Abstract
This paper examines Renee Descartes' "Meditations", and explains that within this writing, he justifies his faith in reason by a circuitous route. The paper explains that Descartes accomplishes this by first raising all of the epistemological doubts of skeptics - and then vindicating his faith in reason by advancing an argument for trusting certain aspects of our rationality. In the process, as far as he is concerned, he manages to: ... "tear down everything and begin anew from the foundations [in order to] ... establish ... firm and lasting knowledge". The paper then goes on to argue that contrary to establishing his faith in reason, to a very large extent, the new foundation that Descartes erects, and pins his firm knowledge on, is his certainty of the existence of God.

Tags:descartes, knowledge, god

Abstract
This paper first looks at the limitations of franchising the Embassy Suites Hotels corporation. Then, the paper shows a long list of items on the corporation's Uniform Franchise Offering Circular, or UFOC and explains and details as to what exactly they might mean for the prospective franchisee and hotel owner. Finally, a conclusion is made, based upon the proposed relationship and financial benefits and liabilities, including the sources that have been studied.

From the Paper
"This paper will discuss and dissect the issue of the limitations of the Embassy Suites Hotels corporation's franchise program and its Uniform Franchise Offering Circular (UFOC). This document is one that is offered up to potential owners and purchasers of franchises at least ten days before said purchase. The purpose of this circular is to best educate and inform potential franchisees of this, or any, hotel corporation just what limitations there are within said corporation and what liabilities these limitations might pose for franchisees and their franchises. The second section will discuss the various items that a franchisor is required to divulge in the UFOC and these items will be studied on the current UFOC from Embassy Suites Hotels. The first set of items to be listed on the Embassy Suites UFOC are those numbered 1 through 4."

Tags:hotel, franchise, management

Abstract
This paper analyzes Tennyson's poem "The Lady of Shalott" according to Plato's philosophy of mimesis, and the deceiving nature of poetry. The paper ultimately determines Plato's philosophy to be circular in that it predetermines the interpretation of poetry.

From the Paper
"In his philosophical texts Ion and The Republic, Plato expresses his disdain for the lack of original thought and truth in poetic expression. Giving it the label mimesis, or imitation, he dismisses poetry from his ideal State, insisting that it leads to false knowledge. It attempts to copy truths, but perverts these truths by appealing to the sensuous faculties of the mind, rather than the reasoning faculty. He concludes that poets do not create but imitate, thus their imitations do not necessarily correspond to truth. As a result of poetry's distance from truth, Plato deduces that poetry leads to the miseducation of youth, teaching them bad characteristics and habits. Ultimately, they will develop into bad citizens. Plato's philosophy of poetry, however, affects the interpretations of poems, almost forcing them to assume a negative meaning that may not necessarily exist. Alfred Tennyson's poem "The Lady of Shalott" demonstrates this change in meaning when interpreted according to Plato's philosophy, transforming the solution of the problem presented in the poem. Instead of pointing towards literature as a way to escape solitary isolation, insanity serves as the only solace from isolation. This change in the interpretation directly results from Plato's establishment of poetry as an unreliable source of truth, which further results in proving Plato's notion that poetry promotes characteristics which negatively affect the well-being of the State. In the case of the Tennyson poem, insanity presents itself as the only solution to overcoming isolation. This interpretation of the poem emerges after assuming that the poem does not aim at truth. Thus, Plato makes poetry harmful to the State through his own notion that poetry betrays truth."

Tags:mimesis, philosophy, poetry, truth, betrayal

Abstract
This paper explains that Rene Descartes used doubt to prove his beliefs to be true as presented in his most famous work "Meditations on First Philosophy" in which he enters into his most radical phase of methodological doubt when he introduces his evil genius hypothesis. The author points out that Descartes uses the evil genius hypothesis to help illustrate his total abandonment of his old beliefs, but he does not start at scratch when he tears down his thoughts; he decides to adopt the opposite of the ones he held before he started his experiment. The paper relates that Descartes proves the existence of God by deciding that everything he clearly and distinctly perceives as true must be certain because having ascertained that he exists and that he is a thinking thing.

