Argentina Essays (1061 words) - Demography, Population, Free Essays

Argentina Essays (1061 words) - Demography, Population, Free Essays Argentina For my case study on demographic transition Ive chosen the well-known country of Argentina, which is located in South America. I decided to conduct my study from 1936 to 1960. For this 25-year period I found all the statistical data which I need to actually complete population growth analysis. In the demographic transition model of Argentina we can see that the crude birth rate (CBR) is almost always double or higher then the crude death rate (CDR). This allows the natural rate of increase (NRI) to be higher than the CDR. NRI reflects how fast population is growing. In the demographic transition model of Argentinas CBR per 1000 (blue line) is the highest line relative to the origin. We can see that the line stays very steady from 1936 to 1943, at about 22 to 23 live birth per thousand. In 1944 we see a gradual increases of live birth per thousand. By 1946 the CBR is at one of it highest points. This line fluctuate from 24 to 25 per thousands range for approximately twelve years to 1956 until it gradual decrease to it original state, back to 22 per thousands. The ten to twelve years peak period of CBR helps to increases NRI for Argentina in the mid 40s and into the 50s. (We will see how this effects the NRI later) The CDR (pink line) is the lowest line in the model. In the beginning of the line (1936) we see the CDR start to rise and reach it highest point at 11 per thousand in 1938. From then on it stay steady at 10 per thousands for nine years. After 1948 we can see the line slowly decreasing to 8 per thousand by 1960. This slow drop in CDR also effected the NRI (which we will see later). Both CBR and CDR effect how well a country like Argentina population is growing both factors relate to the natural rate of increase. This is the middle line in the model (yellow line). The NRI is determined by subtracting the CBR by the CDR. In the model Argentinas CBR is fairly high and CDR is less than half of it. This allows the NRI line to stay between them. We can see from the model that the NRI starts to decrease from 1936 to 1938. This is happens because the CDR rises and the CBR remands steady. In 1938 the NRI reaches it lowest level at 11 per thousand. From that point on we see an increase of the NRI. NRI increase because of the growth in CBR and the slow decrease in CDR. The NRI reaches it highest point of 16 per thousand in 1950 and from than on decrease gradually. It gradually decreases because both CBR and CDR are also decreasing. By looking at NRI we see point of high population increase was from 1944 to 1956 this time period is better known as the baby boom. From the m odel we see that Argentinas NRI is in the middle range of population growth from 12 to 16 per thousand, which is 1.2 to 1.6 percent increase per year. Form the demographic transition model of Argentina I see no discernable pattern. But I do feel that by looking at the demographic transition model of Argentinas that it falls under the second stage of the model. This stage is where growth potential is realized and where CDR drops before CBR, which allow for rapid population growth. I also found it not to fit the pattern of the pioneer countries. The reason for this is that Argentina didnt keep fertility and the mortally level relatively low like the pioneers. We can see this by have the NRI over one percent. The demographic gap is the gap between the live birth rate and death rates in the demographic transition model. The larger the gap between lines (providing CBR is high the CDR) will determine the growth rate of a country. In my case study of Argentina as a developing country it imply that the future growth will remain relatively the same. The reason for this is that even though the CDR is dropping, death rates cant fall forever and it will eventually level off. Another

Stock Price and Information Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Stock Price and Information - Essay Example This will benefit existing shareholders.however; the potential new shareholders are not stupid. They will infer overvaluation from the new issue, thereby bidding down the stock price on the announcement date of the issue. So, for the information asymmetry stock price is raised.therefore, information affects stock price in many way. There is substantial evidence of short-term stock price continuation, which the prior literature often attributes to investor under reaction to new information. 