...Functionalism in a Family Functionalism in a Family We Can Work Together Introduction to Sociology I Beth Stewart April 9, 2013 Functionalism in a Family 1 My family would seem very normal from an outside perspective; if someone were to look deep into all the aspects it takes to keep all of us sane and functional, they would be amazed at the effort and dedication it requires. If you look at how “each structure fulfills certain functions, or purposes and activities, to meet different needs that contribute to a society's stability and survival,” (Beth Stewart, lecture 2) you can compare that to a family idea as well. Each family member is a different structure and each has different functions that contribute to the family as a whole. Of course there are many different views and values, but that just gives us more information and ideas to sort out everyone’s different needs. For example: Each parent has a role in providing for their children, whether it is equal roles, or divided ideas. If the father is supposed to provide income, and the mother is supposed to nurture, it can be detrimental to the child and even the spouse if one or both of those roles are not being upheld. “Some social patterns are dysfunctional because they have a negative impact on a group or society.” (Stewart, lecture 2). If one person (structure) of the family is expected to maintain a certain function...
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...Παλεπηζηήκην Κύπξνπ Πνιπηερληθή ρνιή Σκήκα Αξρηηεθηνληθήο ΑΡΗ 201 – Αξρηηεθηνληθή ύλζεζε IV Επηβιέπωλ Καζεγήηξηα: Νάηηα Χαξαιάκπνπο Εαξηλό Εμάκελν 2014 Peter Eisenman _ House Studies Παλαγηώηα Σδηνύξξνπ Αλαζηαζία Γεωξγηάδε Νίθνο Κπξηδή Peter Eisenman House Studies Born: August 11, 1932 (age 83), Newark, New Jersey, United States Books: Ten Canonical Buildings, Giuseppe Terragni and more Awards: Guggenheim Fellowship for Humanities, US & Canada, Wolf Prize in Arts. House VI Peter Eisenman House Studies House VI “Now going back to the houses and to conclude that question, first, I never thought that I would want to build anything but houses because I thought that the house gave sufficient room to experiment with non-functionalities since there is no one type of functional organization for a house but there are architectural organizations” “architecture should cleanse itself of all obligations dictated by function, place, technique, or program, and address only those formal principles that helped solve the constructional problem in question ” Architecture Tools: Rotate, Array, Offset, Stretch, Montage, Grid, Paneling, Slippage, Mirror, Volume articulation. Peter Eisenman Architect: Peter Eisenman Location: Cornwall, Connecticut Client: Mr. and Mrs. Richard Frank Project Year: 1972-1975 House Studies House VI Peter Eisenman House Studies House VI “The cube loses its value as such when the nucleus...
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...\ The Chinese Room Argument The Chinese Room argument was developed by John Searle in the early 1980’s. The argument was designed to prove that strong artificial intelligence was not possible. While the argument itself is flawless, John Searle’s opinion that strong artificial intelligence is impossible is not. The Chinese room argument is really more of a thought provoking experiment. You are asked to imagine an English speaking man in a room, within this room there is nothing but tools to which he can translate Chinese symbols. The man in the room is passed these symbols through a slit on one side of the room, and using his tools he must translate them. Then, he passes the translations through the slit in the other side of the room, and to the people outside the room it looks like he understands Chinese. Searle’s argument is that just because it looks like the man understands the Chinese symbols, and has the tools to translate the Chinese Symbols, doesn’t mean he actually understands the symbols. Within this argument the man represents a computer. The symbols are given to the computer, the computers programming allows the computer to translate the symbols, and the computer gives an answer. At no point does this imply the computer understands the original information it was given. The computer was simply programmed to be able to function as such(Gams 231). Using words and substituting the word Computer for Strong Artificial Intelligence the argument would sound...
