23,790 research outputs found
Adam Smith's stages of history
No full textThe purpose of this paper is to examine Smith's four stages theory of history as an account of economic and social development, with an emphasis on the arguments and evidence he used to support it. In his biographical account of Smith's life, his friend Dugald Stewart described Smith’s method as 'conjectural history', initiating a debate which has continued ever since. Stewart meant that Smith used (informed) conjecture to fill the unavoidable gaps in the historical evidence, though hostile commentators have interpreted it as saying that Smith simply ignored the facts. This paper sets Smith's account alongside the evidence available to him to try to establish how much of it is pure speculation, unconstrained by historical evidence, and how much is rather a matter of interpreting evidence which can never be complete, as any historian is bound to do. It emerges that Smith did not (usually) neglect or ride roughshod over the evidence as it was available to him, but rather that evidence about some aspects and periods of history simply did not then exist, leaving much in his account that is indeed pure conjecture. The focus of the paper is on Smith, not on contemporaries or predecessors who argued a similar case. It deals with the substance of Smith's case, not with priority.Adam Smith, history, four stages, conjectural history
Siam and Laos, 1767-1827
No full textArticle on the history of Thai invasions and rebellions against Vientiane and the Chakri DynastySiam and Laos, 1767-1827
David K. Wyatt
Journal of Southeast Asian History
Vol. 4, No. 2 (Sep., 1963), pp. 13-3
Cult: A Composite Novel
No full textCult (redacted)
The first component of the thesis is a composite novel called Cult which falls into two parts with seven narratives in each. Part 1 tracks the protagonist, Ellen, from her first involvement with the cult through to her eventually leaving it. Although fiction, the first half of the book answers the kinds of questions the author is asked when people discover that she was once a sannyasin (a follower of the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh). While the experiences of meditation, group therapy and communal living are all faithfully rendered within the stories, the need for strong characters, narrative drive and a lightness of touch takes precedence.
Part 2 picks up Ellen’s story some twenty or so years later and explores what becomes of her in middle age. It also looks at other groups in society, such as academia, the law and the internet dating community which each have their own jargon, hierarchies, rituals and rules but are not considered to be cults.
The book examines the question raised in the Epigraph, ‘how do we be together when we feel so alone’ with a focus on relationships other than the familial and the romantic.
Collisions, Chasms and Connections: a Performative Exploration of the Composite Novel Form
The second part of the thesis is both a critical and creative response to three contemporary American books: Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout; A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan; and Legend of a Suicide by David Vann. The critical element comprises a close reading of the three books; a chronological reconstruction of their overarching storylines; and a consideration of what their authors have said about writing the books. It concludes that, in the composite novel, the simultaneous presentation of multiple views and storylines operate much like a 3D image to give the impression of depth to the characters and situations rendered. The creative element of the essay is a playful and personal response to the texts
Adam und Eva in der byzantinischen und abendländischen Kunst des Mittelalters
No full textThe pictorial art of the Church, as a spiritual product of the Christian civilisation, has continually received great influences from its ecclesiastical tradition and it was defined by its formal aesthetical standards and its iconographic preferences. A more nuanced reading of the parallels can be attained by placing the images in their visual context, which would allow a better appreciation of the meanings within. The biblical story of Adam and Eve, which is the theme of the following thesis, reflects the differentiation between the Eastern and the Western understanding of the events of the history of the holy Oikonomia, a point, which is the major ground for the development of the relative pictorial motifs. The protoplasts are the protagonists from their creation and life in paradise, the fall and expulsion until their resurrection through Christ. Their story is visualised in a number of scenes and episodes, having thus their original sin and resurrection for specific reasons centralised. This doctoral thesis attempts to collect as many parallels of the scenes is possible, trying to collate the Eastern with the Western visual approach in a deductive way, in order to reach our constructive conclusions and make available the combination of the art, theology and liturgy in the scenes of Adam and Eve in Genesis and in Resurrection (Anastasis). The reading we tried to perform was based upon the specific iconographical elements, which were worth to be commented. Our aim was to detect the direct bond between the production of art and the relevant patristic and apocryphal writings or even the theological theories, by quoting texts from the ecclesiastical literature, as well as the liturgical praxis.Die kirchliche Kunst hat als geistiges Produkt der christlichen Kultur stets unter dem Einfluss der kirchlichen Tradition gestanden und wurde durch ihre formalen ästhetischen Standards und ihre ikonographische Auswahl bestimmt. Eine genauere Bestimmung der Parallelen kann erreicht werden, indem man die Bilder in ihren visuellen Kontext stellt, was zu einem besserem Verständnis ihrer Inhalte führt. Die biblische Geschichte von Adam und Eva, welche das Thema unserer Arbeit ist, reflektiert das differenzierte Verständnis der Heilsgeschichte (Oikonomia) in Ost und West, welche die Hauptursache für die Entwicklung der entsprechenden Bildmotive ist. Die Stammeltern sind die Protagonisten dieser Geschichte seit der Schöpfung und dem Leben im Paradies, sowie Sündenfall und Vertreibung, bis zu ihrer Auferweckung durch Christus. Ihre Geschichte wird in einer Reihe von Szenen und Episoden visualisiert, wobei die Ursünde und die Auferstehung aus besonderen Gründen im Mittelpunkt stehen. Diese Dissertation versucht, so viele wie mögliche Gemeinsamkeiten der Darstellung herauszuarbeiten, um so in deduktiver Weise den visuellen Zugang des Ostens und des Westens in Beziehung zu setzen, um zu konstruktiven Ergebnissen zu kommen und eine Verbindung von Kunst, Theologie und Liturgie in den Darstellungen von Adam und Eva in der Genesis und der Anastasis, am Anfang und am Ende also, herzustellen. Unsere Untersuchung basiert auf den spezifischen ikonographischen Elementen, die wir kommentieren. Unser Ziel war es, die unmittelbare Verbindung zwischen der künstlerischen Darstellung und den entsprechenden patristischen oder apokryphen Schriften oder sogar den theologischen Theorien zu ermitteln, indem wir Texte aus der kirchlichen Literatur, aber auch aus der liturgischen Praxis heranzogen. Wir versuchten die Beteiligung der Stammeltern Adam und Eva im Genesis-Zyklus und der Anastasis-Szene in Beziehung zu setzen, deren Darstellungsnormen zur Gänze auf der Heilsverheissung Gottes basieren. So besteht unsere Dissertation aus zwei Teilen: Genesis und Anastasis (Abstieg in den Hades), sowie einem Anhang, welcher die Überschrift „Die Bildsprache der Geschichte der Stammeltern“ trägt, der Bibliographie und einer Liste der verwendeten Abbildungen
Hume and Endogenous Money
No full textDavid Hume’s monetary theory has three standard yet inconsistent readings. As a forefather of the quantity theory of money, Hume sees money as neutral. As an inflationist, Hume sees an active positive role for monetary policy. As a monetarist, Hume sees an active positive role for monetary policy only in the short run. This paper reads Hume consistently instead by showing that for Hume money is endogenous and demand-driven. Hume would read the money equation in terms of reverse causation and the co-movement of inflation and output growth as driven by demand. The tenets of 18th century monetary theory corroborate this reading.
