Personal development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Personal development - Essay Example The thought can be well versed in clear meanings when the change takes place in one’s life through practical application of knowledge in either personal or professional world. The terminology that strikes the mind in relation to behavioral change is Personal Development. The development of potential capabilities, recognition of goals and targets, improving standard of living, and developing economically, personally and professionally all are the characteristics that defines personal development. While an individual works towards the development of his/her behaviors, they consciously or unconsciously may act as a guide or role model for the enhancement of others’ personality as well. In this context, the role of an individual can be of a teacher, coach, trainer, or instructor. An organization can work towards the development of employees’ performance through diverse processes of evaluations, monitoring of work and feedback system. To evaluate if the change has occ urred or not, whether it be personal or institutional, a person needs to design specific visions and outline an agenda for the achievement of aims, as a person is his/her own boss (Rose, 2008). Learning is an essential component in human’s life as it continues since the time of birth until the death. With the passage of time, the person notices a changing trend in his behavior, which initiates from schooling and moves ahead to his professional phase. Throughout his learning journey, one comes across many people with different backgrounds and experiences that influence his performance by a great deal. This can either inspire or encourage an individual to move towards his goals with determination or can leave de-motivating impact that may lead to decline and poor quality of his learning. Motivation is one of the fundamental aspects that lead to increase in possibility of positive learning. Reward is amongst the best examples of motivating one towards achieving his targets becau se it is human psychology that wherever a person finds a chance of gains, his work efficiency increases by a historic proportion. Constant guidance from senior workers and feedback on the quality of the work presented assists in gaining experience because they act as an expertise in the particular field (Rose, 2008). In view of some scholars, learning is â€Å"the process leading to relatively permanent behavioral change or potential behavioral change† (Cotton, 1995). Learning enables humankind to respond to the activities happening in the surroundings. In relation to it, learning also effects one’s perception about the issues due to the reason that it provides with quality information that gives us the knowledge to differentiate between right and wrong. Researchers (Rose, 2008) who have studied the impacts of learning on human behavior termed it as Behaviorism. The learning or a skill that a person attains through any kind of experience, commonly referred as experient ial learning is crucial and critical for change in behaviorism. Every individual has its own niche in the society for which a person works according to his approach and behavior that may have a positive or adverse influence on others’ behaviors. Moreover, the above discussion is justifiable by a real case scenario that has an enduring impact on my life. Initially, I was a person that used to leave a bad influence on my surroundings along with a non-earnest attitude towards work and life. I used to mess around with others and did not pay

Police in society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Police in society - Essay Example Dominating mentality is natural for all human beings. Police officers are getting the authority to dominate others through legal channels. If they try to use this authority simply to dictate others, such authority may yield more harm than good. So, it is necessary to make sure that the police recruits are able to use their power judiciously once they got their appointment. Psychological tests or screening are necessary to assess whether the police recruits would be able to use their power judiciously or not Courage is one of the necessary qualifications required for the police officer post. Cowards can never excel in police departments. The threats from the criminals and terrorists are attaining serious dimensions at present and the police officer should be able to counter all such attempts with courage. Only the psychological screening will reveal the abilities of a police recruit in tackling difficult situations in which courage is necessary. In short, psychological screening is ne cessary to police recruits to assess or forecast their future behavior. Vicarious liability is the liability of the superior for the acts of his subordinates. For example, an employee may feel that his manager has the authority to fire him. In fact, the employer need not given such authority to the manager. Here the employee’s belief is developed simply because of his unawareness about the organizational culture in his firm. Here the employer forced to take the vicarious liability