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...Locke’s theory on personal identity relies heavily on the matter of psychological continuity. He believes that the criteria for a human being and the criteria of a person are different (Study Guide, pg165). The criteria for a human being rely on the structural continuity of the being whereas the criteria for personal identity are the individual’s psychological continuity and his ability to withhold memory. The continuation of memory plays a vital part in Locke’s theory as, he believes that a person’s identity is shaped by the memories he has of himself (Study guide, pg166). However, Butler and Reid objected certain aspects of Locke’s theory. In which, Butler stated that Locke’s theory was circular as, he had failed to notice that the relation of memory presupposes the notion of personal identity (Study Guide, pg167). Butler does not state that Locke’s theory of personal identity is wrong, however he is simply stating that Locke’s theory of memory cannot be a criteria for identity as it is causing a circular problem. This is because, if an individual identifies himself based on his memories, then memory and the individual would be the same thing. Hence, this in turn raises the question as to who holds the memory. Therefore, Butler believes that even though Locke’s theory may be right, the memory theory should not be a criterion of personal identity. Reid also raised an objection with Locke’s theory whereby he believes that memory is neither necessary nor sufficient for...
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...Name Professor Course Date John Searle’s Chinese Room Argument When coming up with the ‘Chinese Room’ argument, John Searle was looking to establish whether or not machines can be termed as “intelligent” judging by the kind of accurate outputs they produce, given a specific kind of input. He specifically aimed at refuting the functionalism claim that, just like people, machines with the ability to run programs are presumed to have consciousness and a brain. In Searle’s argument, he creates a scenario where one is locked in a Chinese room without any knowledge of the Chinese dialect but is expected to answer questions in Chinese. As per his theory, an English-Chinese guide would allow one to answer the questions accurately but not understand the conversation. In relation to this, John Searle concludes that a computer has no ability to understand or achieve consciousness no matter how intelligent the underlying computer program might be. According to the argument, a human being with no knowledge of the Chinese language is locked in a room. He is issued a set of English guidelines that help him relate each set of Chinese symbols to another set. Basically, the rules are to guide the individual on how to use the Chinese characters to answer the questions brought forward. At the end of the process, the Chinese illiterate will be in a position to write down Chinese answers to the questions, which are also in Chinese. To those that posed the question, the individual will seem...
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...Sociology Homework; Assess the strengths and weaknesses of the functionalist view of society. Functionalism is seen as a macro scale approach to society as it doesn’t focus on individual aspects of it but looks at it as a whole. They associate society with a biological organism and Parsons identifies 3 similarities between these two. The first is the system organisms, both society and biological organisms are self-regulating but have parts which are all inter-related to help function as a whole (in the body; cells & organs, in society; institutions). The second similarity is headed system needs, and the last is functions as for example in the body each organ contributes to something different and within society each institution is present for a different purpose. This macro scale approach can be seen as a strength as it allows all sociologist from the functionalist perspective to observe society and the institutions within as a whole. The functionalists also see society as something positive and something that benefits everyone as they believe it focuses on the needs of the whole. An aspect of the functionalist theory is that they believe society is based on value consensus whereby all norms and values are agreed on by members of the society. The functionalists believe that many societies have in placed democracy as the norms and values have come to a state where everyone agrees with them. This can be seen as a strength as the Functionalists are seen to realise that democracy...
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...Functionalism (Integration) Functionalism (Integration) Introduction International integration refers to the process by which supranational institutions come to replace national ones- the gradual shifting upward of sovereignty from the state to regional or global structures. Functionalism is a theory of International Relations that arose during the inter-War period principally from the strong concern about the obsolescence of the State as a form of social organization. Functionalism is a doctrine that looks at organizations in terms of their function; also, it focuses on the way individuals and groups work together. Functionalists focus on common interests and needs shared by states (but also by non-state actors) in a process of global integration triggered by the erosion of state sovereignty and the increasing weight of knowledge and hence of scientists and experts in the process of policy-making. Functionalism proposed to build a form of authority based in functions and needs, which linked authority with needs, scientific knowledge, expertise and technology, i.e. it provided a supraterritorial concept of authority. The functionalist approach excludes and refutes the idea of state power and political influence (realist approach) in interpreting the cause for such proliferation of international organizations during the inter-war (which was characterized by nation-state conflict) and the subsequent years. Definition “International...