Interpretations of the Classic: The Theory of Wages
No full textThe well-known enduring controversy on the interpretation of Ricardo's wage theory, and by implication on classical wage theory, has undoubtedly been fuelled by the existence of some inconsistencies in Ricardo's writings. However, as far as the factors affecting normal wages are concerned, these inconsistencies may carry less weight than is usually believed.. The present paper aims to provide a critical overview of the controversy concerning the interpretation of the theory of wages in classical economists, offering a somewhat unusual perspective. I contend that there are major similarities between the two interpretations that have been regarded as the main contenders, the so-called New view and Fix wage interpretations. Due to these similarities, the controversy has tended to neglect a decisive point for the interpretation of the theory of wages in Ricardo and other classical economists, namely, the meaning of 'demand for labour' in classical thought. I also maintain that there is a third point of view concerning the interpretation of wage theory in the classical economists, which has not been accurately understood and discussed in earlier surveys of the controversy. Unlike the others, this Alternative interpretation, as I shall label it for brevity, centers on the absence of a systematic decreasing relation between real wages and employment in Ricardo and other classical economists. The Alternative interpretation will be presented in some detail, and some questions posed by the New view will be assessed from the point of view of this alternative interpretation.Classical economists; Classical theory of wages; David Ricardo; Adam Smith
Star of David Marker Stone : Amidst Mass Graves Bikernieku Forest
No full textArts and Sciences, Irving K. Barber School of (Okanagan)Economics, Philosophy and Political Science, Department of (Okanagan)UnreviewedFacult
The classical notion of competition revisited
No full textWe compare and analyse two different conceptions of market competition: the walrasian notion of perfect competition and the Classical notion of free competition: while the former may be described as an equilibrium state in which atomistic agents treat prices parametrically, the latter is a situation in which agents, endowed by market power, fix prices strategically. We show that price undercutting or outbidding are the typical phenomena that, for the Classical authors, may be observed in a market characterized by free competition. We investigate some problematic aspects of the neoclassical notion of perfect competition and we reconstruct the Classical theory of free competition, as developed, in particular, by Adam Smith and Karl Marx, in the light of the modern notion of mixed strategies equilibria.Classical Economics, Competition, Adam Smith, Karl Marx, mixed strategies
Auschwitz II-Birkenau : Death Camp : Processing Center : Family Photo of Jewish Couple with Star of David Armbands
No full textArts and Sciences, Irving K. Barber School of (Okanagan)Economics, Philosophy and Political Science, Department of (Okanagan)UnreviewedFacult
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Sovereign Sentiments: Conceptions of Self-Control in David Hume, Adam Smith, and Jane Austen
No full textThe mention of “self-control” calls up certain stock images: Saint Augustine struggling to renounce carnal pleasures; dispassionate Mr. Spock of Star Trek; the dieter faced with tempting desserts. In these stock images reason is almost always assigned the power and authority to govern passions, desires, and appetites. But what if the passions were given the power to rule—what if, instead of sovereign reason, there were sovereign sentiments? My dissertation examines three sentimentalist conceptions of self-control: David Hume’s conception of “strength of mind”; Adam Smith’s conception of “self-command”; and Jane Austen’s examination of these conceptions.
Hume divests reason of motivational power, and with this new moral psychology comes a new conception of self-control. Humean strength of mind is indirect, artificial, and social—a regulatory system that humans cannot develop until societal systems of government and regulations have been instituted. Smith accepts Hume’s anti-rationalist arguments, but he emphasizes that only certain sentiments are fit to rule. And he argues that self-control develops without the sophisticated external conditions posited by Hume. Smithian self-command is the capacity to modify one’s feelings in accordance with a regulative ideal: the sentiments of an imagined impartial spectator. Austen responds to these conceptions, illustrating and complicating them. Sense and Sensibility explores the difficulties of discerning the feelings of others, and Persuasion dramatizes the difficulties of distinguishing strength of mind in another, offering sets of characters for the reader’s scrutiny, each with a competing claim to strength of mind. Taken together, Austen’s novels offer a fuller and more delicately shaded depiction of the sort of self-control that Hume and Smith imagine in their philosophical works.PhilosophyDavid Hume; Adam Smith; Jane Austen; self-control; reason; emotion; sentimen
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