of the acts of his manager because of the misunderstandings of the employee about his employer and manager. Chain of command is the order in which the authority and power of the top management is being exercised upon the employees at different levels. If the top management should ensure that all the employees in the organization have the right knowledge about the power, duties and responsibilities of each employees working in that firm. Otherwise employees may keep wrong inferences about the authori ty of other employees and the employer has the vicarious liability in such cases for the wrong assumptions of the employees. Harassment at workplace is common all over the world and America is also not an exception. Most of the workplace harassments are taking place because of the employee’s unawareness about his rights and the rights of his superior. The superiors often try to make the subordinate believe that he has enough power to take any actions against the employee. The employee may try to keep silence over the superior’s torture in such situations and when any disputes occur. In such cases, the employer is responsible to answer the questions about the torture, if he failed to give adequate information to the victim about the power structure in the organization well before the employees tarts his work in that organization. As per vicarious liability rule, â€Å"employers should establish anti-harassment policies and complaint procedures covering all forms of unl awful harassment† (The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) â€Å"An injury inflicted by positive, willful, and aggressive conduct, or by design, as opposed to an injury caused by negligence or resulting from an accident† can be put under intentional tort whereas â€Å"the failure to do something that a reasonable person would do in the same circumstances, or the doing of something a reasonable pers

Man-made environment issue- Eutrophication Essay Example for Free

Man-made environment issue- Eutrophication Essay Eutrophication is the ecosystem response to the addition of artificial or natural substances to an aquatic system. (Schindler, David and Vallentyne, John R. 2004)Most people don’ t really know about it, so I’m writing this essay to tell some facts about two major causes, the bad effect in my country – China and the prevention and reversal and how can the algae be used to make more benefit to the world and people who live on it. The two major causes of eutrophication are excess nitrates and excess phosphates in water. (e-How Jul 05, 2012)Many farmers use fertilizers to make their plants grow better, but one of the most frequently-used fertilizers is the fertilizer which contain nitrates and phosphates. Once fertilizer is applied, the nitrates, which are water soluble, will leach into groundwater or erode and end up in surface runoff. Phosphates will adhere to soil articles, and often accumulate in soil and erode, along with soil, into aquatic environments. ( Smith, V. H. ; Tilman, G. D. ; Nekola, J. C. 1999. ) Meanwhile, nitrates can also vaporize into the atmosphere, where they become a major source of acid rain. When the raindrops drop into lakes or rivers and streams, there are nitrates that come into water and cause the eutrophication. The bad effect of eutrophication in China is really serious. One of the most famous ones is the Tai River blue-green algae in 2007. Because of the eruption of blue-green algae, the water can’t be used at all. It smells like something is becoming putrid. Also some algal blooms are toxic to plants and animals. It has affected the citizen’s lives; they can just drink and use the water which was brought in shops. The urgent demand of the water has caused the price of the water to became more and more expensive. (Face to the Tai River blue-green algae 2007) It has not only brought people a lot of inconvenience but it also causes ecological consequences. â€Å"The general types of ecological consequences include: reduction in biodiversity, die-off of certain organisms, reduction in visibility and mobility functions due to biotic overgrowth. † (Eutrophication December 18, 2007) Because it causes a lot of biont to die, it breaks the balance of the natural world. Once the balance is broke, it’ll take a lot of time and plenty of human interference to fix it. In addition, it also affects the pocketbook of fishermen. There was less fish so fishermen could not catch many fish. (Face to the Tai River blue-green algae 2007) Even though eutrophication is just like an evil, there are still some ways to make it better. First of all, people can solve it by using biont that can remove or eat the nitrates or algae. â€Å"One proposed solution to eutrophication in estuaries is to restore shellfish populations, such as oysters. Oyster reefs remove nitrogen from the water column and filter out suspended solids, subsequently reducing the likelihood or extent of harmful algal blooms or anoxic conditions. †(Kroeger, Timm, 2012) And some plants, such as water hyacinth, Alternanthera sessilis, Zizania aquatica and plants like them are also helpful. ( No data,2008). The second one is a future work: minimizing nonpoint