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...Buck Buleza SP 2750 Research 2.1 Applicability of the Functionalist Theory * Which type of group interaction does this theory talk about? * This theory speaks of how each member of a group is responsible for the function of the group. There must be a balance from each member for the group to function properly. If one member of the group does not hold up their end of the workload then it throws off the rest of the group. Communication is key here. * How does this theory assist in the functioning of groups? Functionalism in a group setting should help with the balance of the group. All members would take on their own responsiblities/workload to match that of the other members. This allows the group as a whole to progress forward toward their goal. If any member starts slacking though it will throw off the rest of the members. The group would then need to meet and figure out a way to rebalance. * State a hypothetical scenario that depicts how this theory applies to a group. “For example, the government, or state, provides education for the children of the family, which in turn pays taxes on which the state depends to keep itself running. The family is dependent upon the school to help children grow up to have good jobs so that they can raise and support their own families. In the process, the children become law-abiding, taxpaying citizens, who in turn support the state. If all goes well, the parts of society produce order, stability, and productivity. If...
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...In this essay I will argue that John Searle’s Chinese Room does not refute the possibility of strong AI. The thought experiment goes something like this: Imagine you are a monolingual English speaker in a room with boxes full of Chinese symbols, and a guide book that maps sequences of symbols to other sequences of symbols. You receive a piece of paper with symbols on it from outside the room, the input, and, using the guidebook, the program, arrange and pass different sets of symbols out of the room. Unbeknownst to you, the symbols you pass out, the output, are carrying on a fluent Chinese conversation with a person outside of the room. Strong AI is the position that a computer running a sufficiently advanced program could generate mental states that are identical to those generated by humans, that is, the AI would be conscious in the same way we are. Contrast this with weak AI, which merely mimics human behaviour, without the corresponding mental states. Searle maintains that any system that operates in a purely syntactic manner will never be intelligent in the same manner a human is,...
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...The theory of functionalism came to be with the works of Herbert Spencer, Emile Durkheim, Talcott Parsons, and Robert Merton. Functionalism is when society works together in maintaining a balance. This balance inherently provides a set function that interconnects the dynamics of institutions and families with this theory. One cannot function without the other, since every institution influence just another dynamic. Functionalism also stresses the concepts of functionality and dysfunctionality. There is a dysfunctionality with the number of teenagers that abuse prescription drugs, because it is related to a dysfunctionality in family roles with their upbringings. Even Sherman states that some of the children who abuse the drugs have witness...
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...Is Wal-Mart good for America? Wal-Mart is one of the most powerful and broadest companies in America. There are more than 5,000 stores worldwide, 100 million shoppers per week and they had $256 billion sales in 2003.Everything is very inexpensive there and they always have the lowest prices. Although that is a good thing, it is bad because it keeps people out of work and the workers get low wages. Global retailers are the most powerful companies in America now. Sam Walton, the creator of Wal-Mart said his formula was, “Buy cheap, sell for less than the other guy and make your profit on high volume and fast turnover.” Wal-Mart can be examined using both structural functional and social conflict theory. Structural functional theory is when society is a complex system of interconnected and interrelated social structures each having a function and working together to promote social stability. One hundred million people shop at Wal-Mart every week. Wal-Mart is very convenient for people to shop at. Most people do not even have to shop at other stores because Wal-Mart has everything. It’s also convenient because it is right around the corner from a lot of customers houses; they don’t have to travel far to find a Wal-Mart store so they save gas. People already know that Wal-Mart has the lowest prices so they don’t have to search for stores with low prices. The items sold are good quality as well as cheap. What more could someone ask for. Wal-Mart is a world leader in logistics and...
