The Promise of Sociology free essay sample

Excerpt from The Sociological Imagination (originally published in 1959) This classic statement of the basic ingredients of the sociological imagination† retains its vitality and relevance today and remains one of the most influential statements of what sociology is all about. In reading, focus on Mills distinction between history and biography and between individual troubles and public issues. Nowadays men often feel that their private lives are a series of traps.They sense that within their everyday worlds, they cannot overcome their troubles, and in this feeling, they are often quite correct: What ordinary men are directly aware of and what they try to do are bounded by the private orbits in which they live; their visions and their powers are limited to the close-up scenes of job, family, neighborhood; in other milieux, they move vicariously and remain spectators. And the more aware they become, however vaguely, of ambitions and of threats which transcend their immediate locales, the more trapped they seem to feel. We will write a custom essay sample on The Promise of Sociology or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Underlying this sense of being trapped are seemingly impersonal changes in the very structure of continent-wide societies. The facts of contemporary history are also facts about the success and the failure of individual men and women. When a society is industrialized, a peasant becomes a worker; a feudal lord is liquidated or becomes a businessman. When classes rise or fall, a man is employed or unemployed; when the rate of investment goes up or down, a man takes new heart or goes broke.When wars happen, an insurance salesman becomes a rocket launcher; a store clerk, a radar man; a wife lives alone; a child grows up without a father. Neither the life of an individual nor the history of a society can be understood without understanding both. Yet men do not usually define the troubles they endure in terms of historical change and institutional contradiction. The well-being they enjoy, they do not usually impute to the big ups and downs of the societies in which they live.Seldom aware of the intricate connection between the patterns of their own lives and the course of world history, ordinary men do not usually know what this connection means for the kinds of men they are becoming and for the kinds of history-making in which they might take part. They do not possess the quality of mind essential to grasp the interplay of man and society, of biography and history, of self and world. They cannot cope with their personal troubles in such ways as to control the structural transformations that usually lie behind them. Surely it is no wonder.In what period have so many men been so totally exposed at so fast a pace to such earthquakes of change? That Americans have not known such catastrophic changes as have the men and women of other societies is due to historical facts that are now quickly becoming merely history. The history that now affects every man is world history. . The very shaping of history now outpaces the ability of men to orient themselves in accordance with cherished values. Is it any wonder that ordinary men feel they cannot cope with the larger worlds with which they are so suddenly confronted?That they cannot understand the meaning of their epoch for their own lives?.. . Is it any wonder that they come to be possessed by a sense of the trap? 1 It is not only information they needin this Age of Fact, information often dominates their attention and overwhelms their capacities to assimilate it. What they need, and what they feel they need, is a quality of mind that will help them to use information and to develop reason in order to achieve lucid summations of what is going on in the world and of what may be happening within themselves.It is this quality, I am going to contend, that journalists and scholars, artists and publics, scientists and editors are coming to expect of what may be called the sociological imagination. The sociological imagination enables its possessor to understand the larger historical scene in terms of its meaning for the inner life and the external career of a variety of individuals. It enables him to take into account how individuals, in the welter of their daily experience, often become falsely conscious of their social positions.Within that welter, the framework of modern society is sought, and within that framework the psychologies of a variety of men and women are formulated. By such means the personal uneasiness of individuals is focused upon explicit troubles and the indifference of publics is transformed into involvement with public issues. The first fruit of this imaginationand the first lesson of the social science that embodies it-is the idea that the individual can understand his own experience and gauge his own fate only by locating himself within his period, that he can know his own chances in life only by becoming aware of hose of all individuals in his circumst ances. In many ways it is a terrible lesson; in many ways a magnificent one. We do not know the limits of mans capacities for supreme effort or willing degradation, for agony or glee, for pleasurable brutality or the sweetness of reason. But in our time we have come to know that the limits of human nature are frighteningly broad. We have come to know that every individual lives, from one generation to the next, in some society; that he lives out a biography, and that he lives it out within some historical sequence.By the fact of his living he contributes, however minutely, to the shaping of this society and to the course of its history, even as he is made by society and by its historical push and shove. The sociological imagination enables us to grasp history and biography and the relations between the two within society. That