Max Weber on Culture, Authority, and the Iron Cage

With Karl Marx, Émile Durkheim, W.E.B. DuBois, and Harriet Martineau, Max Weber is considered one of the founders of sociology. Living and working between 1864 and 1920, Weber is remembered as a prolific social theorist who focused on economics, culture, religion, politics, and the interplay among them. Three of his biggest contributions to sociology include the way he theorized the relationship between culture and economy, his theory of authority, and his concept of the iron cage of rationality. Weber on the Relationships Between Culture and Economy Webers most well-known and widely read work is The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. This book is considered a landmark text of social theory and sociology generally because of how Weber convincingly illustrates the important connections between culture and economy. Positioned against Marxs historical materialist approach to theorizing the emergence and development of capitalism, Weber presented a theory in which the values of ascetic Protestantism fostered the acquisitive nature of the capitalist economic system. Webers discussion of the relationship between culture and economy was a ground-breaking theory at the time. It set up an important theoretical tradition in sociology of taking the cultural realm of values and ideology seriously as a social force that interacts with and influences other aspects of society like politics and the economy. What Makes Authority Possible Weber made a very important contribution to the way we understand how people and institutions come to have authority in society, how they keep it, and how it influences our lives. Weber articulated his theory of authority in the essay  Politics as a Vocation, which first took form in a lecture he delivered in Munich in 1919. Weber theorized that there are three forms of authority that allow people and institutions to attain legitimate rule over society: 1. traditional, or that rooted in the traditions and values of the past that follows the logic of this is the way things have always been; 2. charismatic, or that premised on individual positive and admirable characteristics like heroism, being relatable, and showing visionary leadership; and 3. legal-rational, or that which is rooted in the laws of the state and represented by those entrusted to protect them. This theory of Webers reflects his focus on the political, social, and cultural importance of the modern state as an apparatus that strongly influences what happens in society and in our lives. Weber on the Iron Cage Analyzing the effects the iron cage of bureaucracy has on individuals in society is one of Webers landmark contributions to social theory, which he articulated in  The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. Weber used the phrase, originally  stahlhartes Gehà ¤use  in German, to refer to the way the bureaucratic rationality of modern Western societies comes to fundamentally limit and direct social life and individual lives. Weber explained that modern bureaucracy was organized around rational principles like hierarchical roles, compartmentalized knowledge and roles, a perceived merit-based system of employment and advancement, and the legal-rationality authority of the rule of law. As this system of rule -- common to modern Western states -- is perceived as legitimate and thus unquestionable, it exerts what Weber perceived to be an  extreme and unjust influence on other aspects of society and individual lives: the iron cage limits freedom and possibility. This aspect of Webers theory would prove deeply influential to the further development of social theory  and was built upon at length by the critical theorists associated with the Frankfurt School.