1 By information uncertainty, it is meant that ambiguity with respect to the implications of new information for a firm's value, which potentially stems from two sources: The volatility of a firm's underlying fundamentals and poor information. Here, main hypothesis is that if investors under react to public information, they will under react even more in cases of greater information uncertainty. The testable implication is that greater information uncertainty about the impact of news on stock value leads to higher expected stock returns following good news but lower expected stock returns following bad news relative to the returns of stocks about which there is less information uncertainty. ... Several papers including Chan, Jegadeesh, and Lakonishok (1996) attribute price continuation to a gradual market response to information. Hirshleifer (2001) and Daniel, Hirshleifer, and Subrahmanyam (1998, 2001) posit that psychological biases are increased when there is more uncertainty. New information is public, easily categorized as good or bad, and occurs fairly frequently. There are six proxies for information uncertainty: Firm size, firm age, analyst coverage, dispersion in analyst forecasts, return volatility, and cash flow volatility.2 For each of the six proxies, greater information uncertainty leads to relatively lower future stock returns following bad news and relatively higher future returns following good news, suggesting that uncertainty delays the flow of information into stock prices. In other words, the market reaction to new information is relatively complete for low-uncertainty stocks, and there is little news-based return predictability. For high-uncertainty stocks, on the other hand, the market reaction is far from complete. Good news predicts relatively higher future returns and bad news predicts relatively lower future returns. This relation between information of uncertainty and future returns has used in prior empirical studies. Further assu rance that is missing risk factors does not drive the results by documenting a similar return pattern around subsequent earnings announcement dates. The opposite effects of information uncertainty on stock returns following good vs. bad news amplify the results of trading strategies. As a result, trading strategies that buy good-news stocks and short bad-news stocks work particularly well when limited to high-uncertainty stocks. For example, a momentum

3.1 reading report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

3.1 reading report - Essay Example Direct sales continue to be a growing phenomenon in all parts of the world. This is partly because of the intensity of competition between various manufacturing companies. It would be noted that marketing is the middle entity that comes between manufacturing and consumption (Krause, 2009). This means that if good and products that are produced are not marketed, they remain liabilities for their producers. But it has never been easy for producers to get their produces marketed because of competition. It is against this background that several companies have devised what may be described as non-orthodox means of marketing. This non-orthodox means is to get people who sell products on a face-to-face basis to consumers (Fox, 2008). As direct selling gained prominence, another component of it, which has to do with multi-level direct marketing, emerged. It is for the sake of the difference in approaches namely single-level and multi-level that researchers have often tried to investigate th e impact that these difference create. The study was conducted through a survey research design whereby the researcher formed a sample size from 22 different companies. The researcher proceeded to design a data collection instrument in the form of a questionnaire, with which data were collected from respondents by the use of mailed questionnaire. With the fact that the research design was influenced by survey, it means that the researcher was to generalize all data collected from respondents with the larger direct sales population within the setting of the research. The major managerial implications deducted from the study have to do with the trend of recruitment of marketers. This is because the study showed that the best group of population to take up single-level direct selling is people who would want to hook unto those jobs as permanent workers. For this reason, it is best to recruit young people who

Acc 556 Essay Example for Free