is its task and its promise. To recognize this task and this promise is the mark of the classic social analyst. It is characteristic of Herbert Spencerturgid, polysyllabic, comprehensive; of E. A. Ross-graceful, muckraking, upright; of Auguste Comte and Emile Durkheim; of the intricate and subtle Karl Mannheim.It is the quality of all that is intellectually excellent in Karl Marx; it is the clue to Thorstein Veblens brilliant and ironic insight, to Joseph Schumpeters many-sided constructions of reality; it is the basis of the psychological sweep of W. E. H. Lecky no less than of the profundity and clarity of Max Weber. And it is the signal of what is best in contemporary studies of man and society. No social study that does not come back to the problems of biography, of history and of their intersections within a society has completed its intellectual journey.Whatever the specific problems of the classic social analysts, however limited or however broad the features of social reality they have examined, those who have been imaginatively aware of the promise of their work have consistently asked three sorts of questions: (1) What is the structure of this particular society as a whole? What are its essential components, and how are they related to one another? How does it differ from other varieties of social order? Within it, what is the meaning of any particular feature for its continuance and for its change? (2) Where does this society stand in human history? What are the mechanics by which it is changing? What is its place within and its meaning for the development of humanity as a whole? How does any particular feature we are examining affect, and how is it affected by, th e historical period in which it moves? And this period-what are its essential features? How does it differ from other periods? What are its characteristic ways of history-making? (3) What varieties of men and women now prevail in this society and in this period?And what varieties are coming to prevail? In what ways are they selected and formed, liberated and repressed, made sensitive and blunted? What kinds of human nature are revealed in the conduct and character we observe in this society in this period? And what is the meaning for human nature of each and every feature of the society we are examining? Whether the point of interest is a great power state or a minor literary mood, a family, a prison, a creed-these are the kinds of questions the best social analysts have asked.They are the intellectual pivots of classic studies of man in society-and they are the questions inevitably raised by any mind possessing the sociological, imagination. For that imagination is the capacity to shift from one perspective to another-from the political to the psychological; from examination of a single family to comparative assessment of the national budgets of the world; from the theological school to the military establishment; from considerations of an oil industry to studies of contemporary poetry.It is the capacity to range from the most impersonal and remote transformations to the most intimate features of the human self and to see the relations between the two. Back of its use there is always the urge to know the social and historical meaning of the individual in the society and in the period in which he has his quality and his being. That, in brief, is why it is by means of the sociological imagination that men now hope to grasp what is going on in the world, and to understand what is happening in themselves as minute points of the intersections of biography and history within society. .They acquire a new way of thinking, they experience a transvaluation of values: in a word, by their reflection and by their sensibility, they realize the cultural meaning of the social sciences. Perhaps the most fruitful distinction with which the sociological imagination works is between the personal troubles of milieu and the public issues of social structure. This distinction is an essential tool of the sociological imagination and a feature of all classic work in social science. Troubles occur within the character of the individual and within the range of his immediate relations with others; they have to do with his self and with those limited areas of social life of which he is directly and personally aware. Accordingly, the statement and the resolution of troubles properly lie within the individual as a biographical entity and within the scope of his immediate milieu-the social setting that is directly open to his personal experience and to some extent his willful activity.A trouble is a private matter: values cherished by an individual are felt by him to be threatened. Issues have to do with matters that transcend these local environments of the individual and the range of his inner life. They have to do with the organization of many such milieux into the institutions of an historical society as a whole, with the ways in which various milieux overlap and interpenetrate to form the larger structure of social and historical life. An issue is a public matter : some value cherished by publics is felt to be threatened.Often there is a 3 debate about what that value really is and about what it is that really threatens it. This debate is often without focus if only because it is the very nature of an issue, unlike even widespread trouble, that it cannot very well be defined in terms of the immediate and everyday environments of ordinary men. An issue, in fact, often involves a crisis in institutional arrangements, and often too it involves what Marxists call contradictions or antagonisms. In these terms, consider unemployment. When, in a city of 100,000, only one man is unemployed, that is his personal trouble, and for its relief we properly look to the character of the man, his skills, and his immediate opportunities. But when in a nation of 50 million