pollution. People can make riparian buffer zones which are interfaces between a flowing body of water and land. Creating riparian buffer zones nearby farms and roads is an efficient way to manage the eutrophication problem goes further. ( Angold P. G. 1997) At the mean time, government can manage this problem by promulgating policy. The policy can be broken into four major sectors: technologies, public participation, economic instruments, and cooperation. Technologies include all kinds of technologies that can prevent the eutrophication or can make it within a region. (Oglesby, R. T. and Edmondson, W. T. 1966. ) For example, the treatment of sewage is one of them. Public participation is used to make sure people do something to help reverse the eutrophication so that the policy will be effective. The economic instruments are used to give incentives to those who are eco-friendly. (Planning and Management of Lakes and Reservoirs: An Integrated Approach to Eutrophication. 2000) The cooperation between different organizations is really necessary to prevent it spreading further. Lastly, sponsoring people to use algae is also a good idea. China is a good example. The supply of crabs in China is always less than demand because Chinese love eating crabs. But the same crabs in Germany were so much that cause a lot of problems. The reason is Chinese eat them but German don’t eat them. This means Chinese know how to use them, but Germans don’t. However, how to use eutrophication? I’ll talk about it in next paragraph. Although there are lots of bad effects of eutrophication, it is also possible to use the algae. First, they are used as fertilizers, soil conditioners and are a source of livestock feed. People can also eat them. â€Å"It is a complete protein with essential amino acids and it contains high amounts of simple and complex carbohydrates which provide the body with a source of additional fuel. † (Uses of Algae as Energy source, Fertilizer, 2013) From this we can see, the algae not only can be eaten but it also has a high level of nutrition. They are good for humans, animals and land. As they are crude, it won’t hurt the environment and they don’t use a lot of energy. As a result, the eutrophication also has a good aspect. To conclude, although there are a lot of causes of eutrophication, there are still ways to solve the problem. By these solutions, people can be successes in managing the eutrophication and even use it as a kind of resource. This can be helpful to the short of resources and the environment. At last, I hope after reading my essay, you can learn more about eutrophication! Reference list Angold P. G. (1997). The Impact of a Road Upon Adjacent Heathland Vegetation: Effects on Plant Species Composition. The Journal of Applied Ecology 34 (2): 409–417. Doi:10. 2307/2404886. JSTOR 2404886. [Accessed 13 April 2013] eHOW, (2012) Causes Effect of Eutrophication [online] Available at: http://www. ehow. com/info_8387377_causes-effects-eutrophication. html [Accessed 13 April 2013] Face to the Tai River blue-green algae (2007) [online] Available at: http://news. sina. com. cn/c/2007-06-11/172513203878. shtml [Accessed 13 April 2013] How to manage eutrophication (2007) [online] Available at: http://www. goootech. com/solutions/detail/73015891. html [Accessed 13 April 2013] Schindler, David and Vallentyne, John R. (2004) Over fertilization of the Worlds Freshwaters and Estuaries, University of Alberta Press, p. 1 [Accessed 13 April 2013] Uses of Algae as Energy source, Fertilizer, Food and Pollution control (2013) [online] Available at: http://www. oilgae. com/algae/use/use. html [Accessed 13 April 2013]

Gender Differences in Personality

Gender Differences in Personality With relevant theory and research evidence, critically discuss the view that there are gender differences in personality One’s sex, or biological reproductive chances, can be seen as a discrete component to one’s gender, or their psychological perception of themselves used for identification (Phares, 1991). These perceptions of gender differences can be extremely influential from an early age, as seen in Rubin, Provenzano and Luria (1974) study examining the gender-role stereotype labels parents place on their children from a young age. Girls were described as ‘cute’ or ‘sweet’ whereas boys were described as ‘stronger’, both gender specific traits, even though the babies were almost identical in weight, height and activity. Gender differences can be predominantly seen in personality and have been apparent since ancient civilizations. Monuments would depict essentially feminine or masculine characteristics, females were originally viewed as ‘incomplete’ or imperfect males, and these ideologies persisted for years with reinforcement from p hilosophers such as Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas (Friedman Schustack, 2009). Personality, defined by Holt (2012), is the ‘distinct and enduring way in which we perceive and behave in life situations’. The view of differences in personality gender traits can confirm the defined enduring nature, with the female assuming an expressive role, directed towards nurturing and caring