s}$$. Differentiate the equation with respect to $$y$$. Divide by $$Z$$.

$$\frac{dZ}{dy} = \sum_{M_s = -S}^{M_s = S} M_s e^{-M_s y}$$

$$\overline{M_s} = \frac{-d\ln Z}{dy}$$

$$\overline{M_s} = \frac{1}{Z} \sum_{M_s = -S}^{M_s = S} M_s e^{-M_s y}$$

Define a variable $$z$$.

$$z = Sy$$

$$z = \frac{g S \mu_B H}{k T}$$

$$Z = \frac{\sinh [z(2S + 1) / 2S]}{\sinh(z / 2S)}$$

$$S \frac{d \ln Z}{dz} = \frac{d \ln Z}{dy}$$

$$\frac{d \ln Z}{dy} = S [ ( \frac{2 S + 1}{2S} ) \frac{ \cosh [ z (2S+1)/2S]}{\sinh [ z (2S+1)/2S]} - \frac{1}{2S} \frac{ \cosh(z/2S)}{ \sinh(z/2S)} ] $$

$$S \frac{d \ln Z}{d z} = \overline{M_s}$$

Define Brillouin function

$$B_s = ( \frac{2 S + 1}{2S} ) \coth [ z (2S+1)/2S] - \frac{1}{2S} \coth(z/2S)$$

$$\overline{M_s} = -S B_s (z)$$

Find the statistical average for the magnetization per atom by taking the average of the magnetic moment and the use the result of the azimuthal quantum number.

$$M_p = n \overline{M_s}$$

$$M_p = -g \mu_B \overline{m_z}$$

$$M_p = n S g \mu_B B_s(z)$$

Consider $$M_f$$ to be the magnetization arising from ferromagnetic interactions. Below is an expression of the internal field at each site.

$$H_i = \gamma M_f$$

Below is the expression of the magnetization arising from ferromagnetic interactions. There is a replacement of $$x$$.

$$M_f = n S g \mu_B B_s (x)$$

$$x = S g \mu_B (H + \gamma M_f) / k T$$

Retain the first three terms in the expansion below and approximate the Brillouin function with an expression below.

$$\coth x = \frac{1}{x} + \frac{x}{3} - \frac{x^3}{45} - ...$$

$$B_s(x)=\frac{(S+1)}{3S} x - (\frac{1}{2s})^4 [(2s+1)^4 - 1] \frac{x^3}{45}$$

Put this result in the first expression below and use the definition of the Curie temperature.

$$M_f = n S f \mu_B B_s (x)$$

$$T_c = \frac{n \gamma}{3 k} S (S+1) (g \mu_B)^2$$

$$M_f = \frac{T_c}{T} (M_f + \frac{H}{\gamma} ) - K ( \frac{T_c}{T} )^3 (M_f + \frac{H}{\gamma} )^3$$

The term $$K$$ is a constant that can be readily evaluated from he definition of $$T_c$$. If the external field is zero, $$M_f$$ is the spontaneous magnetization $$M_f^s$$. Solve for $$M_f^s$$.

$$M_f^s = \frac{1}{K} ( \frac{T_c - T}{T} )^{1/2}$$

The experimental agreement is only approximate.

Part 3
Of what interest is this result?

The mean field theory correctly displays the Currie-Weiss law and the existence of a second-order ferromagnetic to paramagnetic transition

Response References

 * Girifalco, Louis A. Statistical Mehanics of Solids, Oxford University Press, New York, New York, 2000
 * Nagaosa, Naoto. Quantum Field Theory in Strongly Correlated Electronic Systems (Texts and Monographs in Physics), Iwanami Shoten, Publishers, Tokyo, 1998


text: User:Mondomunchies

title: User:Mondomunchies


text:
Problem solving

Introduction
How do you react when you think of "problems"? Do they mean something’s wrong? Do you see hours of your time disappearing in damage control and the search for a solution? Or are you an enduring optimist: problems are early warning signs to issues that need to be addressed. Perhaps your view is more pragmatic: problems simply signify differences between what is actually happening and what needs to happen.

Whichever way you look at problems, you would know from experience that problem solving requires good management. Excellent communication skills, the ability to gather relevant information and properly analyse it, the ability to discern what’s important and what’s not, and ability to actually make decisions, in a timely and appropriate fashion. How does your thinking and practice measure up?

An alternative, more complete course, on solving problems is also available on Wikiversity.

This unit is used in:
 * First Line Management
 * International Tourism

Learning support, assessment and certification
The following learning institutions offer learning support, assessment services, and accreditation for courses using this unit:
 * Otago Polytechnic in Dunedin, New Zealand offers both face to face and online support in this programme in the School of Business Travel and Tourism, through the (New Zealand) National Certificate in First Line Management.

