Sunday, February 23, 2020

The Philosophical Naturalism Of David Hume Essay

The Philosophical Naturalism Of David Hume - Essay Example Humes influence is evident in the works of quite a lot of other philosophers, among whom are: Adam Smith, Immanuel Kant, Jeremy Bentham, Charles Darwin, and Thomas Henry Huxley. The diverseness of these writers shows what they gleaned from reading Hume; it reflects not only the richness of their sources but also the wide range of Humes empiricism. Contemporary philosophers recognize Hume as one of the most thoroughgoing exponents of philosophical naturalism. David Hume sought to develop more fully the consequences of Locke's cautious empiricism by applying the scientific methods of observation to a study of human nature itself. He was of the opinion that we cannot rely on the common-sense pronouncements of popular superstition, which illustrate human conduct without offering any illumination, nor can we achieve any genuine progress by means of abstract metaphysical speculation, which imposes a spurious clarity upon profound issues- that we are entirely unjustified in thinking that we can ever know anything about matters of fact. He thought that the alternative is to reject all easy answers; employing the negative results of philosophical skepticism as a legitimate place to start. Hume felt that since human beings live and function in the world, we should try to observe how they do so. The key principle to be applied to any investigation of our cognitive capacities is, then, an attempt to discover the causes of human belief. According to Hume, the proper goal of philosophy is simply to explain why we believe what we do. His own attempt to achieve that goal was the focus of Book I of his book, the Treatise of Human Nature and all of the first Enquiry.

Thursday, February 6, 2020

Construction Economics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 2

Construction Economics - Assignment Example The economic policy of a government is generally reflected in its national budget (Jenkins 1978). Partly, it is through the budget that the government exercises its three principal methods of establishing control: the stabilization function, the allocative function and the distributive function. In some cases, economic policies are usually influenced by international institutions such as the World Bank or International Monetary Fund as well as policies of political parties and their beliefs. The business environment within which most housing and construction companies operate has continued to change rapidly throughout the world. Construction companies that fail to adapt or respond to these changes have problems in their survival. Therefore, contractors must be capable of improving their performances continuously in order to out smart their competitors. In nature, the construction company is complex because it consists of a large number of parties as contractors, stakeholders, clients, consultants and regulators. However, despite its complexity, it plays a great role in the achievement and development of the goals of a society. Economic growth refers to the rise of per capita gross domestic product (GDP) or other measures of total income. It is usually represented in annual basis as the rate of change in real GDP. The economic growth of a country depends on the ability of that country to improve its productivity, that is, its ability to produce more goods and services using similar inputs of labor, materials, energy and capital. According to most economists, there are two types of economic growths: the long-term economic growth and short-term economic stabilization. However, economic growth is usually concerned with the long-term type. The short-term type is rather deemed as the business cycle. The leading indicator of the state of economy in a given country is the housing and