My Fathers Prostitute By Steven Whitacre - 1871 Words

Steven Whitacre experienced a very traumatic childhood of abuse from his father which led to a very difficult adulthood. In his book â€Å"My Fathers Prostitute†, he talks about his life, starting out when his father first abused him to more recent times in adulthood to where he finally sought help and started to move on in his life started to live the life he should and deserves. This book really opened my eyes on what all goes on in this world that I would have never guessed. â€Å"Every eight minutes, a child is sexually assaulted in the U.S., and 93% know the perpetrator† (â€Å"Adult Survivors of Childhood†). To me this statistic seems insane and I cannot ever imagine being sexually assaulted by anyone let alone one of my parents that I am supposed to trust and love. When you really think about it, that how every eight minutes a child is getting sexually assaulted it is astonishing. It makes me wonder how many people I know that I have been sexually assaulte d but don’t tell anyone. I assume there are many different cases of sexual assault and how there are different levels of how traumatic they are to the individual someone came upon. With some people, the sexual assault only happened once, and with others like the author of My Fathers Prostitute it happens during their entire childhood to impact the individual even more. I am not saying that the individuals who have only been sexually assaulted once came out un hurt or traumatized, but I would just imagine that it would not leaveShow MoreRelatedSummary Of My Father s Prostitute By Steven Whitacre2060 Words   |  9 Pages11/6/17 Book Analysis: My Father’s prostitute â€Å"My Father’s Prostitute† by Steven Whitacre, is an honest and chilling book about an innocent boy’s struggle from child to adulthood. When reading this book, I found myself completely shocked and interested at the same time. It was different to read a book from the authors life and I think that is what made it that much more interesting. â€Å"My Father’s Prostitute† is a book about a child’s struggle, that leads into adulthood. When Steven was about four years

Finnis’s Natural Law Theory Free Essays

Basically, Finn’s’s natural law theory are divided into three main parts, each with its own purpose and function. According to Finnis, there are first, a set of notions that â€Å"indicate the basic forms of human flourishing as goods to be pursued and realized† and that every human being should have the idea on how they should act. Secondly, Finnis further argued on the notion of â€Å"a set of basic methodological requirements of practical reasonableness †¦ Which distinguish sound from unsound practical thinking and . We will write a custom essay sample on Finnis’s Natural Law Theory or any similar topic only for you Order Now provide the criteria for distinguishing between [reasonable and unreasonable acts]. Thirdly, a methodological requirements that allows one to distinguish between acting morally right or morally wrong and â€Å"to formulate . .. a set of general moral standards†. 1. First Main Part of Finnis Natural Law Theory : Basic Human Goods Finn’s’ naturalism is both an ethical theory and a theory of law. Finnis introduced the theory of basic goods in human life as the first part of his natural law theory. Based on the set of notions that, â€Å"indicate the basic forms of human flourishing as goods to be pursued and realized† which according to Finnis, every reasonable person would ssent to the value of these basic goods as objects of human striving, and these basic goods are â€Å"indemonstrable but self-evident principles [that shape] our practical reasoning. â€Å"Finnis distinguishes a number of equally valuable basic goods namely, life, practical reasonableness, knowledge, play, friendship, religion, and aesthetic experience. Finnis argues that the list of basic goods is exhaustive in that â€Å"other objectives and forms of good will be found †¦ to be ways or combinations of ways of pursuing .. and realizing †¦ one of the seven basic forms of good, or some combination of hem. † His argument basically means that in order to achieved the basic good, the elements of seven basic goods must be fulfilled. A person is said to achieved basic goods even if he achieved either one of the basic forms or combinations of the basic forms, he don’t need to pursue all of the seven basic goods at the same time. Since the human basic goods does not provide any hierarchy between the seven forms, hence, the basic goods are incommensurable. According to Finn’s, none of the basic goods â€Å"can be analytically reduced to being merely an aspect of any of the others, or o being merely instrumental in the pursuit of any of the others,† and â€Å"each one, when we focus on it, can reasonably be regarded as the most important. In simple words, Finnis argues that, each of the forms of basic goods are to be distinguished from each other because each forms has intrinsic values. 1. 