employees, 15 million men are unemployed, that is an issue, and we may not hope to find its solution within the range of opportunities open to any one individual. The very structure of opportunities has collapsed.Both the correct statement of the problem and the range of possible solutions require us to consider the economic and political institutions of the society, and not merely the personal situation and character of a scatter of individuals. Consider war. The personal problem of war, when it occurs, may be how to survive it or how to die in it with honor; how to make money out of it; how to climb into the higher safety of the military apparatus; or how to contribute to the wars termination. In short, according to ones values, to find a set of milieux and within it to survive the war or make ones death in it meaningful.But the structural issues of war have to do with its causes; with what types of men it throws up into command; with its effects upon economic and political, family and religious institutions, with the unorganized irresponsibility of a world of nation-states. Consider marriage. Inside a marriage a man and a woman may experience personal troubles, but when the divorce rate during the first four years of marriage is 250 out of every 1,000 attempts, this is an indication of a structural issue having to do with the institutions of marriage and the family and other institutions that bear upon them.. .What we experience in various and specific milieux, I have noted, is often caused by structural changes. Accordingly, to understand the changes of many personal milieux we are required to look beyond them. And the number and variety of such structural changes increase as the institutions within which we live become more embracing and more intricately connected with one another. To be aware of the idea of social structure and to use it with sensibility is to be capable of tracing such linkages among a great variety of milieux. To be able to do that is to possess the sociological imagination.. 4

Snowdrops by Leslie Norris Essays

Snowdrops by Leslie Norris Essays Snowdrops by Leslie Norris Paper Snowdrops by Leslie Norris Paper Essay Topic: Literature In Snowdrops, the author, Leslie Norris, present a childs of the world around him and the way that adults can protect children from sad and upsetting experiences. The story appears to be about a boy and his day at primary school. His teacher, Miss Webster promised the class that they could all go outside and look at the Snowdrops. Whilst they are looking, a funeral procession passes the school, one which the boys parents were discussing the tragic death of a motorcyclist. The author refers indirectly by using hints and clues to the fact that the motorcyclist was in love with the boys teacher. The boy learns that his teacher is, along with the Snowdrops, not what they are made out to be. He has great expectations of the Snowdrops however, when he does see them he realises that they are not anything special. He notices that Miss Webster appears to be hard on the outside, however, soft in the middle appearing to be tough to every one else but revealing that she really does have feelings. We know this because the boy notices how brave Miss Webster was when she trapped her hand in the cupboard door he is amazed that she did not cry. He then notices that at her boyfriends funeral procession that she was very brave yet again. The author uses child like language to shape the story and its meaning: For example, when the boy was describing how his brother was eating the porridge Norris used language that sounded as though it were coming from the tongue of a child itself a form of a list, as in: Then he did this, then he did that and so on, like a young child would do when they were describing something to an adult around them. There are a lot of direct or vivid sentences, those that are simple and easy for a child to understand. For example: The Boy Nodded. Line 186 and The Boy Drew A Robin Line 103. Miss Webster describes the Snowdrops as being asleep throughout the summer, underneath the ground! The boy believes that this is the key to understanding the world around him. It also symbolises the renewal of life that comes in the spring. The story has a main symbol in it: The snowdrop symbolising an emblem of new life. Throughout the story the boy builds up an excitement and suspense as he waits to see the snowdrops, and it is finally rewarded when he actually sees the flowers. (When this happens the boy has a climax of mixed emotions: i. e. he sees them as both resilient and fragile. This also represents how things are portrayed differently through the eyes of a child and how emotions are magnified or amplified, in effect. ) The boy notices that the snowdrops bend and survive even the most bitter winter weather, and they come back every year, burning with life, ready for the spring. All of this represents the determination and willpower that some humans actually have, and how they can bounce back after being knocked off their feet. This is exactly what the boy sees Miss Webster do she makes her hand bleed by shutting it in the door and she had to have a bandage but she did not cry. He also sees how brave she was when she was watching the funeral procession we suspect that he is amazed at how she can shrug off the things that weigh her down, in effect. The end of the story is very significant as Miss Webster reveals her emotions by crying out loud in front of the children: Miss Webster continued to cry aloud in the midst of the frightened children This proves, in effect, the boys theory of that his teacher is hard on the outside an soft in the middle as she finally shows her emotions to her dead boyfriends funeral procession, and so proves to the world that children portray things differently and not everyone, including life, is what its made out to be.