tendencies. The male takes on an instrumental role, exerting dominance and competitiveness (Parsons, 1955). However, it is reasonable to question and explore how these gender differences can be measured, the theories behind them and whether female and male traits can really be distinguished into two separate categories in today’s society. The Five Factor Model (McCrae and Costa, 2003) is a trait approach that has attempted to identify and measure gender personality traits. They distinguish women as scoring higher in neuroticism and agreeableness, whereas men scored higher on some aspects of openness and extraversion, such as openness to ideas and excitement seeking. However neither gender scored significantly on conscientiousness (Chapman, Duberstein, SÃ ¶rensen Lyness, 2007). Other trait approaches have endeavoured to classify masculine and feminine traits as multi-dimensional and overlapping. For example the Bem Sex Role Inventory classifies individuals to feminine, masculine, undifferentiated and androgynous (expressing both female and male traits) categories (Bem, 1974). Sexual behaviour and emotion has also been studied to a great extent to help further differentiate between gender differences in personality. Schmitt, Shackelford and Buss (2001) stated that men prefer short-term sexual relations with many partn ers, compared to women who prefer one stable partner over a long period of time. This can be seen in Clark and Hatfield (1989) findings where 3 out of 4 male students would enthusiastically agree to a one night stand compared to none of the women accepting the offer. Holt et al (2012) also state that when looking for a partner, men would seek a younger woman, whereas women prefer older and ‘well to do’ men. These are all gender specific differences in personality that can be explained by gender difference theories. Firstly, biological effects on sex have been suggested to have a major influence on gender personality and behaviour. In terms of genetic influence, the prenatal stage of foetus development can be manipulated to affect gender-specific traits when born, such as higher levels of aggression. Parsons (1980) exposed animal male and female embryos to androgens, the male hormone, during early prenatal development. After birth, both sexes produced higher levels of aggressive play compared to animals not exposed, which suggests the presence of male hormones had an influence on the physical development and personality of the foetus. This supports the idea that aggression can be seen to be predominantly a ‘male trait’ in Reinisch and Sanders (1986) findings. Male and female participants were asked to rate themselves on their physical and verbal aggression. Even though both sexes reported similar verbal aggression, males reported much higher demonstrations of physical aggression. Ho wever, this is not always the case, as Feshbach (1969) work describes, females largely exclude and reject newcomers compared to males, which is a form of indirect aggression, suggesting the cognitive intent of the aggression presented by females may be further internalised, compared to the outward aggressive display be males. This biological view to gender differences in personality can be related to the evolutionary perspective that males and females are genetically adapted for successful reproduction and preservation of their genes. Evolutionary pressures led to natural selection that created fundamentally different gender roles to promote survival (Shaffer, 2009). Males needed to seek as many partners as possible to ‘spread’ their gene, whilst females needed to avoid wasting their short reproductive opportunities by finding a mate that will protect and provide. This in turn created the gender roles seen today including masculine traits in their personality such as co mpetitiveness, assertiveness and aggression, compared to feminine traits such as nurturing, kindness and gentleness (Geary, 1999). Furthermore, Buss (1995) describes male superiority in visual spatial performance as skills gained from natural selection due to their advantage for hunting, killing and providing for the family. The evolutionary theory can be seen in sex differences in the personality trait jealousy, for example Buss, Larsen, Western and Semmelroth (1992) found that men portray more jealousy over the idea of their partner sleeping with another male, compared to women who present more jealousy over the idea of their partner being in love with another woman. Males don’t want the risk of providing resources for a child that may not be theirs, whilst women don’t want their mate to abandon them and leave them with nothing. However, these evolutionary differences in gender personality are not always consistent. Buss (2003) found that some women instead like to e ngage in casual sex with multiple partners because experience has resulted in securing better genes and better resources. This consistency between both sexes therefore leads to question whether females and males really do have specific differences, and suggests socialisation and learned experiences may have more of an impact on gender differences than biology. The Behaviourist