1 . Knowledge Stating that knowledge is good, or thinking of knowledge as a value, is not the same as saying that knowledge is a moral value. By saying knowledge is to be pursued† since it is ag and that goods are to be pursued†Finnis is not saying that a moral obligation has been created. Finnis’s basic goods are to be thought of as intrinsically good in that all of these values should be considered good for their own sake and not for an instrumental purpose Finnis more particularly describes the good of knowledge as that of speculative knowledge, explaining that this good is the good of knowledge being â€Å"sought for its own sake. This reference to knowledge can also be articulated as truth†so that one can say that this is truth sought for its own sake in the same manner as knowledge. Here, Finnis is not describing an instrumental use of knowledge, but rather â€Å"the pure desire to know’ merely out of curiosity and â€Å"an nterest in or concern f or truth and a desire to avoid ignorance or error † Finn’s’s primary argument for the value of the knowledge, as for the value of other items on his list, is by appeal to the reader’s intuition: It is obvious that those who are well-informed, etc. simply are better-off(other thing being equal) than someone who is muddled, deluded, and ignorant, that the state of the former is better that the state of the latter, not Just in particular case of that, but in all cases, as such, universally, and whether I like it Otr not. Knowledge is better that ignorance How to cite Finnis’s Natural Law Theory, Essays

Using Cloud Computing Technology Microsoft â€Myassignmenthelp.Com

Questions: How Can Microsoft, Australia Implement Its Cloud Computing Technology To Provide Betters Security To Data And Information Stored In Databases? Why Does The Cloud Computing Technology Incurs Such A Huge Cost And Expertise That Is Needed To Be Possessed By The Workers Of Microsoft In Australia? What Kinds Of Measures Are Recommended For Microsoft, Australia To Overcome The Issues Related To Data Security And Higher Capital Investments? Answers: Introduction The research proposal is designed to discuss the various advantages and disadvantages that have been derived by using cloud-computing technology at Microsoft, Australia. The cloud computing enables computing technologies based on the internet technology for allowing the users to run programs that have been downloaded on a computer server. The cloud computing plays a major role in managing accessibility to different types of applications and programs with the use of internet technology. The research will illustrate about how the cloud computing can be used as an effective computing infrastructure by the organization to access computer networks, hardware and software components along with servers, applications and services efficiently. All these will be possible with the use of internet technology (Arora, Parashar and Transforming 2013). Other than the benefits, the cloud computing has resulted in various issues too including essentiality of internet connection, otherwise the accessibi lity to servers, computer networks, applications and programs will not be possible. If Microsoft exceeds the actual bandwidth allowance, then charges can be quite high and without downloading all the services, it can create cerate severe complexities to business the files and data through multiple devices (Microsoft.com 2017). Project Objective To determine the benefits obtained by Microsoft, Australia through the utilization of cloud computing. To make an evaluation of the negative effects of cloud computing on Microsoft, Australia To assess the different ways or approaches by which Microsoft in Australia has implemented its cloud computing systems To make recommendations for resolving the issues related to cloud computing and ensure successful business functioning for Microsoft, Australia. Project Scope There is immense scope for managing this research project because Microsoft, Australia has managed to provide Azure Cloud region for the Government of Australia to manage the data and information properly that have been left unprotected and not classified as well. The project scope helps in determining the various ways by which clouding computing can be implemented and proper business functioning is possible for Microsoft in Australia. With the identification of a proper scope, there will be enough opportunities to conduct a detailed market research and evaluate the benefits and drawbacks of using cloud computing with ease and effectiveness (Beloglazov, Abawajy and Buyya 2012). Advantages of cloud computing For the business organization, the cloud provider in Australia could deliver enhanced cloud services for the management of data and information that would be required to be protected and kept secure. Cloud computing provides an excellent digital platform to remain connected with the customers and stay ahead of the rivals within the competitive business environment, furthermore manage transformation of data to develop smartest applications and programs. The support by Government of Australia could help in making informed decisions and improve the engagement of customers. It could drive necessary changes, improvements and make clarification of the public trends among the workers to make them deliver services according to their needs and preferences (Chaisiri, Lee and Niyato 2012). Delivering innovation options The hybrid cloud has been used by many organizations in Australia to provide innovation options to the developers of programs and applications in Australia and deliver unmatched value that can satisfy the customers quite easily. The utilization of cloud computing has not only facilitated the development of better quality apps but also has led to the delivery of innovation services for allowing the organizations to achieve the business goals and objectives accurately (Chen and Zhao 2012). Decrease in capital investments Cloud computing allows for making investments for only how much it has been used. There