20th Century American Liberalism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

20th Century American Liberalism - Essay Example However, these ideas were challenged, asserted or weakened by the modern philosophers such as David Ricci and Will Kymlyika as they introduced new thoughts and beliefs with regards individualism, behaviorism and equality in the field of political philosophy.David Ricci, a leading philosopher in the previous century, argued that many political scientists have produced a plethora of literature only to improve their possibilities of tenure and thus, sacrificed rationality in their search of novelty which can give a scholar quick fame and prove her worth in her field. Ricci also argued in his essay Behavioral Persuasion that the rise of behavioral science brought about the decline of political philosophy (Ricci 150). He also contends that the quantity of work on the field of behavioral science has not produced real breakthroughs and that the behavioral scientists failed to see how systems in politics function. This, according to Ricci, resulted to the field's ethical shortcomings as expe rts in this area studied pseudo-politics and not real politics nor moral agendas applied to the field of politics.... This clearly means that if there is a conflict between individual and collective rights, individual rights should prevail (Kymlicka 122) . Although Kymlica's contentions have their precedence in the works of Rawls especially the pairs of moral principles Rawls suggested in his works, their ideas on individualism do not take parallel paths. In Rawls lecture titled Powers of Citizens and Their Representation, Rawls argued that democratic institutions usually lead to pluralism as our differences and diversity, groupings and ethnic variety often results to divergence in opinions (Rawls 47-88). He added that citizens will mostly disagree on their ideas with regards moral and political question but this pluralism is 'reasonable' in modern society. However, Kymlicka clearly argued that in the conflict of individual and 'plural' rights, the rights of an individual should prevail. This does not mean, nevertheless, that Rawls does not advocate respect of an individual opinion. As a matter of fact, Rawls contends that it is unreasonable to unwillingly acknowledge the claims of others (Rawls 51). For Rawls, disparate philosophies are results of freedom and this should be viewed positively as this lead to a diversity of 'comprehensive philosophical and religious doctrines about the nature of the good or ultimate value'. If this difference leads to arguments, Rawls suggest that these altercations should be viewed favorably as it is always difficult to reach a consensus (Rawls 56-57). On the topic of moral psychology, we will find that Ricci and Rawls have totally disparate assertion. While Ricci 'blames' behaviorism on what he claims as the culprit for

History midterm essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

History midterm - Essay Example However, scholars and official argued that for real strengthening to be realized in China, the country should develop basic western institution, including the western government organization and education. The reforms give rise to techniques and military technologies. On the other hand, another reform movement was initiated on 1898 after china was defeated in the Sino-Japanese war. Self-strengthening movement and Hundred Day’s Reforms have some common similarities and differences based on the objectives, achievements and targets. Both reforms advocated for introduction of western education to be introduced in China. Self-Strengthening Movement was more successful because they had foreign language schools, which led to turning foreign languages to Chinese. The reforms enabled Chinese to read and understand foreign languages and there was introduction of education missions, which included navigation and study shipbuilding. Approximately, 120 Chinese were sent abroad between 1872 to 1881. Although the Hundred Days Reforms emphasized on education, the conservative officials banned it. However, the reformers abolished the conservative officials and turned the content of the examination from classical knowledge of current affairs. Education gave a mixture of both Eastern and western studies. Just like the Self-Strengthening reforms, Hundred Days Reforms encourage members of the royalty to go abroad on learning trips. The old eight-legged essays were eliminated and students were to take classes on politics, current affairs and Chinese classical volumes. The self-Strengthening Movement was more successful in developing a relationship with the foreign powers. In this perspective, it led to the construction of the Zongli Yamen in Beijing with the objective of managing the affairs with powers. This reform was a tremendous step for China in embracing diplomatic relationship with