Rational function

Are we humans simply brute animals, or are we capable of being rational, intelligent creatures? These questions are discussed in Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift, but the answers are primarily left up to the personal discretion of the reader. Both perspectives are analyzed. Gulliver bears an undeniable resemblance to the brutish Yahoos, but he also shows the Houyhnhnm-like characteristics of reason and language. This satirical book is used to draw attention to how brutish and…

detrimental to one’s ability to perform basic functions as well as one’s long term health. The act of waking up suddenly causes sleep inertia; when the gradual process of waking up is forced or interrupted by an alarm, the worse the “grogginess” caused by sleep inertia feels. Sleep inertia affects one’s ability to perform simple tasks because the cortical regions in the brain, the part that helps humans make decisions, takes longer to activate. Functions such as “memory, reaction time, ability…

Max Weber, a German social historian, is considered to be the founding father of bureaucracy and defines bureaucracy as the ideal and rational method of organisation, hence the most efficient way of conducting business. Weber built his model on four factors: functional specialisation, hierarchy of authority, a system of rules and impersonality (Weber, 1947) and formulated the concept of bureaucracy as a response to the inadequacies found in earlier forms of organisational structure. Weber…

body, but rather exists prior to being with the body. He believed that the soul exists inside the body until it dies. Because of this, Plato called the body the prison to the soul. One of the main arguments Plato makes is that the soul has the function of “caring for things, ruling and deliberating (Republic, 353d).” He goes on to add that living is also an essential part of the soul. We can conclude from this that a good soul cares, rules, deliberates, and lives well, while a bad soul does…

Papers motivated by dynamic inconsistency As explained in the introduction to this chapter, dynamic inconsistency poses a difficulty for welfare analysis, since the individual reveals different preferences at different points in time and it is unclear which of these set of preferences, if any, should be regarded as representing his welfare. An early approach to welfare evaluation in the presence of dynamic inconsistency is called the multi-selves Pareto criterion (e.g., Laibson et al.…

Aristotle: Demystifying the Good Life Aristotle had a singularly practical approach to living a good life, one that rouses hope and reasonability rather than dread and piousness. He was able to view the purpose of human morality based on its contextual function within nature, rather than the sentimental fanaticism and self-importance that comes so naturally to humans. His practical analysis feels reasonable and respectful, rather than demanding and condescending. It’s a more effective and…

to Mary Wollstonecraft’s Vindication but also take into account her predecessors, like Burney, Inchbald, and Scott. Throughout Edgeworth’s stories in The Parent’s Assistant, her goal is to help parents and their children come to understand that a rational education is the best option for the future of their society. In particular, the stories that revolve around a female protagonist attempt to encourage fathers and mothers to educate their daughters as they would their sons. In this way,…

same time mobilizing resources. Resource mobilization theory veered away from collective behavior which was looked at as irrational and unorganized and focused more on being organized and having the people be rational thinkers before acting upon something. When looking at people being rational, the main focus of that is individuals weigh the costs and benefits of movement participation and act only if benefits…

principle behind a virtuous action is greed or lust, then the action, whether it helped or hurt society, would be deemed ethically wrong. Kant focuses a lot of his theory on the notion that individuals act mostly rational. In Kantian ethics the basis of morality is solely rational. It’s solely rational for an individual to act in a way that they would want everyone else in the world to act. The universal law principle of Kant’s follows the belief that an action is ethically good when the…

social workers must understand the different leadership skills that the groups presents. For this assignment, I observed the group I was assigned to, which was group four. In my observation of the group, I observe the group members interaction and function. I focused on the dynamics, leadership skills and stages of the group development within group four. For this paper, I will be discussing my observation of group four dynamic and leadership skills as well as applying the social exchanged…