Hobbes, Locke essays

Hobbes, Locke essays This comparative text is a bit complex in the assumption that all three essay questions can be properly justified in one large endeavor. I will begin by stating that I found all three philosophers writings challenging and insightful but to a point obscure and confusing. Yet each philosopher shared a distinct view on how the state of nature argument molded society. I will commence with Hobbes, then Locke, and conclude with Rousseau, for he is the most ambiguous of them all. In Leviathan, Hobbes begins by stating that human beings naturally desire the power to live well and that they will never be satisfied with the power they have with out acquiring more power. Hobbes also begins by strongly stating the belief of equality, that every one is created equal. He explicitly points out that all individuals have the same ability to kill one another, and hence be killed. Hobbes believed that the nature of humanity leads people to seek power. He looked on the individual as selfish, concerned with self-preservation and when two people want the same thing they become enemies, thus the creation of war. Hobbes uses three basic causes for war, competition, distrust, and glory. In each of the previous cases, men use violence to gain power. He believed that that with out a common power to unite the people, they would be in war of every man against every man. In a sense, Hobbes states that in order to create order, individuals will have to surrender their rights to the sovereign in order to create a state whereby they can be protected. It is perhaps not necessary for this to occur, but rather a side affect of human nature in which human beings must gather into groups to create a convent of natural laws in which to abide and survive from. In regards to the use of property, Hobbes conception is that property is to be distribute among human beings according to the level and perseverance excerted towards individua ...

Research Paper Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Research Paper Summary - Essay Example Similarly, new strategies can be integrated slowly with traditional methods that worked in order to arrive at the right product. This strategy is important to business organizations in the sense that it is responsive to the changes in the competitive, challenging modern environment of business. Secondly, the process of making strategy, according to Mintzberg, must be well choreographed and intended to herald action. Nevertheless, he suggests strategies can yield effective outcomes in their original status or when reformed. Thirdly, Mintzberg’s (1987) argument that strategists do not have to be senior members of the management is in line with the course readings. The sourcing of strategists from within an organization is particularly important because such individuals are well conversant with the inner-workings of the organization; they have the capacity to achieve the needed goals within the prevailing organizational culture. The course readings about strategy management are in line with Mintzberg’s analogy of a potter and how they are connected with their work in that, in both cases, the strategists must be individuals who have passion in pursuing the best for the company. Lastly, unfavorable conditions may prevent the ideal potter from creating a piece of art, despite having a mound of ready clay, but as a strategist, he or she may use the lump to make an equally important item that is different from the one planned before. In the same way potters do their job strategies do arise from time to time and anywhere (Mintzberg, 1987). As such, strategists must be prepared to postpone plans, create new products and have the capacity to turn errors into opportunity. By seeking the input of craftsmen and women who are devoted, passionate and intimately mesmerized by the materials they use to create an end product, the process

Capital punishment -argumentativ paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Capital punishment -argumentativ paper - Essay Example Though some people may be against the sentencing, especially with the belief that he might have been insane, the evidence that was presented against Middlebrooks shows that he got the sentence that he deserved. When the autopsy of Kerrick Majors had been released, it was determined that the cause of his death were stab wounds. Even though he had pinned Brewington as the one in charge of the actions against Kerrick Majors since he stabbed the boy, Middlebrooks also admitted to having stabbed Majors once. Since the cause of death was proven to be from the stab wounds that Middlebrooks and Brewington horrifically administered to the boy, both men were directly involved in the death (Bohm 26). By claiming to have stabbed Majors, Middlebrooks essentially confessed to killing him. Furthermore, Middlebrooks claimed to have stabbed Majors to put the victim out of his misery. Not only did Middlebrooks admit to stabbing the boy, but he also admitted to stabbing him with the intent of killing h im. Even though Middlebrooks and some of his character witnesses tried to claim that Middlebrooks was not fully mentally competent to understand what he did, he still made it clear that he had a concrete intention when he brought the knife down on Majors. While Middlebrooks may have viewed his actions as helpful to the boy, albeit gruesomely so, the actions still resulted in Majors’ death. Middlebrooks’ argument during the course of his trial was that he only acted the way he had because Brewington, being a larger boy and angrier than Middlebrooks, frightened him. However, he later claimed to have taken part in the stabbing because he wanted to appear cool in front of his tougher friend. Regardless of the reason behind his actions, which kept changing throughout his trial, he still allowed himself to be swayed to the point of taking the life of an innocent boy. Instead of walking away and seeking help, or trying to talk down his friend, Middlebrooks engaged in the beat ing. Since very little was looked into the role that Brewington played, it would be almost impossible to determine if Middlebrooks was acting of his own accord or if he really was being forced to join in on the torturing of the young man. As it is, simply by standing around as the violence took place, Middlebrooks just as well killed Kerrick Majors. This is in regardless of whether he actually physically caused Majors to die or did not seek the help that was desperately needed. â€Å"Those who stand by and watch someone else die are just as guilty as the person who is causing the damage (Garland & McGowen 21).† However, as previously stated, Middlebrooks had already admitted to physically harming the boy for the sake of putting him out of his pain. No matter how he tried to condone his actions, someone else died because of his inability to control his own temper and his unwillingness to do something that would benefit the dying boy. On the other side of the table, it is belie ved that Middlebrooks had sufficient proof that he was not mentally stable enough to stand trial and therefore was not fit to receive the death sentence (Krzycki), or any such sentence. Witnesses revealed that Middlebrooks had a past of molestation and abuse as a child, which caused him to develop borderline personality disorder, schizophrenia, and a psychotic personality disor