approach to gender differences suggests that social learning has created gender-typed personality characteristics. Through operant learning, modelling, observation and classical learning, children develop gender- typed traits that can be used for identification and as a primary socialiser (Bandura Bussey, 2004). For example Henley (1977) describes operant conditioning in a little girl called jenny. Her mother tells jenny off for dirtying her party clothes, and praises her for showing passive and gentle characteristics, which are all reinforcements. Moreover, Peters father wrestles with peter, watches football games with him and promotes more aggressive behaviour, teaching and confirming to peter that these are the traits a male should portray. Repetti (1984) further explains how these gender traits are reflected in the types of toys children are given to play with. Girls were found to be given female orientated toys such as dolls, whereas boys were given masculine t oys such as cars or guns, reflecting the gender-typed personality traits. Also, Maccoby and Wilson (1957) studied the orientation towards same-sex role models in children. They found after the children had watched a film presenting interactions between opposite sex characters, the children recalled more information about the character that mirrored their own sex. The children’s memories had a ‘sex-linked’ quality. However, it could be suggested that socialisation is not a successful theory in determining gender differences in personality. Friedman and Schustack (2009) describe the David Reimer case, where a child, who was born a boy, was brought up and socialised to be a girl after a circumcision went wrong. David was given hormones and was taught to be caring, nurturing and take on a feminine role. However when David reached his teenage year he returned to his male identity, after what he described as an unhappy and ‘misleading’ childhood. Money and Ehrhardt (1972) insist that socialisation is still primary to gender assignment, as their research findings of androgenized girls suggest that before 18 months of age, it is possible to bring up a child as the opposite gender because the child hasn’t ‘internalised’ the gender at that age. However ‘failure’ to correctly socialise gender can still be seen today. Friedman Schucstack (2009) outline Dr. Joan Roughgarden case. She was born a boy and lived 52 years of her life as one. She was socialised to be masculine and had the biological make up of a boy, despite always seeing herself as a girl, and consequently ended up having a sex change. These findings suggest that human gender personality cannot solely be reliant on socialisation, however they do suggest that there still are differences within gender traits and socialisation advocates what traits each gender ‘should’ portray. The significance of different gender traits in gender socialisation is part of the explanation for gender schemas incorporated in the cognitive approach to gender differences. The gender schema theory suggests that culture and socialisation provide organised mental structures that help understanding of the way in which a male or female should behave and think (Bem, 1981). Gender schemas act as cognitive filters to help humans depict gender relevant material, and to use it in everyday life. For example Deaux and Major (1987) describe these cognitive filters being activated by each gender as females enter a beauty salon and males enter a car repair shop. Again, gender differences can be seen to be realistic and apparent. Nevertheless, the theories above do not explain concisely why there are female and male traits in personality. An Integrative theory could be used to see how biology, social-learning and cognitive developmental can overlap and contribute equally to gender differences. This theory suggests that different processes are important at different stages of development. As Halpern (1997) suggests, the prenatal stage consists of biological gender processes developing physically. Birth to three years consists largely of social learning about gender differences and gender schema comes in at three to six years of age. This theory shows a dynamic and interpretive way in which gender traits can be developed and distinguished. On the other hand, all these theories do not take in to account cross cultural differences, individual findings and the growing concept that gender differences all together may be disappearing. Sue and Sue (1999) suggest that African American families, compared to white American families, are observed to be matriarchal, where the mother of the family is the head decision maker. These findings suggest that what would be considered as ‘masculine’ traits can be seen presented in women. Mead (1935) observed differences between two New Guinea people, where in one group, both sexes would display certain considered ‘female traits’ of nurturing and caring, and both sexes of the other group would display certain male trait characteristics such as aggressiveness. These trait findings are opposite to what would be expected to be found in western culture and can suggest that gender traits are not as