Acc 556 Essay Faculty and students/learners will be held responsible for understanding and adhering to all policies contained within the following two documents: †¢University policies: You must be logged into the student website to view this document. †¢Instructor policies: This document is posted in the Course Materials forum. University policies are subject to change. Be sure to read the policies at the beginning of each class. Policies may be slightly different depending on the modality in which you attend class. If you have recently changed modalities, read the policies governing your current class modality. Course Materials Louwers, T. J. , Ramsay, R. J. , Sinason, D. H. , Strawser, J. R. , Thibodeau, J. C. (2011). Auditing assurance services (4th ed. ). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Mulford, C. W. , Comiskey, E. E. (2002). The financial numbers game: Detecting creative accounting practices. New York, NY: John Wiley Sons. Silverstone, H. , Sheetz, M. (2007). Forensic accounting and fraud investigation for non-experts (2nd ed. ). Pearson. Singleton, T. W. , Singleton, A. J. (2010). Fraud auditing and forensic accounting (4th ed. ). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley Sons. Wells, J. (2011). Principles of fraud examination (3rd ed. ). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. All electronic materials are available on the student website. Supplemental Resources Apollo Shoes Casebook Web-Based Version http://highered. mcgraw-hill. com/sites/0078136644/student_view0/apollo_shoes_case. html Week One: Overview of Fraud and Abuse DetailsDuePoints Objectives1. 1Identify the impact of occupational fraud and abuse on the organization. 1. 2Describe U. S. governmental oversight of accounting fraud and abuse. 1. Define categories of corruption. 1. 4Assess the types of accounting evidence. ReadingRead the section â€Å"Fraud Examination Methodology† in Ch. 1 of Principles of Fraud Examination. ReadingRead Ch. 10 of Principles of Fraud Examination. ReadingRead Ch. 16 of Principles of Fraud Examination. ReadingRead Ch. 4 of The Financial Numbers Game. ReadingRead Ch. 11 of Fraud Auditing and Forensic Accounting. ParticipationParticipate in class discus sion. See Policies2 Discussion QuestionsRespond to weekly discussion questions. DQ1 – Day 2 DQ2 – Day 4 DQ3 – Day 62 Individual Internal Accountant’s Report to ManagementYou are the internal accountant at a company that is preparing for an upcoming government contract bid. The management in your company is deciding if it is necessary for the company to perform a full financial status review prior to the bid. As an internal accountant, prepare a report for management that provides supporting information for a full financial status review prior to the bid. Write a paper of no more than 1,050 words that includes the following sections: †¢Section I: The effect of occupational fraud and abuse on the company †¢Section II: U. S. overnmental oversight of accounting fraud and abuse and its effect on the company †¢Section III: Potential corruption schemes to be aware of in the company †¢Section IV: Recommendation of types of accounting evidence and methods of gathering such evidence to support the financial status review Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines. Day 714 Week Two: Fore nsic Evidence DetailsDuePoints Objectives2. 1Explain procedures for collecting accounting evidence. 2. 2Explain the use of sampling in performing an examination. 2. 3Evaluate accounting evidence using analytical and inferential tools. ReadingRead Ch. of Forensic Accounting and Fraud Investigation for Non-Experts. ReadingRead Ch. 9 of Forensic Accounting and Fraud Investigation for Non-Experts. ReadingRead Ch. 10 of Forensic Accounting and Fraud Investigation for Non-Experts. ReadingRead Ch. 11 of Forensic Accounting and Fraud Investigation for Non-Experts. ReadingRead Ch. 12 of Forensic Accounting and Fraud Investigation for Non-Experts. ReadingRead Module E of Auditing Assurance Services. ReadingRead Module F of Auditing Assurance Services. ReadingRead Module G of Auditing Assurance Services. ReadingRead the Apollo Shoes Casebook Road Map. ReadingReview the Apollo Shoes Casebook. ParticipationParticipate in class discussion. See Policies1. 5 Discussion QuestionsRespond to weekly discussion questions. DQ1 – Day 2 DQ2 – Day 4 DQ3 – Day 61. 5 Individual Procedures in Collecting Forensic EvidenceAs corporate controller for Apollo Shoes, you are tasked to find and explain any irregularities in the Apollo Shoes Case. Resource: Apollo Shoes Casebook Define the process you will use and address the following questions: †¢What procedures will you use to collect accounting evidence? †¢What sampling tools and techniques will you use for the examination? How will you use analytical and inferential tools to evaluate accounting evidence? Submit your assignment to the facilitator. Note. APA formatting is not required for this assignment. Use a title and reference page where appropriate. Consider using a checklist or flowchart to outline your process. Day 78 Learning Team Weekly ReflectionDiscuss this wee k’s objectives with your team. Your discussion should include the topics you feel comfortable with, any topics you struggled with, and how the weekly topics relate to application in your field. Prepare a 350- to 1,050-word paper detailing the findings of your discussion. Day 71 Week Three: Substantive Procedures for Cash Outflow Irregularities DetailsDuePoints Objectives3. 