...AFRICAN PRINCE Justifying African State Leaders’ Decisions Through Machiavellian Realism Safir Jamal Copyright 2008 – All Rights Reserved THE AFRICAN PRINCE Safir Jamal Ambrose Bierce defined politics as “the conduct of public affairs for private advantage” (Jansson 468). When this nineteenth century American journalist expressed such a sardonic view about the art of governance, he alluded to the inseparability of politics and self-interest. This inseparability forms the foundation of classical realism, a prominent international relations theory that attests that human nature is self-serving, sinful and wicked. Such traits ultimately help to explain why all actors endeavour to satisfy their individual intentions (Sens 14). While principles of self-interest are central to the classical realist theory, it is the importance of power that has become widely synonymous with the realist perspective. Defined as the ability to make other actors do what they would not otherwise do, the pursuit of power is an instinctive desire of all individuals (Singer 81). One individual in particular, Niccolo Machiavelli, had arguably the most profound understanding in history of the importance of power (Kuper 1). In his acclaimed treatise The Prince, Machiavelli, a 15th century Florentine diplomat, advised state leaders – or princes – on effective approaches to statecraft. As an extension of classical realism, Machiavellian views have proven to be timeless and universal, as they have been identified...
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...Understanding Machiavellianism and Narcissism Roshan Priyadarshi (B14103) Vishwajeet Goel (B14121) Madhur Maheshwari Tanveer Ali (B14118) Ankur Gupta Section B Abstract This paper tries to explore the concept of Narcissism and Machiavellianism and the effect of these on a person’s personality as a whole. Narcissism, personality trait of egoism, conceit, or simple selfishness and Machiavellianism, employment of cunning and duplicity in statecraft or in general conduct, if in excess seem to have a negative effect on a person’s behaviour. The characteristics of the person indulging in these traits are analysed through this research and also the effects of their presence in excess to . Machiavellianism and narcissism can be called to be some of the most important and governing constituents of one’s personality and thus governs the behaviour of people at their workplace or in their decision making to a great extent. Consequences of very high or very low Machiavellianism and narcissism can be grave and therefore effects of both these conditions are evaluated. Also methodologies to determine the level of Narcissism and Machiavellianism in an individual are discussed through this paper. Hopefully this research will provide insights to the positive and negative effects of Narcissism and Machiavellianism and assist the reader in avoiding or minimising the negative effects of these. Narcissism The term was coined by Freud after Narcissus who in Greek myth was a pathologically...
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...Introduction Organizational Learning has become an important theory in the development of leadership and organizational growth. There are many works available on the topic but Peter M. Senge’s book “The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization” is held as the foremost organizational learning concept that others have built upon. In 1990, Senge outlined the five disciplines as follows: 1. System Thinking: is the conceptual framework where organizations see the total picture to make effective change. It is considered the cornerstone of the disciplines. 2. Personal Mastery: is dependent on the commitment of the organization’s members to effect change so the organization may learn. 3. Mental Models: exposes the biases that we carry with us, which we may be unaware of. In order to learn and change it is necessary to “turn the mirror inward.” It opens the member to “learningful” conversations and other’s input. 4. Building Shared Vision: this is the shared commitment of the future goals of the organization. The key component of this discipline is that the vision is shared by the stakeholders and not dictated by the organization. 5. Team Learning: this is the foundation to the organization’s ability to thrive. It is a vital component of modern organizations as the learning unit is the team, as opposed to the individual. The teams must learn so the organization may learn. Senge defined his framework as disciplines because he considered them...
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...compelling, so painfully clear, that it simply cannot be ignored. Faced with it, all one can do is carefully explore the contours of the ancient and the new, hoping to retain enough responsibility to open his eyes to the differences when they manifest themselves. This is what the current paper sets out to do. Though hundreds of years and thousands of miles stand between 16th century Italy and 20th century Singapore, between the writings of Niccolò Machiavelli and the statecraft of Lee Kuan Yew, the similarities are extraordinary. This paper will argue that the political views and actions of Singapore’s ruling elite – more precisely, those of the country’s ‘founding father’ Lee Kuan Yew – can be powerfully interpreted through an application of Machiavellian principles. This interpretation takes place on two levels. First, the political actions of Singapore’s ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) can be shown to consistently reflect Machiavelli’s prescriptions for maintaining an authoritarian regime, diffusing discontent and crushing opposition. Singapore is a country where human rights have come to be seen as nonessential in the race towards national economic excellence. Riding on the wave of modernity and capitalism, the government provides...