Soil mechanics Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Soil mechanics - Lab Report Example n-drained and drained were undertaken on the undisturbed soil samples to determine the shear strength parameters under drained and drained condition for the given soil sample from where the building will be constructed. Basing on the results, it is evident that the bearing capacity of the silt soil was much less as compared to the cohesion less soil ultimate bearing capacity. In this regard, the building codes permit higher bearing pressure for less cohesion soils like sand as compared to that of plastic soil (silt). Tri-axial tests are laboratory testing techniques mostly applied to obtain shear strength parameters for different types of soil under un-drained and drained condition (Alshibli and Sture 2000). Conventional test entails a cylindrical soil sample which is subjected to radial stresses as well as axial displacement or controlled increases in axial stresses. Usually, the cylindrical soil specimen is of 200m height and 100 mm diameter. Preparation of specimen is based on the type of soil. For shear failure, the soil grains usually slide over each other along the failure surface hence there is no crushing of grains. At failure, along the failure surface, the shear stress reaches the shear strength. Basically, soils are known to be frictional materials. The strength is based on the stress applied whereby this stress is controlled by effective stresses and here water pressure is needed (Alshibli and Sture 2000). Also soil strength is based on drainage whereby different strengths can be mea sured for a certain soil that can deform at a given constant volume (un-drained) as well as deform without having pore pressure that is excess (drained). Angle of friction (Ã ¸) and Cohesion (c) are generally not soil constant parameters. They are based on the soil initial state and the loading type (drained or un-drained) (Widulinski et al., 2009). The specimen was enclosed vertically with a thin rubber membrane then later put between two rigid ends in the pressure

Happiness: John Stuart Mill vs Immanuel Kant :: Utilitarianism Essays

Happiness. People go to any means by which to obtain the many varied materials and issues that induce pleasures in each individual, and intrinsically, this emotion remains the ultimate goal, John Stuart Mill, a nineteenth century philosopher, correctly advocated the pursuit of happiness, and maintained the concept that above all other values, pleasure existed as the final destination, Mill's hedonistic views correctly and rationally identified a natural human tendency, and his Utilitarian arguments strongly support the theory that above all else, happiness is the most important dream to be fulfilled. Upon researching for this paper, I came across a counter argument, which was based on metaphysics. Immanuel Kant, in Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, defends his strong beliefs in the issue of a good will, and surfaces as MM's chief opponent on the topic of metaphysics, The issue diminishes to a clash between emotions and pleasures ve rses rationality and logic. Yet, what use is logic when the good agent is miserable? Mill's stance within Utilitarianism exists as the more favorable of the two beliefs, for happiness exist as the one intrinsically favorable element, not an emotionless mind. The main defender of the Utilitarian system exists within the Greatest happiness Principle. Mill lived as a chief advocate of this concept, which supports the idea that a decision is morally correct as long as it increases and encourages pleasures and happiness. Kant, however, in his endless quest to remain separate from emotions and thrive only on logic, would argue that autonomy should be placed above happiness in a list of intrinsic values. A good will, however, does not comfort an individual in any way if happiness does not accompany this asset, Consider this example of a seemingly happily married couple. The wife in this duo is madly in love with her husband fiercely loyal, and completely happy with her marriage and children. The husband, however, as wrongfully strayed, and had a brief, but damaging affair behind his wife's back. Kant would argue that autonomy reigns over pleasure, and the woman should therefore want to be informed of her husband's adultery, Mill would greatly disagree. By revealing the secret of the past affair, the woman's happy world would be instantly shattered. Her pride would diminish, her stability would fall apart, and the children especially would be forced to view a nasty side of their beloved father. In this case, individual control is greatly overshadowed by the need for happiness. The husband is no longer acting unfaithful and the family can easily continue to live in a happy realm, If the secret were to

