Abstract This paper is an analysis of the question of freewill and determinism as interpreted from the writings of David Hume. Specifically, this paper will present an overview and analysis of Hume's argument from "Of Liberty and Necessity", and it will be demonstrated that Hume is a 'soft determinist'. It will be argued that because 'necessity' (determinism) is a 'belief' that is conditioned in humans, and because certain patterns of behavior cross-culturally can be observed and understood as similar, that he is therefore a determinist to some extent.
Abstract This paper looks at examples of symptoms of dysfunction within a company such as indirect communication, alliances, a loss of corporate memory and a lack of friendship among professional colleagues. It examines different models of organization such as the structural model, the deterministic model and the computational model to determine which are useful in solving the problem of dysfunction within a company.
From the Paper "Another model of organization is the competency model. A competency model identifies skills, knowledge and the characteristics necessary to perform a job. These models have been in use for more than three decades. In the last five years, interest in them and their potential to help staffing and development efforts has increased dramatically. This interest will continue to grow over the next few years due to three key, related trends: intensified competition, aggressive cost management and downsizing, and the proliferation of a feedback system."
A comparison of two articles on climate change; "A Statistical Deterministic Approach to Hurricane Risk Assessment" by Kerry Emanuel et al, and "Global warming Did It! Well, Maybe Not..." by Joel Achenbach.
Abstract The paper looks at the article by Emanuel, Ravela, Vivant and Rish, entitled "A Statistical Deterministic Approach to Hurricane Risk Assessment" and the article by Joel Achenbach, entitled "Global warming Did It! Well, Maybe Not...". The paper analyzes these two articles regarding their content, their similarities and differences, as well as their impact on the reader.
From the Paper "Recently, there has been much talk about climate change, predicting the occurrence of hurricanes and trends in climate, and its impact on man's overall quality of life. With the recent disasters experienced from Hurricane Katrina, scientists are currently involved in developing methods to predict risks associated with these natural calamities. Scientists have recognized that climate changes result to expensive property losses, potential loss of thousands of lives, serious injuries, and massive destruction. Methods that aim to predict hurricanes risks based on wind speed and precipitation are being enhanced to warn the general population, and empower them to act before such disasters become a reality."
Abstract This paper examines existing studies by concentrating on two media: the World Wide Web and its use by people to construct an online identity and mobile phones and their impact on public situations. In a bid to discover whether social behaviour is affected and to what extent, it looks from a socially determinist angle at how people use media and their purposes and from a technologically determinist perspective at the affordances and constraints offered by particular media.
From the Paper "Traditionally, public and private spheres have been given different gender associations. It has been stereotyped that women are often depicted forming part of the private sphere (e.g. "the domestic bound housewife") whereas men participate more in the public sphere (e.g. "the breadwinner"). Valerie Frissen identifies a common representation of women as "victims of technological developments" (Silverstone, 1996: 56). I would also argue that a similar representation of men with regards to communication itself was also evident. Despite these views, many are beginning to recognise the role technology is playing in introducing public activities into the private domain and vice versa."
Abstract The paper specifies that, if the reader holds that certain events in life will invariably lead to certain other events but that human beings are allowed the "space" to make decisions for themselves within broad parameters, then determinism and free will are congruent. The author examines key concepts that enter into this discussion and how they "fit" together. The paper utilizes a deterministic story, which allows an array of causal accounts for each event and relates how free will conflict with this story. The paper concludes that compatibilism really can serve as an adequate philosophical theory as long as one accepts the notion of soft determinism and the idea that people can exercise their free will within certain deterministic parameters.
From the Paper "All that has been discussed thus far leads to the inclusion of a deterministic story that allows for an array of causal accounts for each event. In this case, a man with limited schooling loses his job; he finds himself broke and desperate; with his life crumbling, he turns to crime to sustain himself. A deterministic view would hold that the man's fate was sealed from the beginning because of his lack of education or his lack of mental acuity. Consequently, his options were limited from the start and he was compelled to make the decisions he made."
The concept of "planning and forecasting" from the basics are explained in this paper including the meaning of forecasting, planning and forecasting, methods of forecasting and techniques of forecasting.
Abstract The term forecasting can be defined as the process of estimating the reverent event of future based on the analysis of their past & present behavior. This definition of forecasting gives rise to three essential characteristics of forecasting. Firstly, forecasting relates to future events. It is the estimation of what will happen in future secondly,forces are made by analyzing the past & present events which are relevant. Anything predicted of the future can't be termed as forecasting. It requires proper analyzing of past & present event requires certain statistical & mathematical tools. Relating the business to forecasting, it may be defined as management tool which provides the necessary raw material for budgeting.
From the Paper "Ever since the man has developed the understanding to find out the concepts behind the phenomena's of nature, further prediction & forecasting has been the main tool in the hand of the person who starts up the experiments projects or any systematic activity to come to the required conclusion. Every individual every institution has to forecast some thing or the other in the daily sphere of life. All of us are interested in forecasting of some type or the other it could be the forecasting of daily experience in a day to day life or it could be related to the respective work, job or any activity. Forecasting is gradually becoming a must for all spheres of human activity may it be house politics or business. Needless to say it has a lot of importance in any of the respective spheres."
From the Paper "The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast the developmental theories of Erik Erikson and Jean Piaget. The paper discusses the similarities and dissimilarities of both theories.
According to Clark-Stewart, Friedman and Koch (1985), theories of human development consist of models of how people change (and stay the same) over time. Both Jean Piaget and Erik Erikson have formulated theories of human development (see: Piaget, 1951, 1952; Erikson, 1950, 1964, 1973). However, the nature of each man's developmental theory differs.
According to Pervin (1981), Erikson's psychosocial developmental model is a variant of the ..."