is no need for greater capital investments to manage the deployment of local systems. The business organizations need to pay only for any extra users and in any case the members of a team decrease, the cost of cloud computing applications and programs will also be reduced. Therefore, the running costs would also be lowered and enhance the capability of the organizations to deliver better outcomes and productivity (Fernando, Loke and Rahayu 2013). Advantages of scalability While upgrading the functions and activities of the local system, there is need for purchase of hardware components along with management f proper licensing and configuration of networks and servers. Cloud computing provides better scalability by managing the hardware and software components and provide necessary support to the local systems whenever necessary. It has also enabled automatic upgrades and maintain the cloud services within less time too (Hamlen et al. 2012). Scope for mobility is huge The business organizations have stored the applications and programs in the cloud service provider with internet connection for accessing the software applications with ease. This would allow for managing the accessibility of data and information by the organizational staffs and keep that information stored securely. Advantage of disaster recovery Disasters tend to happen and this could result in huge loss of important data and information, because of which consistent backup should be required. As it is quite time consuming and costly, cloud computing has overcome these issues by managing safety of data and ensuring that the services and data are protected and made operational. This could transform the business as well as enhance the security mechanisms (Hashizume et al. 2013). It is because the data and information are stored in clouds and it prevents any unauthorized access to the data. Better collaboration and competitiveness The cloud computing delivers good cloud based applications that can encourage the staffs to work as a team and increase their potential to perform efficiently too. With the help of cloud computing system, small and medium sized organizations could be benefited through improvement of software systems and infrastructure of the organization, furthermore making the internet servers, computer networks and database systems function far better than previously (Lee and Zomaya 2012). Disadvantages of cloud computing for Microsoft, Australia In spite of the benefits drawn from the utilization of cloud computing system, there are several disadvantages too. Dependency on internet connection The cloud computing technology is purely based on internet connection and in case of any latency issues or lower bandwidth, the organizations suffered and failed to implement the cloud computing system properly. Depending upon the internet connection entirely was a major drawback, as without proper internet connection, the organizations would be unable to access the data and information (Microsoft.com 2017). Security issues There were security issues like emergence of NSA snooping scandals and even breach of data through hacking activities. These kinds of issues hindered the security maintenance and even exposed passwords and user names of the users within the organizations. High cost of implementing the cloud computing Though cloud computing looked like it reduces capital investments and operating costs, still all the features might not be present in the cloud and this it would need additional investments to add the features that were found missing. The customization of cloud based software and programs had greatly increased the cost and thus it had been a major drawback too (Rittinghouse and Ransome 2016). Though the inbound transfer of large amounts of data is free, the outbound data transfer incurs huge cost. Impact of cloud computing usage on Microsoft, Australia The cloud computing technology had allowed the business organizations to manage the servers, computer networks, applications, programs and databases with the use of internet and even monitor the ways by which customers utilize the big data and analytical information (Microsoft.com 2017). Cloud computing and provide various benefits for the business organizations in Australia through effective management of business operations and processes with convenience. This would evolve the business and boost the production level through proactive monitoring and management of capital assets properly (Xu 2012). The financial services would be improved to ensure customer satisfaction. Other advantages include benefiting the organization by enhancing its capability to attract more customers and generate positive outcomes with the support of Australian Government. The cloud computing usage by Microsoft in Australia had improved the customers services and support and even transformed the ways of keep ing data and information secured. The use of SQL server further enhanced its efficiency by providing exceptional security and enhanced performance within the organization (Zissis and Lekkas 2012). Literature gaps While conducting the research, various websites, articles and documents were reviewed, among which few of those did not contain relevant data and information. The presence of inaccurate data and information also hindered the successful accomplishment of research. There was poor access to the journals and articles because of which the negatives of using cloud computing were not assessed properly as audit. Qualitative