specific and defined as first thought. Research also suggests that soci al-class can affect the flexibility and ‘acceptable’ gender traits presented by men and women. For example Shaffer (2009) states that people from middle-class background have overall more acceptable views of gender trait presentation in men and women. They may feel more flexible to the idea of a male demonstrating a nurturing role, and a woman being the sole bread winner of the family, than working-class people. This can be seen as a typically modern idea, and can suggest that women and male gender personality traits are swapping, in terms of the roles they take on. This can therefore suggest that male and female gender personality traits are not so specific, but are only presented by the certain sex at certain times. This idea can be seen in Weisner and Wilson-Mitchell (1990) study where children raised in ‘countercultural’ homes, instead of traditionally at home with a mother and father, are seen to present an equal amount of male and female traits, and a re less gender-stereotyped. However, these children are still very aware of the traditional gender traits and the differences between them. Finally, this is not to suggest that cultural differences don’t mirror typical western views of gender trait differences. Williams and best (1990) carried out a longitudinal study over 30 different countries were they found overlapping traits most common found in both women and men, such as aggression and nurturing tendencies. Overall, gender differences in personality are both clearly affected by biological and behavioural influences. Males are born with an evolutionary inclination to behave aggressively, and this behaviour is encouraged by socialisation from parents and other role models. This can be seen in female evolutionary inclinations to nurture and protect their children, and socialisation such as being encouraged to play with dolls and care for them promotes these gender traits. Generally, gender traits in personality present more similarities between females and males than they do differences, but this does not mean they do not exist and are not portrayed differently over cultures and social classes. The way gender traits in personality are measured can determine to what extent male and females differ, but with modern ideas becoming the forefront of gender trait presentation, the distinguishing of gender differences in personality may be swapping over, becoming narrower, and becoming far less de fined.

Statistical Handling Data Coursework on High School Students Essay

Statistical Handling Data Coursework: High School For this handling statistical data coursework I will be investigating the heights and weights of students of years 7 to 11 in High School. Although this is a fictitious school the data is based on a real school. I will look for a trend in the heights and weights of the students to see if the taller they are, the more they weigh. This is my hypothesis. My Null hypothesis is that there is no correlation between height and weight, and my Alternative hypothesis is that there is strong, positive correlation between them. I will then investigate the heights of boys in years 7 and compare them to the girls, and then do the same in year 11. I will then be able to compare these two sets of results. These are my second and third hypotheses. I am carrying this investigation out because from my hypothesis I want to know whether students in the older years should be separated from the younger students in the lunch queues. This could be necessary because if the taller students are heavier, then the shorter ones will get hurt in the queue to lunch since students usually push their way to the front. So if the taller students are the older ones, then the year groups should be separated in the queue in order to prevent anyone getting hurt. In order to carry out this investigation, I will need to collect the heights and weights of all the students in High School between and including years 7 to 11. Instead of collecting the data, I can find the information on an exam board website. This data is reliable because it is provided by the exam board and is based on real students, however, it may be unreliable because it is secondary data, not primary since I am not physically collectin... ...rect guesses. They also provided a lot of inappropriate data such as their names which is inappropriate since isn’t worth investigating. The data could be biased because it was only collected from one school and not from other areas in the country. The data may be biased because there may have been a lot of snack shops or fast food restaurants near the school, which may have affected the students’ weights. I could have investigated further by using more than one school’s data and compared them and I could have had more hypothesise. This would have given more precise results due to a larger range and a larger sample. I could have drawn more graphs and made more calculations to get more accurate results. For example I could have calculated the standard deviation for my three hypothesise to get a more accurate spread of data than the interquartile range.