Talk back to Mike Kefee Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Talk back to Mike Kefee - Assignment Example Instead of invading Gaza and occupying it once again, Israel is trying to protect its borders from the GPRs and missiles that rain upon their civilian homes and cities. The two men talking about the flotilla in the cartoon sum up the situation. If the flotilla comes through, possible arms and much needed supplies are delivered. If violence erupts, Israel looks bad in the light of the entire world. What is not known, or underreported, is Israel sends tons of food, medical supplies, tools, and other supplies monthly. These are from Israeli sources. The Israeli government told the flotilla, if they docked in Israel the supplies would be checked and transported to Gaza. The Israelis even said that the representatives could watch the IDF (Israel Defense Force) soldiers search the food. The representatives could have then accompanied the shipment to Gaza. The whole flotilla was a publicity stunt that got people killed. My audience is Colorado citizens. I kept them in mind by explaining events in the Middle East, since an average Colorado citizen probably does not keep up with events in Gaza and Israel. I am responding in a manner to inform about the issue through the cartoon. I expect most people to disagree with my point of view. My word choice and tone will be logical and to the point in order to explain the situation to my

Retailer - Kroger Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Retailer - Kroger - Research Paper Example The economic stress has affected the business dues to the current recession. However, it has maintained its position despite the economic downturn because of its marketing strategies and excellent customer services. Wal-Mart is the greatest competitor affecting the company. It is known for its reduced prices, and therefore it can to drop the grocery prices by approximately 20% because it can be profitable with small margins due to economies of scale (Plunkett 141). Kroger may suffer increased price competition. However, Kroger offers products that balances its mix and does not go into direct competition with Wal-Mart. It has focused on developing its domestic markets. The customers have a high power in grocery industries because of their regular visits. In addition, switching cost is very low, and they can find similar products from other firms within the industry. In other words, customers are very keen on changes in prices and new products. Moreover, Kroger is facing legal issues, which may ruin the company image it the case was ruled against the company. Increase in operation costs can result in more debt because a high percentage was used in restructuring stores. The current economic recession has restricted the industry to refinance debt. Kroger has continued to enhance new technology in order to meet the customers need. Currently, the company has two data centers that conduct research to ensure the customers have quality and safe products. Also, the digital platform ensures that the company communicates with its clients. Kroger has over 2500 stores located in 32 states under five retail format namely supermarkets, warehouse stores, convenience stores, and jewelry stores. However, supermarkets account for the largest percentage. These supermarkets further categorized in food and drug stores, multi-department stores, and warehouse stores. Due to its wide variety of stores, it caters a broad customer base. Kroger has also

Douglas Coupland's Microserfs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Douglas Coupland's Microserfs - Essay Example The exploration of one’s identity is a theme that is discussed by the author and other characters in the novel. In this paper, we will analyze how the characters examine their identities and what is the influence of their profession on their identities? The influence of their professions on their identities is so far-reaching that they start to think about themselves in technical terms. The environment in their workplace has affected the characters in the novels to such an extent that they are not able to think about their lives beyond this setting. The character of Karla, a coder and colleague of the Daniel, is most expressive about her feelings regarding identity. Her thoughts about identity can be gauged from the following paragraph, â€Å"Its all about identity," [Karla] said. She said, "We look at flock†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦What makes any one person different from any other? Where does your individuality end and your species-hood begin? As always, its a big question on my mind.† (Coupland, pg.236). While working, the identity of all the characters is connected with their work. The individuality of person is lost in the settings that are dominated by the machinery. Karla also feels that her identity is being overwhelmed, by the environment of her workplace. While talking with Daniel, her conversation reflects her thoughts about identity. â€Å"She said that we, as humans, bear the burden of having to be every animal in the world rolled into one. She said that we really have no identity of our own.† (Coupland, pg.17). The thoughts of Karla represent the identity crisis that people are experiencing in the wake of a demanding professional life. People are so consumed with their aims and ambitions that they have lost the perception of their true identity. Karla also points towards this attitude of human beings. â€Å"She said, "What is human behavior, except trying to prove that were not animals? She said, "I think we have strayed so far away from our animal origins