From the Paper
"There is however, the difficulty raised with the case of deception by God, an example of this being geometry and arithmetic. These truths seem clear and distinct to Descartes, but there is still the possibility that he is deceived with respect to them. If God can deceive him of his clear and distinct perceptions, perhaps even the cogito can be cast back into doubt. Descartes seems to want to escape the problems involved in clear and distinct perceptions by relying on God's existence to make them true. However, Descartes also seems to want to prove God's existence by claiming it as a clear and distinct perception. Welcome to the Cartesian Circle."

Tags:cartesian-circle, evil-genius, doubt, perception, thoughts

Abstract
The paper defines a codependent person as one who has allowed another person's behavior to affect him and who is obsessed with controlling that person's behavior. The paper discusses the need to develop a sense of self so we do not in effect turn it over to someone else. The paper looks at the works of Carl Rogers and Erik Erikson's eight stages of development, specifically, the stage of intimacy versus isolation. Finally, the paper looks at the approach of Gestalt therapy and the idea of circular causality.

Outline:
Introduction
The Sense of Self
Adult Development
Gestalt Theory
Circular Causality and Reciprocity

From the Paper
"Codependents are people who are more bound with the problems and lives of other people than they are with their own. Codependents are described here as victims of other people who have such problems as alcoholism, obsessive gambling, workaholism, or some other affliction that makes them too dependent on a loved one, someone close to the afflicted person who suffers in their own way as a consequence. Beattie (1987) provides a history of the concept of codependency and the development of the term in psychology, deciding finally that a codependent person is one who has allowed another person's behavior to affect him or her and who is obsessed with controlling that person's behavior. The author then details the characteristics of codependency before turning to the main thrust of the book, which is how to overcome codependency."

Tags:gestalt, Erikson, Rogers, circular, causality, reciprocity

Abstract
This paper explains that the plot of Nicholas Sparks' "Message in a Bottle" follows the true life story of Sparks' father. The author points out that this novel makes use of the leitmotif of a message in a bottle, which was thrown in the sea and left to the mercy of the waves and of chance. The paper relates that these love messages, written by Garret Blake to his deceased wife Catherine and put afloat in bottles contain the most important statements the author makes about love and trigger the further developments of the plot.

Outline:
Love in the Context of Life and Death in the Novel
The Leitmotif of the Message in a Bottle Thrown at Sea
Makes the Transition from the Old Love Story to the New Love Story
Forms the Lyrical Core of the Novel and Serves as a Confession of Love
Serves to Prove the Role that Chance Plays in Finding True Love
The Place of Love in Life
Lovers Often Use the Word "Forever" to Describe Their Love, Suggesting that Death is an Obstacle in the Course of Love
True Love Can Happen More Times during a Life- Span Due to Man's Inner Capacity to Love
Negative Criticism of the Novel
Loose, Unrealistic Plot
Tearjerker
Symbolic Meaning of the Novel
Love can be Destructive
Death and the Chances of Life Interfere with the Course of Love
True Love Seems to be Ill-Fated
Loss Happens Two Times in the Novel- Garret loses Catherine, then Theresa loses Garret.
Love has a Regenerating Power
Love can Happen after Loss
Novel's Circular Structure
Proof of the Regenerating Power of Love

From the Paper
"The human capacity for loving is proven as unquenchable: love can follow again even after the deepest relationship, although this feeling may be frustrating, as we see in Garret's case who finds it very hard to accept the death of his wife and to love again. Thus, love, life and death appear are very much connected in the novel, revealing an essential fact about the human condition: life and love seem to be somewhat in conflict all through the human existence. Man is first of all given life to, and his life span is delimited by destiny."

Tags:lyrical, romance, interview, father, circular

Abstract
This paper explains that D'Amico (the primary author) commits many logical fallacies throughout his paper thus making his conclusions completely erroneous. The author stresses that the assumption of an unjust government, upon which D'Amico's entire argument hinges, is false because he begins by likening all governments to the "unjust government". D'Amico argues, using the non sequitur that because one has the right or even duty to "abolish" such a government, it follows that one has the right to "deface government property." The paper concludes that D'Amico's entire argument is circular reasoning because he claims that graffiti artists are taking back private property based on the fact that the government has stolen the private property and then he justifies his claim that the government has stolen the private property because it belongs to the graffiti artists who have homesteaded it.