Implement the solution
we can define a problem & provide possible solutions

title: Problem solving


text:
First Line Management

Are you in work and managing staff? If so you are in first line management. You can work to improve your management abilities by studying the units listed below.

Learning support and accreditation
The following formal learning institutions offer learning support for first line management, and may offer assessment and certification based on the units.
 * Otago Polytechic, New Zealand offers assessment of prior learning, as well as face to face and online learning support for study of the (New Zealand) National Certificate in First Line Management.

Content
Below is a list of units that have been brought together to cover the skills and knowledge needed for the role of a first line manager. We suggest you go through each unit that is linked from this list, and complete a project from each.

The units listed here are based on the New Zealand Qualifications Framework for First Line Management. We expect that these units have much in common with other national qualifications frameworks. If you wish to obtain a New Zealand Certificate in First Line Management you need to complete all of the units up to and including Problem Solving. Then you will need to complete at least two of the remaining units listed after Problem Solving.

Otherwise, please use this as an informative guide to improving management in your organisation, and please feel welcome to make edits and improvements or discuss any content presented here.

 * Time management - In Time Management you’ll consider the concept of time, its use, and mis-use in a typical workplace. You’re invited to examine your current time management practices and try a range of effective tips and techniques.
 * Business writing skills - In Business Writing Skills you will examine the principles of English grammar, punctuation and their everyday usage. This module will also uncover all the elements a writer needs to develop and maintain a good writing style.

 * Health & safety plan - Here the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992 and its 2003 amendment is examined to determine the responsibility for their implementation. You will also explore some ways of implementing health and safety requirements, as well as options to manage workplace emergencies.

 * Positive workplace relationships - In this module you’ll look at strategies to develop productive working relationships with staff and colleagues, and to minimise conflict situations. You’ll also examine employment contracts, social and community responsibilities and ethical behaviours.
 * Team building - In Team Building you’ll explore the principles and processes of team-building and the ways to consolidate and strengthen a team, as well as identifying team membership and leadership roles.
 * Managing conflict - Here you'll explore sources of interpersonal conflict and identify strategies to successfully resolve conflict situations. You'll also look at a model of negotiation as the management tool to get results.

 * Problem solving - In this unit you will look at the way to define, analyse and evaluate problems. You'll also explore the ways to successfully implement solutions, using a problem solving model as the management tool.

 * Performance monitoring & planning - You’ll examine performance management to determine the processes involved, the documentation required and what is needed from managers. You’ll also identify ways of giving feedback and consider some theories of motivation.
 * Analyse work content and identify work group needs - In this unit you’ll look at what factors contribute to the development of ‘work content’. You’ll be introduced to the complexities of competencies, the joys of job analysis and the place of position descriptions. You’ll consider how to use job analysis information to define workplace requirements, and also look at selection criteria - how they are best used and the benefits they bring.
 * Organisational principles - In this module you’ll identify the relationship between organisational principles and design and the achievement of organisational goals, along with different structures and the impact of internal and external factors. You’ll also consider the roles of managers in organisational design.
 * Managing workplace operations - Here you’ll identify the ways to supervise the production of goods, along with the factors that underlie the effective use of physical resources. Then you’ll consider the ways to monitor, measure and report on workplace operations.
 * Recruit and select staff - In this unit, you’ll look at what’s involved in planning for the recruitment and selection of staff. Then, you’ll consider how to recruit staff and the decisions that must be made about organisational requirements and the choice of media. The potential barriers to fair and equitable processes are also considered and you’ll be introduced to the steps involved in selecting staff.
 * Prepare and conduct staff selection interviews - In this unit, you’ll look at what documentation is required for staff selection procedures and you’ll identify the skills needed to advertise for and shortlist candidates for selection interviews. You’ll also consider what’s involved in conducting a selection interview as a first line manager.
 * Lead a team to complete routine and complex tasks - In this unit, you’ll look at what it takes to lead a team to complete routine and complex tasks. You’ll also consider what a manager needs to know and do, before beginning to lead a team’s activities. You’ll investigate teams, team building, team training and team tools. You’ll also look at management and leadership functions and management styles. All in all, you’ll discover what’s needed to successfully lead a team to complete its tasks on time.
 * Training & development - Here you’ll identify the components of training and development, including levels of need and competency. You’ll also examine some ways to establish and organise training and development requirements for individuals and teams, along with assessment options.
 * Prepare and implement a team project - Here you’ll look at what’s involved in scoping and planning a team project. You’ll also consider the ways to implement a project as a member of a project team. Of course, no action is complete without a review of progress, so finally you’ll look at how individual performance can be reviewed.
 * Demonstrate knowledge of change management - In this unit, you’ll identify the causes of change in a business operation and evaluate some models for managing change. You’ll also consider human resistance to change, see its personal impact on people and how it often manifests itself, as stress. You’ll also look at stress management techniques and discover how stress can be managed.