Evaluate the case for cutting public expenditure rather Essay

A fiscal deficit is when a government’s total expenditures exceed the tax revenues that it generates. A budget deficit can be cut by either reducing public expenditure or raising taxes. In this essay, I am going to analyse the benefits and costs of increasing tax rates to reduce fiscal deficits instead of cutting government expenditure. First of all, if the government decides to cut current public expenditure, it will lead to a reduced quantity and quality of public goods and service. For example, closing NHS direct call centres down which results in lower living standard. Moreover as the spending in sectors such as healthcare and education is cut, these services may need to redundant staff to stay within their new budgets. For instance if the NHS’s budget is cut they will lay-off additional staff. Those public sector workers may find it difficult to find a new job in private sector if they are not competitive enough to compete with other people in the labour market, leading to higher unemployment conflicting with the government macroeconomic objective of low unemployment rate. Also higher unemployment will mean less income tax revenue, lower VAT receipts, higher welfare payments, as well as lower standards of living. If the government is to cut capital expenditure this is the type of expenditure that expands LRAS. It might not cause serious problems in short run, however in long run less spending on for example education and healthcare will result in a less educated and skilled workforce and a less healthy workforce. The negative effects of inadequate skilled human capital in the long run include lower productivity which makes the economy less competitive internationally compared with for example Germany. It in turn leads to deterioration on balance of payment, economic stagnant growth and inflationary pressure as labour costs increase. Thirdly, government spending is an injection into the circular flow of income. A decrease in the government spending will incur negative wealth effect and therefore lead to weaker economic growth. In addition, the  government spending is one of the components of aggregate demand, consequently, lower GDP. In a demand-deficient recession, consumption and investment tend to decrease due to lower income and revenue, the (X-M) component tends to level off or worsen in short run, which makes government spending an essential device to stimulate the economy. Therefore a decrease in the government spending will cause an even deeper recession and a larger budget deficit. Last but not least, a decrease in government spending could mean worse income distribution compared with increasing progressive tax. This is because transfer payment forms almost a third of the governments budgets and so by cutting expenditure it is very likely that it will also be cut making the poor poorer and widening the gap. On the other hand, taxes could be increased progressively by for example increasing marginal income taxes so that the people with high income pay more than the poor narrowing the gap between. However, there are also some drawbacks associated with raising taxes. Tax is a form of leakage from the circular flow of income leading to negative multiplier effect. If the government increases income tax rates, it might create disincentives to work. It is because when income tax increases, the opportunity cost for leisure time decreases; and people will have to work longer hours to earn the same disposable income. Some people may therefore prefer claiming Jobseekers’ Allowance instead of working. If the corporation tax is to be increased, there will be disincentive for firms to locate in the UK, leading to less investment and corporation tax revenues. Additionally, an increase in the National Insurance may discourage firms taking more employers as the NI is paid per employee. Secondly, if the government raises higher income by increasing indirect taxes for example VAT, it may also have problems. It shifts the SRAS curve to the left as the cost of production increases. And it may therefore push up the price level and reduce the level of output. Moreover, indirect taxes are regressive taxes, which impose a greater burden relative to the incomes on the poor than on the rich. Thirdly, as the public sector is basically non-profit, their allocation of resources believed to be less efficient than the profit-making private sector firms. Therefore reducing public expenditure may lead to greater efficiency and productivity by for example removing unnecessary layer of management hence more effective communication and better service provided by the public sector. Last but not least, the choices between the two possible ways and their effects depend on the macroeconomic situation- for example the unemployment rate and the size of the public sector. If the size of the public sector is small, the adjustment on government spending might not be very large and the effect on budget deficit wouldn’t be significant. If the unemployment rate is high, for example 26% general rate and 50% youth rate in Spain, making it very hard to raise taxes. Apparently, both reducing government spending and increasing tax rates will lead to a lower AD, but they will have different other effects. Therefore the choice between this two may depend on macroeconomic situation and what the government is focusing on achieving. VICKKIE