1Design substantive procedures for detecting irregularities in cash. 3. 2Design substantive procedures for detecting irregularities in accounts payable. 3. 3Design substantive procedures for detecting irregularities in payroll. ReadingsRead Ch. 2 of Principles of Fraud Examination. ReadingsRead Ch. 3 of Principles of Fraud Examination. ReadingsRead Ch. 5 of Principles of Fraud Examination. ReadingsRead Ch. 6 of Principles of Fraud Examination. ReadingsRead Ch. 7 of Principles of Fraud Examination. ReadingsRead Ch. of Principles of Fraud Examination. ReadingsRead the sections â€Å"Audit Programs† â€Å"Audit Procedures for Obtaining Audit Evidence† in Ch. 3 of Auditing Assurance Services. ReadingsReview the Apollo Shoes Casebook. ParticipationParticipate in class discussion. See Policies1. 5 Discussion QuestionsRespond to weekly discussion questions. DQ1 – Da y 2 DQ2 – Day 4 DQ3 – Day 61. 5 Individual CPA Examination ReviewResource: Week Three Student Guide Access the Wiley CPA Examination Review website from the link on the student website. Use the Week Three Student Guide to complete the Wiley CPA Examination assignment. Day 72 Learning Team Substantive Procedures for Cash Outflow IrregularitiesResource: Apollo Shoes Casebook Outline substantive procedures by using the Apollo Shoes Casebook for detecting irregularities in each of the following audit cycles: †¢Cash †¢Accounts payable †¢Payroll Design an audit program for the cycle in no more than 1,050 words. Consider using a checklist or flowchart to outline your process. Format your audit program consistent with APA guidelines. Day 712 Week Four: Substantive Procedures for Cash Asset Irregularities DetailsDuePoints Objectives4. 1Design substantive procedures for detecting irregularities in accounts receivable. 4. Design substantive procedures for detecting inventory irregularities. 4. 3Design substantive procedures for detecting irregularities in fixed assets. ReadingsRead Ch. 4 of Principles of Fraud Examination. ReadingsRead Ch. 9 of Principles of Fraud Examination. ReadingsRead Ch. 7 of The Financial Numbers Game: Detecting Creative Accounting Practice s. ReadingsReview the Apollo Shoes Casebook. ParticipationParticipate in class discussion. See Policies1. 5 Discussion QuestionsRespond to weekly discussion questions. DQ1 – Day 2 DQ2 – Day 4 DQ3 – Day 61. 5 Learning Team Substantive Procedures for Asset IrregularitiesResource: Apollo Shoes Casebook Outline substantive procedures by using the Apollo Shoes Casebook for detecting irregularities in each of the following audit cycles: †¢Accounts receivable †¢Inventory †¢Fixed assets Design an audit program for the cycle in no more than 1,050 words. Consider using a checklist or flowchart to outline your process. Format your audit program consistent with APA guidelines. Day 711 Week Five: Financial Statement Fraud DetailsDuePoints Objectives5. 1Analyze the relationship between financial accounting principles and fraud. 5. 2Analyze schemes used in financial statement fraud. ReadingsRead Ch. 11 of Principles of Fraud Examination. ReadingsRead Ch. 12 of Principles of Fraud Examination. ReadingsReview the Apollo Shoes Casebook. ParticipationParticipate in class discussion. See Policies1. 5 Discussion QuestionsRespond to weekly discussion questions. DQ1 – Day 2 DQ2 – Day 4 DQ3 – Day 61. 5 Individual Financial Statement Fraud SchemesYou are the investigator assigned to Apollo Shoes. Based on the nature of the company and the evidence provided to you, you must determine which financial statement fraud schemes would likely be present in the company. Resource: Apollo Shoes Casebook Identify potential financial statement fraud schemes by using the Apollo Shoes Casebook. Describe the types of evidence you would look for to determine whether fraud is occurring. Write a business brief of no more than 1,050 words that outlines how you will use the substantive procedures discussed in Weeks Three and Four to analyze potential schemes. Format your business brief consistent with APA guidelines. Day 720 Learning Team Weekly ReflectionDiscuss this week’s objectives with your team. Your discussion should include the topics you feel comfortable with, any topics you struggled with, and how the weekly topics relate to application in your field. Prepare a 350- to 1,050-word paper detailing the findings of your discussion. Day 71 Week Six: Examination Reporting DetailsDuePoints Objective6. 