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...July 22, 2012 Video games have become as pervasive an aspect of our society as television, with many people spending more time playing video games than watching television. There are many perspectives with which to gauge videos games’ effect on society, from a functionalist, conflict or interactionist perspective. (Schaefer, 2011) Each of these sociological theories can provide a different view of video games, how they affect society and the subcultures that develop around them. The functionalist perspective would emphasize the way in which the parts of a society are structured to maintain its stability. (Schaefer, 2011) A functionalist may point out the manifest functions of video games as a facilitator of social interaction among friends, or the function of educational games in younger children. The functionalist may also observe latent functions, such as improving hand-eye coordination, or even unintended educational aspect of video games not intended for children (such as police coming and arresting the player character when crimes are committed in games, mirroring the real-life consequences of one’s actions) A functionalist can also characterize video games as a dysfunction I n society, with individuals neglecting other responsibilities in favor of playing the games, or stating that the games encourage violent or antisocial behaviors. The conflict theory would focus on tensions between groups (Schaefer, 2011), so someone analyzing video games from a conflict perspective...
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...The Chosen People – Functionalism What if only you and the people you’re standing with in a room were the only ones left, while everyone else outside of that room perished completely? In this situation, that is our current dilemma. So how does the functionalist perspective apply to this scenario? Let us examine. Being the only people left alive is a pretty big think to try and come to terms with. What would be our first thoughts? After getting over the initial shock and heartbreak that we have most likely lost all the ones we love and the friends that were dear to us, we would need a game plan. But where do we even begin? Personally, I would make the statement that we would need someone to be our leader, to be our person in charge to put forth a plan so that we all can survive together. For this scenario, I think the functionalist perspective applies perfectly because according to functionalists, they believe everything serves a purpose, and I think we could all serve a purpose if we join together as a team. A great way to explain functionalism is to think of it being like the human body, there are many parts and pieces of the body that must come together and work as one in order for the body to function properly and continue thriving, I like to think of functionalist perspective as being defined in the same way, many interdependent parts that in the end must share an equilibrium. According to our text, “…every part of society is dependent to some extent on...
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...Functionalist perspective interpretes society as an interconnected social net, that works to drive society toward a balanced state. Often, institutions and society contribute to the well being and stability of everything. Each part of society plays a vital role as a result of being whole, a single player cannot function alone. “Parts of society” can rage from institutions such as the government, family, education, religion, and media. An institution, like the government, provides free education to its people. People utilize education to gain jobs and make a living. In turn, this money is returned back when people pay taxes. Then those taxes get spent back into education. This loop is an example of how society depends on each other to help sustain the well being of everyone. Another important part of this theory is the emphasis on order. For example, immigrants such as those from Mexico thrive to work hard. Many undocumented mexicans have low paying or harsh work environments due to being in the country illegally. Usually these people work under the table, work in fields, low skilled jobs, or private homes. Immigrants hold a majority of undesired and unpleasant jobs other people will not work for. According to the theory, hard work needs to be done even if its unpleasant or if it's done by those minorities so that in the end it’ll still result in helping society. Another example, sweatshops all around the world, which many asian children (not in U.S) or even people in the U.S...
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...In any political system are structures that have different functions to ensure an effective and smooth running of things in that particular political system. This is why this essay will discuss the problems faced by opposition political parties in Zambia using the structural functionalist theory. First it will explain what structural functionalism is, then it will define structures, functions, a political party and an opposition party then before giving the conclusion it will discuss the problems faced by opposition parties in Zambia. Johari (2011) defines structural functionalism as a means of explaining what political structures perform what basic functions in a political system, it is a tool of investigation. Macions and Gerber (2010:14) states “this approach looks at society through a macro-level orientation, which is a broad focus on the social structures that shape society as a whole and by this society evolves like organisms”. According to Johari (2011:73) “functions deal with the consequences involving objectives as well as processes of the patterns of action, Structures refer to those arrangements within the system which perform the functions. For example the police are a structure within the political system that have a function of maintaining peace and order. “In the concept of functions, three basic questions are involved- what basic functions are discharged in any given system, by what instruments those functions are performed and under what conditions the performance...
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