Up The Coulee :: essays research papers fc

Reconciliation   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In â€Å"Up the Coulee,† Hamlin Garland depicts what occurs when Howard McLane is away for an extended period of time and begins to neglect his family. Howard’s family members are offended by the negligence. Although his neglect causes his brother, Grant McLane, to resent him, Garland shows that part of having a family is being able to put aside negative feelings in order to resolve problems with relatives. Garland demonstrates how years apart can affect family relationships, causing neglect, resentment, and eventually, reconciliation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After a decade of not seeing his mother and brother, Howard returns to his hometown in Mississippi. It is evident how thrilled he is. As the train approaches town, he begins â€Å"to feel curious little movements of the heart, like a lover as he nears his sweetheart† (par. 3). He expects this visit to be a marvelous and welcoming homecoming. His career and travel have kept his schedule extremely full, causing him to previously postpone this trip to visit his family. Although he does not immediately recognize his behavior in the past ten years as neglectful, there are many factors that make him aware of it. For instance, Mrs. McLane, Howard’s mother, has aged tremendously since he last saw her. She has â€Å"grown unable to write† (par. 72). Her declining health condition is an indicator of Howard’s inattentiveness to his family; he has not been present to see her become ill. His neglect strikes him harder when he sees â€Å"a gray â₠¬â€œhaired woman† that showed â€Å"sorrow, resignation, and a sort of dumb despair in her attitude† (par. 91). Clearly, she is growing old, and Howard feels guilty for not attending her needs for such a long time period: â€Å"his throat [aches] with remorse and pity† (par. 439). He has been too occupied with his â€Å"excited and pleasurable life† that he has â€Å"neglected her† (par. 92). Another indication of Howard’s neglect is the fact that his family no longer owns the farm and house where he grew up. They now reside in a poorly conditioned home: It was humble enough--a small white house, story-and-a-half structure, with a wing, set in the midst of a few locust trees; a small drab-colored barn, with a sagging ridge pole; a barnyard full of mud, in which a few cows were standing, fighting the flies and waiting to be milked. (par. 74) Grant explains to Howard, who has obviously forgotten, that the mortgage on the old farm was too expensive for them to afford.

France vs. England 17th Century Essay

There are mainly two types of governments that emerged during the seventeenth century. Most of the political development took place in France and England. Absolute monarchy took over throughout France while constitutionalism, or parliamentary monarchy, was becoming popular in England between 1640 and 1780. France’s absolute monarchy developed because of the nobles and kings focused on the concept of divine right. England, on the other hand, developed through the businessmen and landowners trying to prevent the central concentration of political power. These governments grasped the attention of philosophers, leaders, and churches. Eventually, both would develop and influence the modern world today in Europe and the Americas. France was very popular at the time for creating the idea of kings reigning by divine right. This perception was that the ruler of a specific country was put there by God. It was their divine right to be there because they were performing the work of God. The king’s subjects were not to question the decisions of the king because it was God’s will; and who can question God? King Louis XIV was the most influential towards divine rights. He expected to be treated like a god because he was His representative on earth. Louis XIV was supported by Bishop Jacques-Bà ©nigne Bossuet, who was the leader of French Catholicism in the seventeenth century. He used examples from the New Testament of rulers who were only answerable to God. Popes had insisted since the medieval times that they could only be judged by God. Bossuet and Louis XIV then argued that only God had the right to judge kings. In England, there was a lot of turmoil between the reigning monarchs and large landowners. English monarchs tried to copy France with their financial system that did not  depend heavily on the estates, diets, or assemblies of nobles. By doing this, it helped to grant French monarchs absolute rule. While easily achieved in France, the English monarchy failed royally. James I of England also tried to achieve the divine right of kings. He wanted to lessen parliament’s power and called on them for help as little as possible. Without the help of parliament, James I had to find other means of revenue. He quickly angered his subjects because of England’s inadequate income; he threatened nobles, large landowners, and those of commercial wealth for money. James I and the Duke of Buckingham also sold royal patronage to the highest bidders. These  were some of the key factors that led to the distrust of the English monarchs. In contrast, King Louis XIV gained the trust of his people and nobles with ease. He would entertain nobles at Versailles, his personal twenty-six acre home. He would then grant them tax exemptions, wealth, and social standing if they supported him. The French nobility found the best way to protect and promote their interests was to support the reigning monarch. Instead of depending on the wealth of the nobles, he made the nobles dependent on him. He proclaimed that, â€Å"the state is me,† or in other words, that France existed for him. Louis XIV also promoted that there should be â€Å"one king, one law, one faith.