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...contrasts the four articles. Finally, the author presents his views on the topic of social responsibility and business ethics before concluding the paper. Four Articles All four articles center their focus on business ethics. Of the four articles, three are scholarly peer-reviewed journal articles and one, by Friedman, is an online periodical.... [tags: Business, Ethics] :: 4 Works Cited 2005 words (5.7 pages) Strong Essays [preview] Alahmad and Murphy on Business Ethics - The first two journal articles that were compared and contrasted were Ala Alahmad’s 2010 article on To Be Ethical or Not to Be: An International Code of Ethics for Leadership and Patrick Murphy’s 2009 article on The Relevance of Responsibility to Ethical Business Decisions. Some key findings of Alahmad’s writings were that ethics and leadership were closely tied together; they were found to be derivatives of one another. He mentioned that ethics is an individual thought process of making good or poor decisions.... [tags: Business Ethics] :: 4 Works Cited 970 words (2.8 pages) Strong Essays [preview] Ethical Perspectives on Business Ethics - The determination of this paper is to compare and contrast the various interpretations of 4 separate authors in respects to ethics and social responsibility as they apply to business. The four articles to be reviewed are; “The Social Responsibilities of Business is to Increase its Profits” by Milton Friedman, “The Relevance of Responsibility to Ethical Business Decisions”...
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...History of Ethics 2 Socrates 2 Plato 2 Aristotle 2 Cynics 2 Cyrenaics 2 Business Ethics 2 Nike 2 McDonalds 2 Enron 2 Wal-Mart 2 Why Business Ethics is Necessary 2 Conclusion 2 Bibliography 2 Introduction This assignment is a brief over view of ethics in the modern day era. It begins with a definition of ethics, followed by a concise explanation of corporate social responsibility. Ethics has evolved over a number of decades and still is to this day, with that a short history of ethics will be demonstrated in this assignment. Ethics determines whether or not a company has good or bad morale. Unfortunately a company that holds excellent ethics are not highlighted in the media as a company that has bad ethics. In this essay will illustrate examples of how large national and international companies came to have bad ethics. To conclude this assignment will be a brief outlay of why ethics is necessary to the business environment in this day and age. Definition of Ethics Ethics can be defined at vital concepts and essential principles of moral human conduct. It consists of the study of universal ethics such as the essential parity of all men and women, natural or human rights, compliance to the law of land, concern for health and safety and, progressively more, for the natural environment. (Dictionary, B. 2014) Albert Camus, a French Nobel prize winner, author, journalist and philosopher had his own opinion on ethics he believed that; “A man without ethics...
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...Project In English IV Compilations of Essays IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY ACADEMY-KITCHARAO, INC. Songkoy, Kitcharao, Agusan del Norte In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirement for English IV Submitted by: Kim Lorenz C. Batangoso IV- Sts. Peter & Paul Submitted to: Mr. Jyrnell B. Salino Instructor December 13, 2012 Table of Contents 1. Morally Upright Man-Character Sketch essay 2. City Of Island Adventure-Descriptive essay 3. True Happiness-Philosophical essay 4. Cybercrime Law does not threaten the freedom of Expression-Editorial essay 5. Criticizing Sonnet 307-Critical essay 6. The Basis of Life-Scientific essay 7. Unwise Decision-Semi-narrative essay 8. Angel of Mine-Biographical essay Morally Upright Man My first day in IHMA Campus was not so good as I expect it to be. It’s like making a journey to a place you don’t know where you are; going straight to a nowhere and deep in the darkest part of the world with no person to talk with. This is what I’ve experienced when I first step to a new school that I don’t know how to deal with and make some adjustments but even in the darkest part of the world where there is no light that you are so alone, there’s a tall, black and possess a physical fitness of a Filipino man who help me in the middle of curiosity and adjustments. That man was John Paul Cayamay Galviso who is not afraid and fear in helping a stranger like me. Difference in personality and physical appearance doesn’t matter if you have the...
