The Passions and the Interests Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Passions and the Interests - Essay Example The point of departure in Hirschman's thesis is that "[capitalism] would activate some benign human proclivities at the expense of some malignant ones." In a "cash is king" or "money makes the mayor go" environment which basically elevates capitalism to the status of a savior ideology and a panacea to all social and individual ills, his commentary on capitalism stands out for which the proponent needs intellectual courage. One of the findings of Hirschman points towards the repression of human passion in favor of harmless commercial interests which became the centerpiece of capitalism but soon denounced as a negative feature emerging out of it. Thus nobel laureate Amartya Sen creates a scenario to elucidate the interplay between violent passion in society and individual's interest in acquiring wealth in what he calls a "crude example": consider a situation in which you are being chased by murderous bigots who passionately dislike something about you-the color of your skin, the look of your nose, the nature of your faith, or whatever. As they zero in on you, you throw some money around as you flee, and each of them gets down to the serious business of individually collecting the notes. As you escape, you may be impressed by your own good luck that the thugs have such benign self-interest, but the universalizing theorist would also note that this is only an example of the general phenomenon of violent p assion being subdued by innocuous interest in acquiring wealth. Hirschman makes the point that individuals are better off trading with each other rather than fighting with each other. Hirschman relives the intellectual climate of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries to highlight the changes in the capitalist ideology, wherein the pursuit of wealth which was once condemned as greed was later on upheld as a contributing factor towards harnessing and taming the destructive passions of individual. Compared with the Marxian interpretation wherein capitalism would cease to exist as an ideology with the withering away of the state, Hirschman's interpretation of capitalism and its rise takes an innovative form in that he maintains that capitalism is an unending ideology and that it only transformed itself through a series of internal processes into the modern market economy or its various off-shoots witnessed in many parts of the world. Hirschman taking inspiration from a large number of thinkers including Montesquieu, John Miller and Sir James Steuart "to gain a perspective on the meaning and significance of the views" spends some time narrating different views on the impact of economic activity on politics, and though the different views often advocate different policies, the common thread in the argument is that economic growth including betterment of the masses leads a society towards stabilization and which in turn may lead towards a process of democratization. According to Hirschman, if passions represent the state, and interests represent capitalism, the state regulates capitalism and capitalism is expected to regulate or tame the rulers' passions..

Architecture and the Environment Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Architecture and the Environment Paper - Essay Example Narrow rooms with low ceilings make people feel suffocated. People feel uneasy being in such places. On the other hand, voluminous rooms with high ceilings lend a sense of freedom and openness to the people. If the employees in an office are granted separate rooms with boundaries between adjacent rooms, they feel more relaxed as compared to being in the room where there are several employees with no walls marking the boundaries of their spaces. Hence, they tend to be more careful and reserved when they cough, sneeze, or even talk over the mobile phone than when granted individual rooms. The environmental psychological implications of commercial and residential design, including purpose and considerations â€Å"Environmental psychology is a science that studies how human behavior is influenced by the environment. The environment in this context comprises social, natural, constructed, learning and information settings† (Tipton, 2012). The environmental psychological implications of the commercial design include but are not limited to privacy and noise pollution. People don’t like to live in places where there are a lot of shops because such places remain crowded, and are not very peaceful. The commercial design should be such that it should provide the customers with appropriate parking spaces so that they do not park their cars in front of others’ homes. The commercial design should allow for the construction of toilets. The acoustical design of a cinema or club needs to be designed properly so as to ensure that the sound does not pass through the walls to reach the people living in the surroundings of the building. The environmental psychological implications of the residential design are numerous. The biggest concern in the residential design is privacy. For example, the window sills in the toilets should be high enough to block external viewers from looking inside the toilet. The windows in the rooms should be located such that the conten ts of the room are not visible to the neighbors. The exterior paint of the house should be attuned to the general trend, or it looks odd and destroys the color theme of the area. The purpose of providing windows in homes is both ventilation and illumination of the rooms with natural light, but when these windows become the unintended means to sneak into the neighbors’ private life, their change of location must be considered or may be demanded by the neighbors seriously. â€Å"Architects are practical visionaries with an ability to project possibilities and to connect knowledge with action† (Glyphis, 2001, p. 10). It is the responsibility of an architect to make environmentally responsible design in all sorts of construction works. The importance of architectural development supporting sustainable development Architectural development supporting sustainable development is a topic of immense importance in the present age where people are concerned about running short of natural resources, and the increase of global warming, and where living green is encouraged at all levels. Construction, whether residential or commercial, is one of the main areas where natural resources are required. Architecture creates several challenges for sustainability. It