† This helped him gain the loyalty of the Roman Catholics who wanted to restore Catholicism as the prominent religion in Europe. English monarchs also botched in establishing absolute mona rchy because of religion. Protestant became the leading religion among the English. Protestants believed that Sunday should be full of religious observances and very little leisure or recreation. James I believed that recreation and sports were innocent activities and permitted them to be played on Sunday, which infuriated the Protestant religions. Because of a few other miss happenings, a Protestant movement known as Puritanism was established. This was a nonpolitical force that opposed absolutism and sought to limit political authority and eventually overturn it. There were also Puritans in France that tried to rebel but their efforts were crushed by Louis XIV and the Roman Catholics who enforced religious uniformity. England also differed from France because of the creation of the Bill of Rights. After the Glorious Revolution, when James II fled to France, England put William and Mary of Orange on the throne. Though they were the new reigning monarchs, Parliament issued the Bill of Rights that limited powers of the monarchy and guaranteed the civil liberties of the English classes. William and Mary signed the Bill of Rights that would let them rule only by the consent of Parliament. From the beginning of their reign in 1689, they brought many economic and military resources into balance with the French and would eventually top France as the powerhouse of Europe. In Comparing French and English political development, the b eliefs of Thomas Hobbes and John Locke perfectly illustrate the differences between absolute and parliamentary governments. Hobbes was a strict supporter to absolutism and complete control. Locke was a supporter of constitutionalism  and protecting the natural rights of humans. Both of these philosophers, being completely opposite in view from the other, is the classic battle that has gone on forever and still exists today; the fight for power and the fight for freedom. Thomas Hobbes was a very talented and depressing political philosopher. He had discouragingly low view on values and the natural state of humans. Hobbes believed that the human race was so wicked and power stricken that they were cast out of paradise into the earth. To Hobbes, as expressed in the Leviathan, human nature was based on physical sensations and lust for power. One of his famous sayings was, â€Å"life is war of every man against every man.† This is why he thought that human beings must be controlled by absolute authority. The individuals should be told every choice to make and constrained by one supreme ruler that holds all power. Hobbes thought that rulers should have unlimited power because, â€Å"the dangers of anarchy are always greater than those of tyranny.† J ohn Locke, known as the defender of moderate liberty and toleration, had almost the exact opposite views as Hobbes. Locke viewed human beings in their natural state as being creatures of goodwill and reason. He believed that humans were divine creatures put on earth by God to learn from it and make it useful. Locke wrote the Essay Concerning Human Understanding that described the mind as being a blank slate at birth. As a person grows the development of who they become is based on their surroundings and those around them. Hobbes idea that humans are all evil is rebuked by Locke saying that people are not born evil. Their surroundings, experiences, and influences are what develop evil tendencies. Locke also wrote the Two Treatises of Government. The first described his distaste of absolutism. With too much power, he argued that there would be no freedom for anyone in the condition of absolute monarchy. The second treatise he described the natural and God given rights of humans. Among them were the natural rights of life, liberty, and property. Those ideas were used throughout history and in the Declaration of Independence. Another belief of his was that governments exist to protect liberty and the natural state of people not to overcome them. Locke was a very influential philosopher who greatly impressed many future generations with his political philosophical insight. Overall, the development of both absolute and parliamentary governments greatly affected Europe. The battles between France and England  to have a stable government caused chaos throughout both countries. If anything, the Europeans learned many ways how not to run a country. Both countries and the development of differing monarchies set an example for many other countries. France created a strong absolute government as an example for rulers all over the world on how to have complete control of people. England eventually came around and with the help of the people created parliamentary government. The concept of constitutionalism was even a model for constructing the American administration. Currently the battle between power and freedom still goes on and will continue as long as there are people like Thomas Hobbes and John Locke who argue for their beliefs.