title: First Line Management


text:
Talk:Problem solving

=Is there enough information here?= --Hillaryj 02:18, 29 November 2006 (UTC)
 * We're getting there. I think this is a good page structure.--Leighblackall 12:44, 2 December 2006 (UTC)

Is the title problem solving too generic?--Hillgentleman|User talk 13:54, 2 December 2006 (UTC)

Xerox’s Problem-Solving Process
It may be helpful to discuss or reference the Xerox’s Problem-Solving Process. See, for example: https://mykmspace.wordpress.com/tag/xeroxs-problem-solving-process/ and for the original article see: https://hbr.org/1993/07/building-a-learning-organization Thanks! --Lbeaumont (discuss • contribs) 21:43, 20 February 2015 (UTC)

Kepner-Tregoe analysis
Consider describing or referencing Kepner-Tregoe analysis Thanks! --Lbeaumont (discuss • contribs) 21:54, 20 February 2015 (UTC)

Root cause analysis
Consider creating and including a related course, or module on Root cause analysis. Thanks! --Lbeaumont (discuss • contribs) 21:56, 20 February 2015 (UTC)

Problem Solving Tools
Consider including, discussing, or referencing a variety of Problem Solving Tools. Thanks! --Lbeaumont (discuss • contribs) 22:00, 20 February 2015 (UTC)

Can this yield to the more complete course on Solving Problems?
I notice this course has not been edited recently, and it is substantially incomplete. I recommend this be replaced by a redirect to the more complete course on Solving Problems. Please let me know your thoughts. Thanks --Lbeaumont (discuss • contribs) 15:56, 13 April 2022 (UTC)

title: Talk:Problem solving


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User:EncycloPetey

Visit my user page on Wiktionary for now. That's where I hang out as an administrator most of the time.

title: User:EncycloPetey


text:
Portal:Ecology

Welcome to the Wikiversity Department of Ecology.

Department description
The Department of Ecology is a Wikiversity content development project where participants create, organize and develop learning resources for ecology.

Ecology is the study of the interactions that determine the distribution and abundance of organisms. These interactions involve organisms and their environments.

The "topic" namespace contains pages that are for management and organization of small academic units at Wikiversity such as departments (see: Topics).

Department news

 * Date founded - Department founded!

Learning Projects
See: Learning Projects and the Learning model.

Learning materials and learning projects are located in the main Wikiversity namespace. Simply make a link to the name of the learning project (learning projects are independent pages in the main namespace) and start writing! We suggest the use of the learning project template (use "subst:Learning project boilerplate" on the new page, inside the double curved brackets – ).

Learning materials and learning projects can be used by multiple departments. Cooperate with other departments that use the same learning resource.

Remember, Wikiversity has adopted the "learning by doing" model for education. Lessons should center on learning activities for Wikiversity participants. We learn by doing.

Select a descriptive name for each learning project.

Sub-disciplines

 * /Relationships/
 * Topic:Community ecology
 * Topic:Behavioral ecology
 * Topic:Ecosystem ecology
 * Topic:Population ecology

Resources

 * Ecology
 * Ecology

title: Portal:Ecology


text: File:Timeplan CertIV Web.svg

title: File:Timeplan CertIV Web.svg


text:
User:Millionwaves

Millionwaves is a new user on Wikiversity. He's a Political Science major at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. Impressed by the fact that a site like this exists, he wishes to contribute.

title: User:Millionwaves


text:
User:Fubar

Postet hier gelegentlich.

Dieser Artikel entstand nur um das hässliche rot beim Beutzernamen wegzubekommen :-)

Posts here from time to time

The only reason for this page is to avoid the annoying red username :-)

wikipedia: Fubar (de) de:Benutzer:Fubar

title: User:Fubar


text:
Skeletal System

Skeletal System - a body system made up of bones, joints and connective tissues. Marrow - a soft tissue in the center of some bones. Cartilage - A strong, flexible, gel like tissue that cushions your joint. Tendons - Connect Muscles to bones. Ligaments - Connect Bones to Bones.
 * Connecting Parts

Your skeletal system allows you to move. There are 206 bones in the human body. A newborn has 350 bones.

What does the Skeletal System do?

 * Supports the body by providing a framework for the body.
 * Protects the internal organs. Example: The rib cage protects the heart and lungs.
 * Stores minerals needed by various systems in the body. Examples: Calcium and phosphorus.
 * Makes blood cells in the bone marrow.

