Contemporary Theories Of Knowledge Research Paper

Contemporary Theories Of Knowledge - Research Paper Example Meaning and purpose are often taken to mean the same thing but in this case, they will be taken to mean different things. Personal lives may be taken to mean an individual’s account of his/her experience but for the sake of this essay, I will take personal lives as the generalized experience of people rather than the effect on my own personal life. This is because one person’s account of existence cannot explain fully the extent to which knowledge produces meaning and purpose as some knowledge is second-hand. Knowledge for Plato is â€Å"justified true belief† (Lagemaat 24; Lemos 9; Russell, n.p). The â€Å"whole point† of knowledge as this would mean that the absolute or only point of knowledge is to produce meaning and purpose hence one has to agree or disagree with the statement but not to a certain extent. However, I will argue that knowledge produces meaning but sometimes does not produce purpose in our lives. Although knowledge influences our purpose in life, purpose can be achieved through different ways without knowledge. As stated earlier, knowledge is ‘justified true belief.† However, the concepts of truth and belief need the explanation as they are controversial concepts. According to Dunn, the truth is â€Å"things that can be justified and believed in† (n.p). It distinguishes knowledge from belief hence what we claim to know must be true, if mere belief, it is true or false (Lagemaat 24). As such, believing that something is true does not make it true. According to the correspondence theory of truth, we can know if something is true through our sense experience while for coherence theory, a proposition must match with what we know to be true. Knowledge can also be true if the majority of people believe in it (Dunn, n.p). For pragmatists, the truth is whatever is useful to us.

The economy of a specific developing country Essay - 1

The economy of a specific developing country - Essay Example The nation has experienced a major transformation from a centrally planned economy to a developed and functional market economy (Heshmati, 16). Even with the progress, China is still far from development. Ten years ago, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of China was placed sixth largest in the world (Bailey 180). Between 2001 and 2010, the GDP had increased four times (Tselichtchev n.p.). China’s economy has grown by 9% for the last 30 years; from 1978-2004, its GDP grew by 9.7 % a year, faster than the world’s average (Hongyi 159). In recent times, the GDP has increased by 11.3 times; between 2005-2007 China’s GDP has increased by 11%-11.6% annually (Hongyi 159). Hongyi points out that annual per capita GDP growth rate stood at roughly 7%-8% in 2010, but it is estimated be about 6%-7% by 2020 (159). The income distribution of resources has worsened due to China’s transition to a market economy. The inequality in China is rampart between the rural areas and the urban areas; this is felt with the unequal distribution of resources. The inequality is felt by the increase of the rural wage employment and increased inequality of distribution of resources of urban income. The income inequality has been brought about by economic reforms, and began when the rural areas began being deprived of resources. Even with the new reforms, the poverty rates have increased (Bergsten, Gill and Lardy 31). China is a communist country, with a communist government. The Chinese Government has acquired strong capabilities of macroeconomic control. The market economy in China is a kind of government led market economy, and the government has strong control of the macroeconomics (Yu 32). The Chinese Government has helped the Chinese people, like the public sector in dealing with the difficulty of globalization. Nevertheless, the Government has also hindered the Chinese people; this is because of the inadequate continuity of