1Create documentation to present investigation findings. ReadingsRead Ch. 13 of Forensic Accounting and Fraud Investigation for Non-Experts. ReadingsRead the section â€Å"Attestation Engagements† in Module A of Auditing Assurance Services. ParticipationParticipate in class discussion. See Policies2 Discussion QuestionsRespond to weekly discussion questions. DQ1 – Day 2 DQ2 – Day 4 DQ3 – Day 62 Individual CPA Examination ReviewResource: Week Six Student Road Map Access the Wiley CPA Examination Review website from the link on the student website. Use the Week Six Student Guide to complete the Wiley CPA Examination assignment. Day 72 Individual Report on Financial Statement Fraud SchemeResource: Ch. 12 of Principles of Fraud Examination Choose one of the following financial fraud scheme cases from Ch. 12 of Principles of Fraud Examination. (You may also choose a fraud scheme case that is not in the text, with instructor approval. ) †¢Case Study: That Way Lies Madness †¢Case Study: The Importance of Timing †¢Case Study: All on the Surface Write a letter or memo in no more than 1,050 words to the organization’s management and communicate the examination findings explained in the case. Refer to this week’s assigned readings for assistance with formatting a letter or memo to management. Include the following in your letter or memo: †¢A summary of the matter under investigation †¢The scope of the examination †¢A summary of conclusions †¢The factors that aided the examination †¢The limitations on the examination Format your assignment consistent with APA guidelines. Day 78 Learning Team Weekly ReflectionDiscuss this week’s objectives with your team. Your discussion should include the topics you feel comfortable with, any topics you struggled with, and how the weekly topics relate to application in your field. Prepare a 350- to 1,050-word paper detailing the findings of your discussion. Day 71 Copyright University of Phoenix ® is a registered trademark of Apollo Group, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. Microsoft ®, Windows ®, and Windows NT ® are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. All other company and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Use of these marks is not intended to imply endorsement, sponsorship, or affiliation. Edited in accordance with University of Phoenix ® editorial standards and practices.

The Enron Implosion and the Loss of Respect for the Accounting Professi

The Enron Implosion and the Loss of Respect for the Accounting Profession On the surface, the motives behind decisions and events leading to Enron’s downfall appear simple enough: individual and collective greed born in an atmosphere of market euphoria and corporate arrogance. Hardly anyone—the company, its employees, analysts or individual investors—wanted to believe the company was too good to be true. So, for a while, hardly anyone did. Many kept on buying the stock, the corporate mantra and the dream. In the meantime, the company made many high-risk deals, some of which were outside the company’s typical asset risk control process. Many went sour in the early months of 2001 as Enron’s stock price and debt rating imploded because of loss of investor and creditor trust. Methods the company used to disclose its complicated financial dealings were all wrong and downright deceptive. The company’s lack of accuracy in reporting its financial affairs, followed by financial restatements disclosing billions of dollars of omitted liabilities and losses, contributed to its downfall. The whole affair happened under the watchful eye of Arthur Andersen LLP, which kept a whole floor of auditors assigned at Enron year-round. In 1985, after federal deregulation of natural gas pipelines, Enron was born from the merger of Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth, a Nebraska pipeline company. In the process of the merger, Enron incurred a lot of debt and, as the result of deregulation, no longer had exclusive rights to its pipelines. In order to survive, the company had to come up with a new and innovative business strategy to generate profits and cash flow. Kenneth Lay, CEO, hired McKinsey & Co. to assist in developing Enron’s business strategy. It assigned Jeffrey Skilling to the task. Skilling, who had a background in banking and asset and liability management, proposed a revolutionary solution to Enron’s credit, cash, and profit worries in the gas pipeline business: create a â€Å"gas bank† in which Enron would buy gas from a network of suppliers and sell it to a network of consumers, contractually guaranteeing both the supply and the price, charging fees for the transactions and assuming the associated risks. Thanks to the young consultant, the company created both a new product and a new paradigm for the industry—the energy derivative. Lay was so impressed with Skilling’s ... ... excellence stand in satirical contrast to allegations now being made public. Personally, I had referred several of our best and brightest accounting, finance and MBA graduates to Enron, hoping they could gain valuable experience from seeing things done right. These included a very bright training consultant who had lost her job in 2000 with a Houston consulting firm as a result of a reduction in force. She has lost her second job in 18 months through no fault of her own. Other former students still hanging on at Enron face an uncertain future as the company fights for survival. The old saying goes, â€Å"Lessons learned hard are learned best.