research The main steps involved in the qualitative research include identifying the questions prepared based on the objectives, determine ways of collecting data and generate validated findings to prepare the final report. The qualitative data is obtained by interviewing the managers of the organization and obtaining their responses and opinions for the questions related to the use of cloud computing. Among the various sampling techniques, the non-probability sampling technique is the most suitable for obtaining their opinions by selecting a proper time when they can be available to become part of the interview session (Arora, Parashar and Transforming 2013). The sampling size is chosen as 10 managers of the organization from whom qualitative data has been obtained in the form of their views, opinions and responses. The managers provided their answers without any bias, so the data is valid and reliable and thus it can be used for conducting research on the same topic afterwards as well. The variables specified are cloud computing, advantages and disadvantages (Chen and Zhao 2012). Quantitative research Quantitative research allowed for obtaining the responses of customers and managed generalization of data for the development of a research hypothesis and identify the aims and objectives that are needed to be achieved properly. The sampling techniques used here are random sampling and purposive sampling techniques. This had helped in selecting a particular group of people from a huge population and then survey questionnaires were provided to them regarding the benefits and drawbacks of cloud computing. The questions present there were subjective, which helped in maintaining the validity of the research. The reliability of data was achieved because the customers provide their responses that were considered as data and information collected without bias and these could be used for further researches in the future as well (Fernando, Loke and Rahayu 2013). The sample size has been chosen as 55 customers for collecting quantitative data. Research Limitations Due to language barriers, many of the respondents could not understand the survey questions properly and this even wasted a lot of time during the research completion. They could not understand certain questions properly, because of which certain responses were not provided. The lack of time was another limitation, because though the research had been completed within the assigned time period, there was need of some extra time to accomplish the research conduction in much details (Hamlen et al. 2012). Time Schedule (Research plan) Main activities/ stages Month February Month March Month April Month May Month June Month July Selection of topic Collecting data from secondary sources Constructing the research layout Literature review Development of research Plan Selection of Appropriate Research Techniques Primary data collection Analysis Interpretation of Data which are collected Conclusion Development of Draft Final Work submission Conclusion The research was conducted to identify the major strengths and issues related to the use of cloud computing at Microsoft, Australia. The objectives, questions and collection of data procedures had been included here to show how the research was conducted. The literature review section provided an insight about how the cloud computing technology had created a positive impact on the organization and transformed the business entirely though betterment of services and products delivered to the customers. Reference List Arora, R., Parashar, A. and Transforming, C.C.I., 2013. Secure user data in cloud computing using encryption algorithms.International journal of engineering research and applications,3(4), pp.1922-1926. Beloglazov, A., Abawajy, J. and Buyya, R., 2012. Energy-aware resource allocation heuristics for efficient management of data centers for cloud computing.Future generation computer systems,28(5), pp.755-768. Chaisiri, S., Lee, B.S. and Niyato, D., 2012. Optimization of resource provisioning cost in cloud computing.IEEE Transactions on Services Computing,5(2), pp.164-177. Chen, D. and Zhao, H., 2012, March. Data security and privacy protection issues in cloud computing. InComputer Science and Electronics Engineering (ICCSEE), 2012 International Conference on(Vol. 1, pp. 647-651). IEEE. Fernando, N., Loke, S.W. and Rahayu, W., 2013. Mobile cloud computing: A survey.Future generation computer systems,29(1), pp.84-106. Hamlen, K., Kantarcioglu, M., Khan, L. and Thuraisingham, B., 2012. Security issues for cloud computing.Optimizing Information Security and Advancing Privacy Assurance: New Technologies: New Technologies,150. Hashizume, K., Rosado, D.G., Fernndez-Medina, E. and Fernandez, E.B., 2013. An analysis of security issues for cloud computing. operations of Internet Services and Applications,4(1), p.5. Lee, Y.C. and Zomaya, A.Y., 2012. Energy efficient utilization of resources in cloud computing systems.The Journal of Supercomputing,60(2), pp.268-280. Microsoft.com. (2017).Microsoft - Official Home Page. [online] Available at: https://www.microsoft.com/en-au [Accessed 27 Oct. 2017]. Rittinghouse, J.W. and Ransome, J.F., 2016.Cloud computing: implementation, management, and security. CRC press. Xu, X., 2012. From cloud computing to cloud manufacturing.Robotics and computer-integrated manufacturing,28(1), Accouting. Zissis, D. and Lekkas, D., 2012. Addressing cloud computing security issues.Future Generation computer systems,28(3), pp.583-592.