Carlo Ginzburgs Night Battles vs. Keith Tomas Religion and the Declin

Carlo Ginzburg's Night Battles vs. Keith Thomas' Religion and the Decline of Magic Carlo Ginzburg’s Night Battles depicts the relationships that existed concerning magic and the use of witchcraft as they where believed by both the popular and the elite concerning the benandanti in the Italian area of Friuli. Keith Thomas’ Religion and the Decline of Magic does a similar thing except his subject area is in the whole of England and includes more information and examples of the beliefs and practices of the English. Both the English account and the account of the Friuli benandanti have several similarities that exist between the two as well as some distinct differences. The differences between the two groups are shown by the way the common and elite treat the situation and the way that the two separate situations changed over time both sharing some characteristics while having other characteristics being different the same in the two areas. In England the role of magic was not one that encompassed the devil or evil in the mind of the popular belief. Magic, on the other contrary, is used properly and for positive purposes could be a good thing. People would tell that they had or wanted to visit a cunning man, someone that uses magic to find lost objects, in order to find out certain information or to reveal who had stolen from them. This practice was not frowned upon by popular opinion. This acceptance of the proclamation of the use of a cunning man shows the public acceptance of magic if used in the right form; as well as the popular opinion that a cunning man was not someone to be feared or despised.1 On the contrary, the cunning man was someone who could help you through magical means in order that you might... ...he desire of the elite to hunt witches and the court system set up that will benefit witch-hunting. These two separate places have two different kinds of magic that are treated in two separate ways by the elite and popular people of the area. 1. Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic (New York: Oxford University Press, 1971), 221. 2. Thomas, 505. 3. Thomas, 516. 4. Thomas, 437. 5. Carlo Ginzburg, The Night Battles (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1966), 1. 6. Ginzburg, 69-70. 7. Thomas, 226. 8. Thomas, 200. 9. Ginzburg, 71. 10. Ginzburg, 72. 11. Thomas, 453. 12. Ginzburg, 100-101. 13. Ginzburg, 81. Bibliography Ginzburg, Carlo. The Night Battles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1966. Thomas, Keith. Religion and the Decline of Magic. New York: Oxford University Press, 1971.

Ethical Decisions in the Ford Pinto Case Essay

In 1972 the national highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) put a price on life – $200 725 (adjusted for inflation). The Ford Motor Company used this data along with other statistical studies to determine the cost benefit of improving the safety of the Ford Pinto compared to the cost of loss of life. It was determined that the cost of the suggested improvements outweighed their benefits. This essay aims to address whether cost-benefit analysis is a legitimate tool and what role, if any, it should play in moral deliberation, especially when placing a monetary value on a human life. It also questions what responsibilities Ford had to its customers and what moral rights were in operation, as well as whether it would have made a difference if Ford customers knew about the decision. Discussion Cost-Benefit Analysis, is a systematic process for calculating and comparing benefits and costs of a project for two purposes; firstly to determine if it is a sound investment (justification/feasibility and secondly, to see how it compares with alternate projects (ranking/priority assignment). It works by first defining the project and any alternatives; then identifying, measuring, and valuing the benefits and costs of each. (Benefit-cost analysis, 2007) The variables employed in Fords cost-benefit analysis were; the cost of making the safety changes to millions of vehicles, the statistics quoting quantity of deaths, injuries and vehicle damage , and lastly and most controversially, the total per fatality quoted by the NHTSA, being $200,275. The latter value is what is being questioned. What is the cost of a life? Can one even put a cost on a life? The Ford motor company factored the cost of life into the decision that safety improvements outweighed their benefits. Based on the above definition, however, cost benefit analysis was a legitimate tool, but for financial decisions only. If Ford had taken a utilitarian approach to the cost benefit analysis a better moral decision might have been made. Utilitarianism is the moral doctrine that we should always act to produce the greatest possible balance of good over bad for everyone affected by our actions (Shaw, 2009). The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few† – Spock It has also been defined as; firstly, the doctrine that actions are right if they are useful or for the benefit of a majority, and secondly, the doctrine that an action is right insofar as it promotes happiness, and that the greatest happiness of the greatest number should be the guiding principle of conduct. (dictionary. com) Fords actions could be viewed as morally correct if argued that they benefited more people by offering cheap vehicle and increasing shareholders profits, than the few people that were killed or injured. But arguing that producing the greatest possible balance of good over bad for everyone affected by our actions(Shaw, 2009) Fords decision was morally wrong because the benefits and resulting happiness of people benefitting by their decision to sell precariously unsafe vehicles would pale in comparison to the unhappiness caused by a death. As was the case, many shareholders benefitted to the detriment of a few people. So the central question is; what is the value of a human life and can it be measured extrinsically as used in the analysis. Ford met their obligation to shareholders by focussing only on financial variables, but failed in its responsibility to customers in two ways; they neglected to factor in to their analysis the intrinsic value of human life and the impact to the many of their decisions, they also failed to inform customers of the nature of the defect which would most certainly have impacted consumer behaviour. The consumer’s right to life as well as their right to making informed decisions were undermined. If Ford had not neglected to inform their customers of the defect and thus allowed the customers to make informed decisions with regards to their products, the risk associated with the defect would have passed from Ford to the customer. Had the consumer been correctly informed, they would become responsible for any results stemming from the decision to purchase the vehicle, regardless of whether the cost savings had been passed on to them or not. Conclusion Cost-benefit analysis is a legitimate financial tool. As a tool for morality it is useful but flawed as a measure of assigning a value to human life and suffering. Ford had a responsibility to it customers to protect their interests or share information with them to protect their own (the consumers) interests, particularly the most important interest; their right to life. It would not have made a moral difference if Ford had passed the savings onto their consumers, as they would have encroached on their customer right to life and their right to make an informed decision.