† Some former Enron employees are embittered by the way they have been treated by the company that was once â€Å"the best in the business.† Others disagree. In the words of one of my former students who is still hanging on: â€Å"Just for the record, my time and experience at Enron have been nothing short of fantastic. I could not have asked for a better place to be or better people to work with. Please, though, remember this: Never take customer and employee confidence for granted. That confidence is easy to lose and tough—to impossible—to regain.†

Wise Blood by Flannery O’Connor

Introduction to Wise Blood by Flannery O’Connor by Karen L. Enz Though a short novel, Wise Blood is a dense and complicated one with various levels of meaning. Many readers are confused and shocked by the novel as there is a distinct lack of likeable characters and there is much violence. A key element in understanding the novel’s construction and meaning is to understand the literary influences on Flannery O’Connor. Flannery O’Connor was deeply influenced by Roman Catholicism that informed her own religious sensibility which echoed in her literary voice.Her religious views envisioned a deeply flawed world that could only be redeemed by the intercession of grace. Her Southern origins brought that vision into high relief with her use of casts of grotesque characters who were often involved in violent incidents. She subjected her characters to microscopic evaluation of their religious and existential obsessions. To lighten its dark tone, Flannery O’Co nnor utilized her masterful satiric wit to increase the spectrum of the colors in her literary canvass.A second influence was O’Connor’s intense exposure to the predominant literary style, New Criticism, which was at its apex during the middle of the twentieth century. New Criticism was a complicated formulaic style that often utilized dense symbolism, paradox, irony, tension and ambiguous meaning, all hallmarks of O’Connor’s writing. New Criticism also professed that a work was to have a high degree of unity and self-containment. If we see Wise Blood through both O’Connor’s religious sensibility and its permeation in New Criticism, the structure and meaning of the novel fall more easily into place.Haze Motes, (note the symbolism of his name hazy vision and mote in the eye) is a the epitome of the religiously obsessed individual. The more he professes unbelief, the more unsure and shortsighted he becomes. The ultimate paradox occurs in his b linding, when he finally realizes his need for redemption. The text is rife with symbolism, much of it religious. The sky is permeated with clouds that look like a simplified God’s beards and curls, roadside pigs that are symbols of the devil, a shrunken man who was a symbol a false idol, an old Essex which was symbolic of a search for meaning and homecoming, and glasses that obscure vision.Some critics see the novel as a condemnation of modernity in its cult of shallow self-absorption and nihilistic pursuits. Haze is so focused on his pursuit of unbelief that he fails to see anything around him, including the needs of Enoch (who is driven by instinct â€Å"wise blood†) and Sabbath. A satiric note is sounded in Chapter 7, which can serve as a microcosm of the novel, when Sabbath receives a letter from Mary Brittle (note the symbolic nature of the name) who advises Sabbath â€Å" Perhaps you ought to re-examine your religious values to see if they meet your needs in Li fe.A religious experience can be a beautiful addition to living if you put it a proper perspective and do not let it warp you. Read some books on Ethical Culture. † Sabbath, though she is trying to seduce Haze, can be seen as a Christ figure in that mentions â€Å"I can save you, I got a church in my heart where Jesus is king. † Haze is unconvinced and he drives off leaving behind a blinding white cloud that turns into a bird with long wings that disappears in the opposite direction. Wise Blood is a complicated and multi-faceted novel that is not for the faint of heart. For those who can plumb the novel’s meaning, it can challenge and inform.