Quality of the Sustainability Report of British Land

Quality of the Sustainability Report of British Land The British Land Company is a brand of property development and investment company, which is one of largest companies in the  United Kingdom. It focuses on managing, financing and developing prime commercial property. British Land was formed in 1856. Over the years, company has purchased land and then resold it to customers who wanted to buy it. Nowadays, British Land owns a lean team of 242 people which is based in the UK and Western Europe. The company manages more or less  £14 billion portfolio of office and retail properties. Moreover, company is listed on the  London Stock Exchange  and is a constituent of the  FTSE 100 Index  and has been a founding member of the  European Public Real Estate Association. Their objective is to deliver long-term and sustainable total returns to our shareholders As a company, British Land committed to achieve corporate social responsibility objectives by working hard to ensure that structure, customer propositions and investment programmes are sustainable in society, economic and environment. These activities from April 2013 to March 2014 were described in Corporate Responsibility Full Data Report 2014. As such, the quality of sustainability report will be analysed in the following. The quality of corporate responsibility report 2014 of British Land can be evaluated based on principles of guidelines published by Global Reporting Initiative (GRI).The GRI lists six principles to assess sustainability report which is of sufficient quality. They are balance, comparability, accuracy, timeliness, clarity and reliability.Six principles will be defined first and then look at information from British Land’s report and then evaluate quality of these principles in practice. Balance To produce a high quality sustainability report, not only it represents the true performance of an organisation, but also endless positive public relations. Balanced report means reflect positive and negative aspects of the organization’s performance to enable a reasoned assessment of overall performance. X A good way to demonstrate balanced reporting is to clearly state how the organization performed regarding measurable achievements set in the previous year.Stakeholders can review those successful targets or if more work.In the corporate responsibility report 2014, British Land reported progress against its three years strategy across all sustainability areas of the business. As we can see, company reported that they had successfully reduced 36% less carbon emissions than the 2009 baseline in the report. Additionally, British Land has saved  £6.9 million energy cost for occupiers since 2009 and achieved 93% of waste diverted from landfill at our properties and 83% on development. X Overall, they got improvement against 2009 and achieved lots of targets in different areas including economic, environment and social. Although British Land has met the greater of their targets in different areas, stakeholders can find out that British Land’s report put negative things about their performance. Take greenhouse gas emissions as an example, the production process discharged6,953 tonnes CO2e during 2014 which was 300 tonnes higher than the previous year. It was balanced that the report discloses both favorable and unfavorable information and results on a year-to-year basis. This style of report increased transparency and accountability towards stakeholders or other parties. Comparability Issues and information should be selected, compiled, and reported consistently. X This principle means that reported information should be presented in a consistent manner that enables stakeholders to analyse the performance of the organisation over time or against other organisations. First of all, the sustainability report and the information contained within can be compared on a year-to-year basis. It showed that the data of British Land from 2011 to 2014. Stakeholders can compare the performance with different years so as to make decisions. Moreover, British Land increased comparability by means of using the same benchmarks to analyse performance year on year. Take tons of waste as an example, company used these total numbers as well as ratios (waste per unit of production) for analytical comparison. Also, company used kWh as metrics to compare its carbon emissions relate to