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...> Compare the way writers present the forces of destructive love in Othello, Tess of the d’Urbervilles and A View from the Bridge. > > Shakespeare, Hardy and Miller present the forces destructive love in a variety of different ways, key ways include; through the use of literary terminology, representation of characters and symbolic themes of culture/society at the time. It is often portrayed within a mixture of other categories of love; patriarchal, romantic and unrequited intertwined with the most prominent themes of fate, family and tragedy. > > In terms of form, structure and context; Shakespeare has chosen the form of a play for his story of Othello therefore being divided into Acts and Scenes which develops the undertone of drama allowing for 'cliffhanger' endings, which when portrayed in the theater is positively reviewed by the audience. For example the first known performance in November 1604 at Whitehall Palace, which then created widespread delight causing the play to move across England. Perhaps the play was so greatly beloved due to the time in which it was written, as it came into the Jacobean period (when King James I ruled England) as the period of delight during Elizabethan times (due to War Victory) was over and so the tone of the play will be keeping well with the tone of the time between the reigns. It will also be coinciding with the theme of War as the play is set in the backdrop of Wars between Venice and Turkey when in reality the Spanish Armada will...
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...LEADERSHIP Introduction Purpose and Direction for the Paper: This paper intends to discuss leadership from a business perspective leading to effective practices that are both documented in business and educational leadership. It will present a historical perspective on leadership from the kings of the 16th Century to a discussion on theory (administrative and leadership). The paper will transition to discuss effective practices and common characteristics of effective leaders tying the concepts from business thought to educational leadership. Finally, a discussion will be presented detailing current educational and economic trends for schools for the 21st century and a summary of the leadership that will be required. A Business and Educational Leadership Perspective: A Required Change Niccolo Machiavelli, the 16th century author of The Prince (1981), stated, “The whole Kingdom . . . is governed by one man; everyone else is his servant” (p. 22). Since its first printing in 1516, The Prince has been the inspiration for many managerial texts and has been utilized as a guide for leaders throughout the centuries, including several today. In a Machiavellian or so-called “top-down” managerial philosophy, a chief executive officer (CEO) defines and controls the power of the organization. The workforce serves the mission as determined by management, which oftentimes has self- Michael Livovich 1 ELAF 683 interest, not the needs of the customer, as the driving force. James MacGregor...
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...IR 3034: The Political theory of Peace and War. [pic] FIRST ESSAY: « For Machiavelli, the art of war is the supreme test of any polity, whether principality or republic ». Discuss Introduction: Quentin Skinner once argued that even if “Machiavelli died nearly 500 years ago, (…) his name lives on as a byword for cunning, duplicity, and the exercise of bad faith in political affairs”1. Indeed, there is no denying that Machiavelli stands probably as one of the most controversial thinker in the history of political theory. In fact, Skinner even argued that “the charge of being a Machiavellian remains a serious accusation in the political debate”2. As his biographers tell us, Machiavelli came from an Italian family which had been relatively important in the political life of Florence for a long time before his birth, in 1469. At 29 years old, he became second chancellor of the republic, without previous experience, a charge he will keep for more than fourteen years till the return of the Medici’s family. This experience as top official of the Florentine Republic had obviously a huge impact on the development of both his later life, characterized by a succession of disgraces and stroked of bad luck, and his thought. Indeed, as Maurizio Viroli asserts, “Machiavelli considered himself to be an expert on a special art which we call statecraft and he called “arte dello stato”3. There is no denying that, if we look at most of his writings, we will realize...
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...| Money, Attitude, and Unethical Behavior | Business Research Methods | | | December 11, 2013 | This research paper focuses on the relationship between money, attitude, and unethical behavior. Comparing the data found in regards to gender and major according to a study by Dr. Chen and Dr. Tang. | Introduction Many believe that the success of a business is determined by they amount of money they generate on an annual basis. Because of this widespread belief, we often see a lack of morals, values, and ethics incorporated into the business. Many businesses feel as if there is no room for ethics in the business world and that the relationships built should focus solely on the generation of revenue. According to Merriam Webster dictionary, we can define ethics as, “the discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation.” Every company has a code of ethics in order to determine the company’s culture and values. It also acts a driving force behind any decisions made by top executives. In market where there are so many profit-based businesses, often times we see the many difficulties in balancing the pursuit of profits while staying true to their code of ethics. The balance of ethical practice and profit maximization causes companies to face difficult decisions and many times businesses choose profit maximization. Business-to-Business and Business-to-Consumer transactions require frequent interaction. In every type of business transaction...