Transformational Leadership The New Leadership Paradigm

â€Å"Transformational Leadership: The New Leadership Paradigm† Boosting morale, increasing motivation, and elevating job performance of followers are all dynamics of a transformational leader. Transformational leadership can be defined as a leader’s approach to nurture and empower followers. This type of a leader exhibits charismatic and visionary tendencies. As its name suggests, a transformational leader transforms and changes people. The emergence of transformational leadership as an approach to leadership in regards to political leaders was presented by James MacGregor Burns, a political sociologist. One of his primary focuses was to link the roles of leadership and followers. Later, Bernard M. Bass, another researcher expanded the work of Bass’ original ideas by explaining certain psychological mechanisms regarding transactional and transformational leadership as well as how transformational leadership can be measured (Northouse, 2013). He also developed the earlier version of the Multi-factor Leadership Questionna ire (MLQ) to measure transformational leadership through questions that measured the followers’ perceptions of a leader’s behavior for each of the full range of leadership factors. A few questions that I would like to address in this essay are what type of contributions do the four transformational leadership factors have on leaders and followers, why have researchers deemed transformational leadership as the new leadership paradigm,Show MoreRelatedThe Influence Of Transformational Leadership On Employee Engagement?1214 Words   |  5 Pagesemployee is not considered as a priority, so it was determined that employee engagement would be one of the ways to develop the banking sector. Transformational leadership style is an important factor to increase engagement amongst employees with specific impact on employee attitudes and behavioral outcomes. Raja (2012) found that transformational leadership has an influence on higher levels of employee engagement in the workplace with its multiple attributes such as, idealized influence, inspirationalRead MoreA Virtual Call Center Via An Employment Agency1655 Words   |  7 Pages This paper will represent the breadth of concepts, and ideas that have been attained during this course, in regards to transformational change within the organization of a virtual call-center via an employment agency. This course has provided valuable information that’s critically important when thinking about change, initiating change, and facilitating change. Along this path, it’s just as important to understand the mind-sets of those that are involved in the change process. While understandingRead More Transformational Leadership Essay examples847 Words   |  4 Pages James MacGregor Burns has defined leadership as â€Å"leaders inducing the followers to act for certain goals that represent the values and the motivations – the wants and needs, the aspirations and expectations – of both leaders and followers† (Burns 1978. p.19.) The concept of leadership as a whole encompasses different explanations, theories and leadership styles and has been popular not only from the organizational perspective but in the educational and political context as well. This essayRead MoreTransformational Leadership : What Makes A Good Leader?1411 Words   |  6 PagesTransformational Leadership in Nursing What makes a good leader? Many people have their own perceptions on what entails a good leader. People have high expectations when a leader is involved. Our country is led by a Commander in chief and without their leadership things would be chaotic. A transformational leader, such as the Commander in chief, is known for being strong person, observant, and exercises great listener skills (ZerwekhGarneau, 2015). They have a clear vision and will have an influentialRead MoreThe Impact Of Transactional, Transformational And Laissez Faire Leadership Styles On Organisational Performance1556 Words   |  7 PagesDoes leadership make a difference to organisational performance? Leadership is commonly equated with positions of power, influence and status. However, leadership can be seen at all levels of an organisation, not just a person or group of people in a superior position. The influence of leadership on organisational performance is a common topic of interest. There are a number of leadership styles that influence an organisations performance when implemented. The type of leadership style used withinRead MoreVolunteer Management Course: A Reflective Essay1338 Words   |  5 PagesIntroduction My name is Chao and I come from China. I wanted to take this course to improve my leadership abilities. I have spent time in a variety of managerial roles, often as a volunteer myself, and now I find myself leading volunteers. In China, we have a communal ethic, where the entire community and population pulls together to make sure that projects are a success. We have put together basketball and volleyball teams and tournaments with our school, and at the neighbourhood level organizedRead MorePseudo-Transformational Leader785 Words   |  4 PagesPseudo-Transformational Leadership The Relevance within Corporations by Kimberley K. Hyde A Paper Presented in Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements of LEAD500 LEADERSHIP STYLES AND THEORIES May 19, 2013 \ Effective leadership is the greatest tool for the success of any organization; they articulate the vision of the organization and are the motivation for others to fulfill that vision. Leaders have an impact on those they lead;Read MoreSituational Leadership Theory By Paul Hersey And Ken Blanchard1365 Words   |  6 PagesSituational leadership theory is a model based on the relationship between leaders and followers and proposes that the environment and the readiness of followers determines to a large extent, how leaders will tend to function. Developed by Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard in 1969 the fundamental underpinning of the situational leadership theory is that there is no single â€Å"best† style of leadership (REFERENCE). Situational leadership has been used extensively in organizational leadership training andRead MoreThe Role Of Transactional Versus Transformational Leadership1320 Words   |  6 Pages As the study of leadership has expanded over the past decades, a general shift in the paradigm of leadership style has begun to occur. The male dominated workforce has started to give way to a far more diversified workplace, with increasing numbers of women and minorities in leadership positions. This shift, resultantly, is causing a move away from the traditional leadership styles, with more focus given to contemporary leadership theories. For example, in a recent TED Talk Roselinde Torres discussedRead MoreTransformational Leadership in Healthcare Essay833 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Æ' Why now? Why are we focusing on transformational leadership? Healthcare costs are continuing to rise. Some of the critical problems and active debates prevalent in many hospital organizations include the rapidly intensifying healthcare costs, funding and reimbursement cutbacks, and concern regarding the overall quality and safety of health care. â€Å"Healthcare systems have come under pressure to improve performance and manage productivity† (Botting, 2011). To be successful in the 21st century