An examination of the Greek philosopher's ideas on final causes including types of causes, freedom of choice, ethics, luck, motion and change and necessity.
1,800 words (approx. 7.2 pages), 1 source, 2000, $ 63.95
Abstract "Teleology is the doctrine that final causes exist. There are different schools of thought concerning this issue. One school of thought is represented by various materialists, determinists, and behaviorists who believe that human behavior is no different from anything else in nature and so is subject to the same categories of explanation as are used in any of the natural sciences.
From the Paper "Teleology is the doctrine that final causes exist. There are different schools of thought concerning this issue. One school of thought is represented by various materialists, determinists, and behaviorists who believe that human behavior is no different from anything else in nature and so is subject to the same categories of explanation as are used in any of the natural sciences. This means that human behavior is shaped by natural causes, by physical forces of the same sort that guide objects. There is an opposing school of thought which includes both the ordinary language philosophers and many teleologists and libertarians, and they find that actions can never be explained mechanistically because they believe that an action can be defined only in terms of its ends, meaning it is to be represented by the agents' intentions, and therefore the action..."
This study defends the philosophy of determinism by arguing for the validity of this philosophy that there is no free will and against anti-determinist view.
1,350 words (approx. 5.4 pages), 4 sources, 1990, $ 47.95
From the Paper "This study will defend the philosophy of determinism, which argues that there is no free will or free choice, and that all of a human being's actions are a matter of cause and effect, resulting from previous actions over which the determined individual has no choice of control. The study will present arguments against the philosophy of determinism and will then offer counter-arguments meant to dispel the objections to the philosophy of determinism.
Objections to Determinism
1. Spinoza argues that man is indeed capable of a certain degree of freedom and self-determination. He argues that determinism overlooks the ability of the human being to reason and to thereby make choices: "The human mind is . . . capable of ... "
This study will argue that for a full understanding of the work and life of Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) it is necessary to read and appreciate the later and darker works of that writer.
I. Twain expresses a "deterministic pessimism" in his later
works:
A. These works are weakened by his fanatic and contrived writing in which he argues his points too stridently.
B. These works must be studied in order to understand the whole writer and whole man.
C. There are differences of opinion on the connection between Twain's pessimism and his determinism.
D. His darker writing was in part his effort to throw
Abstract The paper explains Freud's Psychoanalysis Theory and Sartre's belief that man is conscious and free. The paper argues that there is a sharp contrast between Freud who says a person acting from the impulses of his repressions cannot be responsible for his acts because they are unconscious, and Sartre who says a person has always had an awareness of what happens to him and is always accountable for his every deed. The paper states Sartre argues that what Freud claims as unconscious repression is only self-deception.
From the Paper "Freud, however, also theorizes that the unconscious mind changes the form or appearance of these repressed thoughts so that the superego will not recognize them and punish the ego with a sense of guilt. Either dreams occur in the person or he turns into a neurotic. By theorizing this way, Freud seems to have admitted that the unconscious mind is not so unconscious, after all, if it can shrewdly elude the superego. The unconscious mind, by Freud's own theory, can even deceive the superego and try to look like something else."
Abstract A review of Kant's philosophy with regard to individual, society and power. Kant believes the individual cannot be both a utilitarian and a Kantian in terms of moral theory. Of the two, Kant offers a more deterministic view of morality, while the utilitarians offer a more social morality. This paper looks at two pieces by Kant that explore the place of the individual in deciding their path in society and the power they have to control it all.
From the Paper "From one standpoint, man is a finite rational being and must see himself as belonging to the intelligible world. Therefore, he must conceive his will as free from determination by sensuous causes and thus as being obedient to laws based on reason alone. This means that he can never conceive of the causal action of his own will except under the idea of freedom. In this way Kant removes the suspicion of a vicious circle, and he does so by indicating different approaches to knowledge, approaches that are necessary."
Abstract This paper is an analysis and overview of the concepts of freedom over and against 'determinism'. The position of determinism will be defended in light of a passage or paragraph taken from the work and philosophy of Baron d' Holbach. This paper will begin with a general overview of the positions involved in the debate. In turn, following the overview of freewill, determinism, and compatibilism, this paper will present an analysis of both the 'passage' or 'quote' in question, but also outline some of the tenets and ideas of B.F. Skinner from a work titled 'Beyond Freedom and Dignity'. Next, an argument will be presented which defends a 'soft determinist' or 'compatibilist' argument which is made by A.J. Ayer.
Abstract This paper will argue that, as Chisholm realized, the forces of determinism have so long ruled the philosophical landscape because of their ability to determine the parameters of the debate. They have succeeded in redefining humans as "mechanistic" constructs and restricted the range of the self to the narrow boundaries of consciousness. As will be shown, the hard determinist position amounts to nothing less than a denial of the existence of the self in any meaningful sense of the word. In this context, this paper will argue that the forces of libertarianism must challenge this denial of the self, and extend the frontiers of the individual to the boundaries of the body.
Abstract This paper discusses the theme in Robert Blatchford's movie, "Sleepers", of humans' lack of free will and the degree to which it justifies personal failing in light of a greater environmental failure.
From the Paper "In ?Sleepers,? four relatively innocent boys go through a hellish experience of sexual and physical abuse in a reform school called ?Wilkinson's Home for Boys.? The remainder of the movie portrays the men they have become. Two are professional criminals and murders. One is a journalist and the other a slightly crooked District Attorney. The life of crime and murder embraced by two of their number is explicitly blamed on their experiences in the reform school. When they brutally murder one of the former guards from that school, even the neighborhood priest is willing to implicitly condone their action as a logical conclusion of their treatment. Additionally, the main character's failed relationship seems to be blamed on his experiences as well."