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...------------------------------------------------- FASCISM ------------------------------------------------- Etymology The term fascismo is derived from the Latin word fasces. The fasces, which consisted of a bundle of rods that were tied around an axe which symbolises strength through unity: a single rod is easily broken, while the bundle is difficult to break. Moreover, Fasces was an ancient Roman symbol of the authority of the civic magistrate. They were carried by his lictors and could be used for corporal and capital punishment at his command. The word fascismo also relates to political organizations in Italy known as fasci, groups similar to guilds or syndicates. Definition +"Everything in the State, nothing outside the State, nothing against the State" - Mussolini +The only official definition of Fascism comes from Benito Mussolini, the founder of fascism, in which he outlines three principles of a fascist philosophy. 1."Everything in the state". The Government is supreme and the country is all-encompasing, and all within it must conform to the ruling body, often a dictator. 2."Nothing outside the state". The country must grow and the implied goal of any fascist nation is to rule the world, and have every human submit to the government. 3."Nothing against the state". Any type of questioning the government is not to be tolerated. If you do not see things our way, you are wrong. If you do not agree with the government, you cannot be allowed to live and...
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...From: Cervantes: Bulletin of the Cervantes Society of America 19.1 (1999): 158-76. Copyright © 1999, The Cervantes Society of America FORUM Against Dualisms: A Response to Henry Sullivan* HOWARD MANCING n a recent essay entitled “Don Quixote de la Mancha: Analyzable or Unanalyzable?” published in this journal, Henry W. Sullivan makes the case for the psychoanalysis of literary characters. While there is much to ponder in Sullivan's essay, there are two points, both involving dualisms, that I would like to discuss. In the first case, Sullivan argues insightfully and convincingly against an absolute distinction between how we know and think about fictional characters and how we know and think about real people. In the second case, however, Sullivan insists on an absolute (Cartesian) mind-body dualism as a cornerstone of psychoanalytic theory. I would like to repeat and extend Sullivan's argument in the first case, but refute it and deny its validity in the second. First dualism: Fact/Fiction Sullivan cites as representative of a certain widely-shared approach Maud Ellmann's insistence that there is an important distinction between a “human being made of flesh and character made of words” (5), a distinction that allows us to make one kind statement about the former but not the latter. Ellmann is not alone in making the real-life/fictional distinction a fundamental matter of ontology. We are all familiar with arguments like hers, having heard * For a response to this...
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...DRAFT! Rule in Bensalem: Francis Bacon’s Island “Utopia” in his New Atlantis Evan M. Lowe University of North Texas Abbreviations The following abbreviations for Bacon’s works have been employed for in-text citations in the name of textual cleanliness. Each work refers to the cited publication in the bibliography. In cases where applicable (eg. New Organon, Advancement), I have also indicated the place in the text by markers common to all editions -- book number, chapter, section, aphorism, essay number. The page number in the cited edition follows a comma where such information is helpful. AL The Advancement of Learning DA de Dignitate et Augmentis Scientarum Essays Essays or Counsels Civil and Moral (1625) GI The Great Instauration ;NA New Atlantis NO Novum Organum PFB Philosophy of Francis Bacon Preface Preface to the Great Instauration PW Plan of the Work (in Weinberger 1989) WA Of the Wisdom of the Ancients INTRODUCTION Understanding political judgment in Baconian terms necessitates an investigation of the question of who rules in Bensalem, Bacon’s island “utopia” presented in his New Atlantis. Only by answering this question might one know where to look for one who either possesses or is in a position to exercise such judgment. By locating the individual(s) who exercise political power, one might begin to come to an understanding of the qualities, disposition, and capacity – both moral and intellectual – of one who exercises judgment...
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...Introduction Mass culture would have most readers and viewers believing that the Post-modern American male is a simple creature. Common stereotypes margin male satisfaction in a minimal setting – a Lazyboy armchair in a lounge with a flat screen TV playing ‘the game’ along with primal banter regarding women. More often than not, this is washed down with a beer. With this array of comfort and leisure we are inclined to believe that male lifestyle has reached its peak on the timeline of satisfaction. This was until David Fincher took Chuck Palahniuk’s novel Fight Club and made it into a big budget Hollywood blockbuster. With the male demographic being the hardest to pinpoint in the literature sense, David Fincher’s adaptation helpfully put Palahniuk’s thoughts into the cinematic forefront. This increased the popularity of Palahniuk’s other works and placed him in the cannon of Post-modern American fiction. It is the issues of modern masculinity that grasps critics’ attention more so than any other Palahniuk themes. It is very apparent that masculinity has changed as a natural progression of modernisation. This dissertation will analyse masculinity as it is depicted in Palahniuk’s writings and explore Palahniuk’s intentions and beliefs. I will interpret the responses of select critics in order to gain some understanding of what Palahniuk deems to be the ideal model of masculinity in the modern world, beneath his post-modern twists, transgressive characterization and...
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