From the Paper
"D'Amico continues to pursue this false analogy by using the "just war theory" to justify graffiti and by doing so commits yet another fallacy. D'Amico admits that, "although the theory applies, explicitly, only to governments, let us she how a non governmental "war" matches up against these criteria." By his own admission, the just war theory explicitly states that it should not be applied to anything other than governments yet D'Amico insists on applying it to graffiti. Governments have the obligation to protect citizens and are thus not acting in its own self interest. This element is something that can never be reproduced in a graffiti artist."

Tags:homesteading, false-analogy, fallacies, non-sequitur, circular-reasoning

Abstract
The paper discusses how the Greeks' historical concept of time is both linear and circular, with the sun dominating its measurement. The paper contrasts this to the Yanomamo people's concept of time that is confined to whatever they see in their surroundings; if they cannot relate something to the number of fingers on their hands, then they cannot fathom the meaning of it. The paper goes on to demonstrate how the historical origins of these concepts are founded on the Yanomamo Indians and the Greeks' respective mythological concepts and beliefs in the origins of mankind.

From the Paper
"The Greeks need not be introduced in this paper as exhaustively considering there are voluminous documents regarding who the Greeks are and their contribution to civilization. Although it is important to note that the "the spread of Hellenism affirmed the Greek model as the predominant one in the cultures that were to become the precursors of modem Western civilization (Thienhaus, 1999)." The Yanomamo Indians are another story because they have been a reclusive tribe living in the rainforests of the Amazon in Brazil and Venezuela. "The Yanomamo people of Central Brazil are one of the oldest examples of the classic pre-Columbian forest footmen. The Yanomamo live in almost complete seclusion in the Amazon rain forests of South America and, according to many anthropologists, are perhaps the last culture to have come in contact with the modern world. (Kittelson & Stafford, 2009)" Imagine these two groups of people living on opposite sides of the world - one group is the cradle of Western civilization while the other still exists in the most rudimentary way "living in small bands or tribes and live in round communal huts called shabonos, which are actually made up of individual living quarters (Kittelson & Stafford, 2009).""

Tags:counting, linearity, circularity, sun, moon

Abstract
The paper posits that few poems in the canon of English literature are as polished and as powerful as Emily Dickinson's, "Because I Could Not Stop for Death". The paper asserts that while the reasons why this is so are plentiful, the most obvious are the content and form of the poem and Dickinson's clever use of poetic devices. Specifically, the paper argues that the content of the poem is meant to emphasize the inevitability of death and how it does not have to be feared by stalwart Christians; the poem's content also captures how the slumber of death will seem like a mere night's rest to the blessed when the day of Judgment arrives. With regards to its actual form, the circular nature of human existence and the circular nature of eternity - that is to say, the eternal linkage of life with death - is reflected in the poem's regular iambic pentameter and in its use of poems of alternating line lengths; these altering line lengths, incidentally, also seem to capture Dickinson's views on the relative significance of life on earth versus eternal life by subtly accentuating the relative duration of each. Finally, the paper shows how Dickinson's use of devices like internal rhyme, alliteration, and anaphora are meant to reinforce the circularity of the life/death relationship and the inevitable arrival of the former. The paper concludes that the poem is a treatise on how death awaits all of us - but this fact does not have to be met with dread by the pure of heart.

From the Paper
"It is arguable that few poems in the canon of English literature are as polished and as powerful as Emily Dickinson's, "Because I Could Not Stop for Death". The reasons why this is so are plentiful, but the most obvious are the content and form of the poem and Dickinson's clever use of poetic devices. Specifically, the next few pages will argue that the content of the poem is meant to emphasize the inevitability of death and how it does not have to be feared by stalwart Christians; the poem's content also captures how the slumber of death will seem like a mere night's rest to..."

Tags:dickinson, emily, death

Abstract
This paper shows how the "One Hundred Years of Solitude" juxtaposes real and imagined linear time with circular time. It addresses such questions as: What are the distinct differences between these two worlds (reality and linear time vs. imagination and circular time), what is learned by placing them together, and why does the novel do so?

From the Paper
"The novel opens with a flashback, which immediately sets the mood, and announces to the reader that time is going to be an important even vital part of this novel. The story manages to blend then juxtapose real time, linear time, and circular time in such a way to sometimes confuse the reader, but the outcome is magical and fantastic, and the novel seems real and unreal at the same time. This blending of real and magical is called "magic realism," and Marquez employed it throughout the novel to create the feelings of time and space which flow through the chapters."

Tags:imagination, magic, realism, space, buendia, family, village, macondo, travel