What Is Philosophy - A Brief Introduction

Literally, it means â€Å"love of wisdom.† But, really, philosophy begins in wonder. Thus taught most of the major figures of ancient philosophy, including Plato, Aristotle, and the Tao Te Ching. And it ends in wonder too, when philosophical taught has done its best – as A.N. Whitehead once suggested. So, what characterizes philosophical wonder? How to achieve it? How to approach reading and writing philosophy, and why studying it? Philosophy as an Answer To some, philosophy’s goal is a systematic worldview. You are a philosopher when you can find a place to any fact, in heaven or earth. Philosophers have indeed provided systematic theories of history, justice, the State, the natural world, knowledge, love, friendship: you name it. Engaging in philosophical thinking is, under this perspective, like putting in order your own room to receive a guest: anything should find a place and, possibly, a reason for being where it is. Philosophical Principles Rooms are organized according to basic criteria: Keys stay in the basket, Clothing should never be scattered unless in use, All books should sit on the shelves unless in use. Analogously, systematic philosophers have key principles around which to structure a worldview. Hegel, for instance, was well known for his three-steps dialectic: thesis-antithesis-synthesis (although he never used these expressions). Some principles are specific to a branch. Like the Principle of Sufficient Reason: â€Å"Everything must have a reason† - which is specific to metaphysics. A controversial principle in ethics is the Principle of Utility, invoked by so-called consequentialists: â€Å"The right thing to do is the one that produces the greatest amount of good.† Theory of knowledge centers around the Epistemic Closure Principle: â€Å"If a person knows that A and A entails B, then that person knows that B as well.† The Wrong Answers? Is systematic philosophy doomed to failure? Some believe so. For one, philosophical systems have done lots of damage. For example, Hegel’s theory of history was used to justify racist politics and nationalistic States; when Plato tried to apply the doctrines exposed in The Republic to the city of Syracuse, he faced sheer failure. Where philosophy has not done damages, it nonetheless at times spread false ideas and spurred useless debates. Thus, an exaggerated systematic approach to the theory of souls and angels led to ask questions such as: â€Å"How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?† Philosophy as an Attitude Some take a different route. To those, the gist of philosophy lies not in the answers, but in the questions. Philosophical wonder is a methodology. It does not matter which topic comes under discussion and what we make of it; philosophy is about the stance we take towards it. Philosophy is that attitude which brings you to question even what’s most obvious. Why are there spots on the surface of the moon? What creates a tide? What is the difference between a living and a non-living entity? Once upon a time, these were philosophical questions, and the wonder from which they emerged was a philosophical wonder. What Does It Take to Be a Philosopher? Nowadays most philosophers are found in the academic world. But, certainly, one does not have to be a professor in order to be a philosopher. Several key figures in the history of philosophy did something else for a living. Baruch Spinoza was an optician; Gottfried Leibniz worked – among other things – as a diplomatic; David Hume’s main employments were as a tutor and as a historian. Thus, whether you have a systematic worldview or the right attitude, you may aspire to be called ‘philosopher’. Beware though: the appellation may not always carry a good reputation! The Queen of Sciences? Classic systematic philosophers – such as Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Hegel – boldly affirmed that philosophy grounds all other sciences. Also, among those who see philosophy as a method, you find many who regard it as the chief source of knowledge. Is philosophy really the queen of sciences? Granted, there was a time in which philosophy vested the role of protagonist. Nowadays, however, it may sound exaggerated to regard it as such. More modestly, philosophy may seem to provide valuable resources for thinking about fundamental questions. This is reflected, for instance, in the growing popularity of philosophical counseling, philosophical cafà ©s, and in the success that philosophy majors seem to enjoy on the job market. Which Branches for Philosophy? The deep and multifarious relationship that philosophy bears to other sciences is clear by taking a look at its branches. Philosophy has some core areas: metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, aesthetics, logic. To these should be added an indefinite amount of branches. Some that are more standard: political philosophy, philosophy of language, philosophy of mind, philosophy of religion, philosophy of science. Others that are domain specific: philosophy of physics, philosophy of biology, philosophy of food, philosophy of culture, philosophy of education, philosophical anthropology, philosophy of art, philosophy of economics, legal philosophy, environmental philosophy, philosophy of technology. The specialization of contemporary intellectual research has affected the queen of wonder too.