energy consumption with different years or other organisations. Additionally, company provided and explained different factors in the report such as differences in organizational size, geographic influences, and other limitations that may affect the relative performance of an organization. These will help stakeholders understand the factors that may contribute to differences in performance between organizations. Furthermore, the report used generally accepted protocols for compiling, measuring, and presenting information. The report has utilized where the GRI Technical Protocol is explicit on the metric to be used for an Indicator such as carbon footprint, days per employee, staff covered and waste, etc. If any metrics were not mentioned by the GRI, British Land used metrics that are generally adopted by other organisations in their industry. Business in the Community has coordinated the corporate responsibility (CR) index as the UK’s leading benchmarking tool for responsible business. X Accuracy The information contained must be highly accurateso as to produce a high quality sustainability report. Therefore, stakeholders can measure the performance of an organisation with confidence. Data accuracy requires building stringent and robust data collection processes, such as internal quality assurance procedures. The best way to ensure data quality is to have quality assurance built into the data collection process. In the sustainability report 2014 of British Land, there was enough information about process to assure the data collection. The company had Independent assurance which evaluated the design of the key structures, systems, processes and controls for managing recording and reporting the selected information. X For example, five data sites which was selected on the basis of their inherent risk and materiality to the group were visited to understand the key processes and controls for reporting site performance data to the group corporate responsibility team. An alternative way is to commission an external third party to verify or assure data accuracy. The third party is experienced in sustainability reporting and data. In the report, it showed that selected key performance data was assured by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) which is one of big accounting firms over the world. For example, the accounting firm assured that data of carbon strategy was accurate, reliable and objective with no significant omissions that could affect stakeholders to make decision on British Land’s performance. X Finally, British Land has invited wider stakeholders to review their data collection processes and to provide feedback if any data inaccuracies have occurred. In 2014, stakeholders participated in the review and consultation of the different legislative and consumer aspects. Timeliness If a sustainability report to be useful to stakeholders, it should clearly state the time period covered by the data and to be consistent. Based on a regular timetable, the release date of the sustainability report should be predicted whether it is annual or biannual. Therefore, stakeholders can assess progress and make informed decisions on the organization’s performance. British Land has been reporting year on year on its sustainability performance since 2002. The company has accumulated many sustainability reports, which can all be downloaded and are available in multiple languages. The sustainability reports are published in April of every year, which makes it predictable to stakeholders and allows them to integrate British Land into their decision making process in a timely manner. Clarity According to the GRI, a high quality sustainability report should be written in a manner that is easily understandable, accessible and usable to its range of stakeholders. British Land used lots of visual charts, pictures, tables, infographic, diagrams and other aids tomake its content accessible and information easilyunderstandable. The company increased the attractiveness by using of its report by providing several formats such as on the web, as a PDF report or ebook. However, British Land is a property developmentand investment companies. As such, there are a series of professional terms such that need to be illustrated in its sustainability report. British Land has not published a useful glossary of professional terms. They can create on its sustainabilitywebsites for some references so as to makes its sustainability report easily understandable to its stakeholders, Reliability To producea high quality sustainability report, the information and contents disclosed can be traced to its sources, checked and examined by stakeholders or other parties. Stakeholders should be able to find evidence to establish the veracity in the sustainability report. British Land elected PwC as an independent 3rd party assurer to assess their sustainability report. However, PwC made a conclusion that they planned and performed the engagement to obtain limited assurance about whether the selected information