Bones

 * Cranium - Skull; Keeps the brain protected.
 * Clavicle - Collarbone; Keeps the scapula in place/maintains structure for the shoulder and the upper body.
 * Sternum - Long, flat, bony plate which protects the heart, lungs and blood vessels.
 * Scapula - Shoulder Bone; Connects the lower part of the body to the top of the body/maintains structure for the upper body and shoulder (flat bone).
 * Humerus - Arm; The long bone connects the scapula to the lower part of the arm (the ulna and radius)/maintains structure for the upper arm.
 * Ulna - The bone that stores minerals and makes blood cells in the marrow/allows movement through the elbow and the wrist.
 * Radius - Paired up with the Ulna and accomadates with the rotation of the forearm. The ulna also performs this function. Also maintains structure for lower arm.
 * Ribs - The ribcage serves to protect the heart and lungs, supports the torso and performs respiration (flat bone).
 * Vertebrae - Spine/Backbone; 33 ring-shaped bones stacked on top of each other to make the spinal cord/protects the spinal cord and provides support for the upper body (types of vertebrae are irregular).
 * Pelvis - Hip; Protects the organs of the pelvic cavity and supports the hips, thighs, and abdomen (legs).
 * Carpals - Helps with the movement of the wrist.
 * Femur - Thigh; Supports the weight of the body and accommodates in leg motion/Longest and heaviest bone.
 * Patella - Kneecap; Covers/protects the anterior articular surface of the knee joint.
 * Fibula - Stables the ankles and helps out with the muscles of the lower leg.
 * Tibia - Biggest bone in the lower leg; Shin bone which helps with the distribution of weight across the knee to the ankle/supports lower leg.
 * Tarsals - Helps with the distribution of force from the tibia to the heel bone.
 * Phalanges - Bones in the fingers and toes.

Joints
A joint is the point where two bones meet. There are three types of joints: immobile, slightly mobile, and mobile joints.

Immobile
Examples: Cranium (skull): the fused bones covered by your scalp; coccyx (tailbone): the fused bones at the base of your spine.
 * Immobile joints are joints that don't move after an infant develops toward maturity, and the separate bones fuse together.

Slightly Immobile
Example: Between the vertebrae of the back. These joints are cushioned by a spongy disk that can break open and leak the shock-absorbing gel inside. Such a herniated, ruptured, or "slipped" disk can result in inflammation of surrounding tissues and varying levels of pain.
 * Slightly Immobile joints are joints that permit slight movement.

Mobile
Examples: Knees, shoulders, fingers. Over time, if mobile joints suffer wear or injury, the lubricating fluid between the bones becomes prone to the periodic accumulation of tiny gas bubbles. The popping of these bubbles when the joint is moved produces an audible "crack" or "creak". A great example of this is the annoying sound of "cracking your knuckles". Once the bubbles pop, it takes time for more bubbles to accumulate, which is why you cannot continuously crack your knuckles, and why many people hear their joints crack when they get out of bed or rise from a prolonged sitting position.
 * Mobile joints are joints that permit a wide range of movement.

Connective Tissues
Connective tissues are strong, flexible tissues that connect, secure, and cushion joints. There are three types: ligaments, tendons, and cartilage. Damage to or loss of connective tissue has a negative impact on the working of the joint, as well as causing varying levels of pain. Some injuries may require surgery to enable healing; for example, a third-degree sprain of the anterior cruciate ligament, better known as a "torn ACL", is a common knee injury often suffered by professional athletes and requires surgical treatment. Loss of connective tissue may also require surgical treatment or replacement.

 * Ligament: Connects the bones of a joint.
 * Tendon: Secures muscle to bone.
 * Cartilage: Cushions the bones of the joint.

Sprains/Diseases in relation with the Skeletal System
Fractures - A break in a bone caused by an injury. Dislocations - When a bone is pushed out of its joint. Sprain - Stretching or twisting of ligaments. (Full definition: Ligaments are short parts of tough, flexible connective tissues that connects two bones, or cartilages, or holds together a joint) Overuse - Injuries - occurs over time. Scoliosis - A disorder where the spine curves in a "C" or "S" like curve/shape. Osteoporosis - A disease where the bones are brittle.

Taking care of your skeletal system
A. Good Dairy products contain calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, and Vitamin D. These vitamins help with the strengthening of bones. B. Regular Exercise: Increases Bone Mass. C. Good Posture helps keep the spine healthy and in balance. D. Take time to heal: Wait for it to be completely healed before returning to physical activity. E. Use protective gear when doing physical activities, such as riding your bicycle.

title: Skeletal System