Fair Trade Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Fair Trade - Essay Example The minimum price is set such that it can never be below the current market price or level. Despite fair trade gaining momentum and increasing in the United Kingdom and the world over, the fair trade concept is generally unfair. Proponents of fair trade argue that the scheme is meant to help farmers to meet the average costs of production in developing nations. Through the fair trade scheme, farmers and workers are accorded better financing, premiums and a basic set price which is intended to cushion farmers when the world market price falls. All these factors lead to better financial stability for the producers. However, the concept of financial stability of fair trade farmers is very weak (Mohan, 2010). Farmers have to pay certification fees, application fees and renewal certification charges and in the end, these costs are too great for the farmers. A 2009 study undertaken by Saenz-Segura and Zuniga-Arias’ found out that the costs associated with fair trade consume more than a third of fair trade premiums received by farmers. As such, fair trade does not have a significant financial impact on the farmers or producers (Raluca, Giovannucci & Nunn, 2014). Additionally, the financial stability promise d by fair trade is often non-existent. Despite the fact that the minimum set price offers farmers some assurance, they are not assured of selling their products as fair trade. Therefore, farmers have to endure financial uncertainty just like all other farmers. Also, according to Sidwell (2008), only a fraction (10%) of the premiums reaches the farmer or worker. Fair trade is meant to improve the lives of farmers in developing countries. Thus, proponents state that fair trade helps to end poverty in poor countries. On the contrary, fair trade encourages and promotes poverty. A lot of farmers who have benefited from the fair trade scheme reside in Mexico,

Philosophy Token vs. Dualism or New Theory Essay

Philosophy Token vs. Dualism or New Theory - Essay Example In recognition of the mental states in relation to the brain, the Token Theory of mind upholds the analogy of realizations and supposes that the individual thought is identical with the individual brain state in which it corresponds. This philosophy reasoned that if mental states is a cacophony of thought processes then most likely it is identical to the internal state of the brain. In simplified terms; it is interaction of mind and body and the interaction of physical processes in the brain and parts of the body via the nervous system and there is nothing more than physical in the way it functions. Smart (1956) said that the mental state's 'desire for a cup of coffee' would thus be nothing more than the "firing of certain neurons in certain brain regions". The mental phenomenon is then equated with the processes of the brain and is actually considered as the fundamental features of the brain. A heavy challenge under this theory would fall under the category of need. The explanation seems to relay the idea that humans regardless of affiliation feel hunger and hunger is identical to a certain brain state. Each mental state is said to be identical to an individual brain state without any categorization. ... Dualism meanwhile is a complex model that divides the human beings into two substances of matter and mind and separates the mind from the body. In Plato and Aristotle both maintained, for different reasons, "that a man's 'intelligence' (as a faculty of the mind or soul) could not be identified with, or explained in terms of his physical body". In a non-physical form, dualism exists to identify the mind as the control factor in movements along with other components. Dualism however explains the property of the physical (skin, bones and the entire system of the human body) in response to the mental (thoughts and feelings). For example, in simple dualism: a needle puncturing your finger is a physical trauma and causes you to perceive pain; as a physical response one either withdraws the hand or voice out a verbal reaction to pain. In other words there is direct physical interaction between the mind and the body. In more complex dualistic setting and explanation: when one sees a car, the input is placed on the senses and sends out signals through the senses which interpret the experience in the brain whereby a mental image is produced. Scientifically this could be acceptable, but the simplest is always the best answer when trying to find the most natural relation to a human's mind. Despite a certain initial clarity, the token identity theory is still faced with a heavy challenge in the form of the Putnam's(1967) multiple realizations. If this is a difference however, then pain cannot be identical to a certain brain state and thus the identity theory is empirically unfounded for her. It dwells on the neurological aspect of the mind and the