is free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error. Also, PwC concluded British Land’s declared GRI application level of B+ was not fairly stated in accordance with the reporting criteria. To increase reliability, PwC did not get enough reference of all original sources of data and information used in the report. They just provided a guidance section giving information behind calculations used by the company. The reliability of this sustainability report was not sufficient. Although another big accounting firm KPMG produced anindependent assurance report, minor recommended updates were made to the British Land’s procedures in relation to the risk of bribery and corruption in December 2013. British Land did not get audit opinion that increased stakeholder confidence that the data and assertions in thesustainabilityreport can be relied on to make informed decisions. Conclusion To conclude, the quality the of sustainability report 2014 of British Land is up to standard. Especially for comparability and clarity, the report showed that information and comparisons are both meaningful overtime and it clearly explained the reasons and implications of collected information through visual charts, pictures, tables. However, there’s stillroom for improvement in the report. The Directors of the British Land engaged PwC provided limited assurance on the information described in full data report for the year ended 31 March 2014. To increase reliability and accuracy of the report, company can invite NGOs to review their data collection processes and to provide comments where they think data inaccuracies have occurred. Having more assurances increase stakeholder confidence that the data and assertions in sustainabilityreport can be relied on to make decisions. Furthermore, company can provide other popular formats such as software application in order to increase the attractiveness and use of its report. The sustainability reports as mobile apps can be published that are readable on smartphone and tablets. Stakeholders or businesses can increasingly incorporate tablets into day to day activities such as meetings and sustainability reporting apps must beubiquitous. The advantages of these apps over traditional formats are its highly interactive nature, the ability to easily review the report through buttons, and its visual beauty.

George Gemistos Plethon on God: Aristotle vs Plato Essay -- Religion P

George Gemistos Plethon on God: Aristotle vs Plato In this paper I examine George Gemistos Plethon's defense in his De Differentiis of Plato's conception of God as superior to that of Aristotle's. (2) Plethon asserts that the Platonic conception of God is more consistent with Orthodox Christian theology than the Aristotelian conception. This claim is all the more interesting in light of the fact that Plethon is, as it turns out, a pagan. I argue that Plethon takes the position he does because his interpretation of the Platonic God better fits his own neo-pagan theological conceptions. Part of the evidence for this is supplied by the first English translation of Plethon's Summary of the Doctrines of Zoroaster and Plato. I. Background (3) George Gemistos, who called himself Plethon, (1355?-1452) lived during the last years of the Byzantine empire. Constantinople fell to the Turks less than one year after his death. Yet he had a significant, direct influence on the study of Plato in the Latin West. This resulted from his membership in the Byzantine delegation to the Council of Ferrara-Florence in 1438-39. The purpose of this council was to effect the union of the two churches and thus, hopefully, to preserve the Byzantine Empire with the help of the West. The Emperor, John VIII Palaeologos, knew they were going to face some of the finest minds in the Roman Church on their own soil; he therefore wanted the best minds available in support of the Byzantine cause to accompany him. Consequently, the Emperor appointed George Gemistos as part of the delegation. Despite the fact that he was a secular philosopher — a rare creature at this time in the West — Gemistos was renowned both for his wisdom and his moral rectitude. Among ... ...rci, codex Venetus 406, qui Plethonis autographus creditur, in quo istud additamentum, scholii instar, initio Zoroastreorum ad marginem ascriptum est. Clearly, Alexandre was aware of Jacopo Morelli's identification of this manuscript at San Marco as an autograph of Plethon (in Morelli's Bibliotheca Manuscripta Graeca et Latina I (1802). Other indications that the passage is an interpolation into the text are the abrupt change from oratio recta in the foregoing passage to oratio obliqua in this one and the fact that this passage contains none of the twelve doctrines. (28) Plethon is clearly a Neoplatonic, however, he thought that he was a good Platonist. The distinction between Platonism and Neoplatonism had not yet been made by historians of philosophy. (29) The reader should note, however, that Plethon does not use these two terms synonymously in every context.