Definition and Examples of Terms of Address

A term of address is a word, phrase, name, or title (or some combination of these) used to address someone in writing or while speaking. Terms of address are also known as address terms or forms of address. Nicknames, pronouns, pejoratives, and terms of endearment all qualify. Key Takeaways: Terms of Address A term of address is any word, phrase, name, or title used to address another person.Terms of address may be formal (Doctor, The Honorable, His Excellence) or informal (honey, dear, you). Formal terms of address are often used to recognize academic or professional accomplishments, while informal terms of address are often used to show affection. A term of address may be friendly (dude, sweetheart), unfriendly (You idiot!), neutral (Jerry, Marge), respectful (Your honor), disrespectful (buddy, said with sarcasm), or comradely (My friends). Although a term of address commonly appears at the beginning of a sentence, as in Doctor, Im not convinced that this treatment is working, it may also be used between phrases or clauses. For example: Im not convinced, doctor, that this treatment is working. Related terms include  direct address,  vocative, and  honorific. Direct address is just what it sounds like. The speaker is talking directly to the person mentioned, as in the above conversation with the doctor. A vocative is the term of address used, such as the word doctor in the previous example. An honorific is a term used to show respect and comes before a name, such as Mr., Ms., the Reverend, the Honorable, and the like, as in, Mr. Smith, Ms. Jones, the Reverend Christian, and the judge, the Honorable J.C. Johnson. In formal contexts, terms of address may sometimes be used to indicate that a person has more power or authority than another. In those cases, terms of address can be used to show respect for or submission to another. Formal Terms of Address Formal terms of address are typically used in professional contexts such as academia, government, medicine, religion, and the military. In the United States, common examples include: Professor: Used to address a member of a school or universitys faculty.His/Her Excellency: Used to address the ambassadors of foreign governments.The Honorable: Used to address American ambassadors along with U.S. judges and justices.His/Her Royal Highness: Used to address members of a royal family, including British princes and princesses.Doctor: Used to address a physician who has obtained a medical degree or someone with a Ph.D.Captain: Used to address U.S. naval commanders regardless of rank; any officer who has been placed in charge of a vessel may be addressed this way.His Holiness: Used to address both the Pope of the Catholic Church and the Dalai Lama. Most formal titles, both in speaking and writing, precede a persons name. Those that follow a name include the honorary Esquire and academic suffixes that indicate possession of a degree, such as John Smith, Ph.D. Members of religious orders also use suffixes, such as John Smith, O.F.M., which indicates membership in the Ordo Fratrum Minorum (the Order of Friars Minor). Informal Forms of Address Informal terms of address are used outside of professional contexts and include terms such as nicknames, pronouns, and terms of endearment. Unlike professional forms of address, which are typically used to recognize a persons authority or accomplishments, informal terms of address are typically used to express affection or closeness. In the United States, common examples include: Honey: Used to show affection for a romantic partner or child.Dear: Used to show affection for a romantic partner or close friend.Babe/Baby: Used to show affection for a romantic partner.Bud/Buddy: Used to show affection for a close friend or child (sometimes used in a pejorative sense). In English, informal titles are sometimes used to show respect. Unlike formal titles, these do not indicate any level of professional or educational accomplishment: Mr.: Used to address both married and unmarried men.Mrs.: Used to address married women.Miss: Used to address unmarried women and girls.Ms.: Used to address women when marital status is unknown. The simple pronoun you can also be used as a term of address, i.e. Hey you, hows it going? In English, you is always informal. Some other languages, however, use multiple pronouns, each indicating a certain degree of formality. Japanese, for example, has many different pronouns that can be used between people depending on their relationship, and Spanish has both familiar and formal pronouns used as terms of address. Historically, terms of address have been used to emphasize class differences between those who have power and those who do not. The asymmetric use of names and  address terms  is often a clear indicator of a power differential, writes linguist Ronald Wardhaugh: School classrooms are almost universally good examples;  John  and  Sally  are likely to be children and  Miss  or  Mr. Smith  to be teachers. For a long time in the southern states of the United States, whites used naming and addressing practices to put blacks in their place. Hence the odious use of  Boy  to address black males. The asymmetric use of names also was part of the system. Whites addressed blacks by their first names in situations which required them to use titles, or titles and last names if they were addressing whites. There was a clear racial distinction in the process. Sources Straus, Jane. The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation: the Mysteries of Grammar and Punctuation Revealed. John Wiley Sons, 2006.Wardhaugh, Ronald. Understanding English Grammar: a Linguistic Approach. Blackwell, 2007.