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An Analysis of Edward Said's Orientalism

Edward Said’s Orientalism is a masterclass in the art of interpretation wedded to close analysis. Interpretation is characterized by close attention to the meanings of terms by clarifying questioning definitions and positing clear definitions. Combined with one of the main sub-skills of analysis drawing inferences and finding implicit reasons and assumptions in arguments interpretation becomes a powerful tool for critical thought. In Orientalism the theorist critic and cultural historian Edward Said uses interpretation and analysis to closely examine Western representations of the “Orient” and ask what they are really doing and why. One of his central arguments is that Western representations of the East and Middle East persistently define it as “other” setting it up in opposition to the West. Through careful analysis of a range of texts and other materials Said shows that implicit assumptions about the “Orient’s” otherness underlie much Western thought and writing about it. Clarifying consistently the differences between the real-world East and the constructed ideas of the “Orient” Said’s interpretative skills power his analysis and provide the basis for an argument that has proven hugely influential in literary criticism philosophy and even politics. | An Analysis of Edward Said's Orientalism

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An Analysis of Mary Douglas's Purity and Danger An Analysis of the Concepts of Pollution and Taboo

Mary Douglas is an outstanding example of an evaluative thinker at work. In Purity and Danger: An Analysis of Concepts of Pollution and Taboo she delves in great detail into existing arguments that portray traditional societies as “evolving” from “savage” beliefs in magic to religion to modern science then explains why she believes those arguments are wrong. She also adeptly chaperones readers through a vast amount of data from firsthand research in the Congo to close readings of the Old Testament and analyzes it in depth to provide evidence that traditional and Western religions have more in common than the first comparative religion scholars and early anthropologists thought. First evaluating her scholarly predecessors by marshalling their arguments Douglas identifies their main weakness: that they dismiss traditional societies and their religions by identifying their practices as “magic ” thereby creating a chasm between savages who believe in magic and sophisticates who practice religion. | An Analysis of Mary Douglas's Purity and Danger An Analysis of the Concepts of Pollution and Taboo

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An Analysis of Elizabeth F. Loftus's Eyewitness Testimony

Understanding evidence is critical in a court of law – and it is just as important for critical thinking. Elizabeth Loftus a pioneering psychologist made a landmark contribution to both these areas in Eyewitness Testimony a trail-blazing work that undermines much of the decision-making made by judges and juries by pointing out how flawed eyewitness testimony actually is. Reporting the results of an eye-opening series of experiments and trials Loftus explores the ways in which – unbeknownst to the witnesses themselves – memory can be distorted and become highly unreliable. Much of Loftus’s work is based on expert use of the critical thinking skill of interpretation. Her work not only highlights multiple problems of definition with regard to courtroom testimony but also focuses throughout on how best we can understand the meaning of the available evidence. Eyewitness Testimony is arguably the best place in the Macat library to begin any investigation of how to use and understand interpretation. | An Analysis of Elizabeth F. Loftus's Eyewitness Testimony

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An Analysis of Edmund Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France

Edmund Burke’s 1791 Reflections on the Revolution in France is a strong example of how the thinking skills of analysis and reasoning can support even the most rhetorical of arguments. Often cited as the foundational work of modern conservative political thought Burke’s Reflections is a sustained argument against the French Revolution. Though Burke is in many ways not interested in rational close analysis of the arguments in favour of the revolution he points out a crucial flaw in revolutionary thought upon which he builds his argument. For Burke that flaw was the sheer threat that revolution poses to life property and society. Sceptical about the utopian urge to utterly reconstruct society in line with rational principles Burke argued strongly for conservative progress: a continual slow refinement of government and political theory which could move forward without completely overturning the old structures of state and society. Old state institutions he reasoned might not be perfect but they work well enough to keep things ticking along. Any change made to improve them therefore should be slow not revolutionary. While Burke’s arguments are deliberately not reasoned in the ‘rational’ style of those who supported the revolution they show persuasive reasoning at its very best. | An Analysis of Edmund Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France

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An Analysis of Theodore Levitt's Marketing Myopia

Theodore Levitt’s 1960 article “Marketing Myopia” is a business classic that earned its author the nickname “the father of modern marketing”. It is also a beautiful demonstration of the problem solving skills that are crucial in so many areas of life – in business and beyond. The problem facing Levitt was the same problem that has confronted business after business for hundreds of years: how best to deal with slowing growth and eventual decline. Levitt studied many business empires – the railroads for instance – that at a certain point simply shrivelled up and shrank to almost nothing. How he asked could businesses avoid such failures? His approach and his solution comprise a concise demonstration of high-level problem solving at its best. Good problem solvers first identify what the problem is then isolate the best methodology for solving it. And as Levitt showed a dose of creative thinking also helps. Levitt’s insight was that falling sales are all about marketing and marketing is about knowing your real business. The railroads misunderstood their real market: they weren’t selling rail they were selling transport. If they had understood that they could have successfully taken advantage of new growth areas – truck haulage for instance – rather than futilely scrabbling to sell rail to a saturated market. | An Analysis of Theodore Levitt's Marketing Myopia

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An Analysis of Antonio Gramsci's Prison Notebooks

Antonio Gramsci’s Prison Notebooks is a remarkable work not only because it was written in jail as the Italian Marxist thinker fell victim to political oppression in his home country but also because it shows his impressive analytical ability. First published in 1948 11 years after Gramsci’s death Prison Notebooks ably demonstrates that the writer has an innate ability to understand the relationship between different parts of an argument. This is how Gramsci manages to analyze such wide-ranging topics – capitalism economics and culture – to explain historical developments. He introduces the idea of “hegemony ” the means by which ruling classes in a society gain keep hold of and manage their power and by carefully looking at how society operates he reveals the manner in which the powerful deploy a combination of force and manipulation to convince most people that the existing social arrangement is logical and in their best interests – even when it isn’t. Gramsci shows exactly how the ruling class maintains power by influencing both political institutions like the courts and the police and civil institutions such as churches family and schools. His powerful analysis led him to the conclusion that change can only take place in two ways either through revolution or through a slow but constant struggle to transform the belief system of the ruling classes. | An Analysis of Antonio Gramsci's Prison Notebooks

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An Analysis of Thomas Paine's Common Sense

Thomas Paine’s 1776 Common Sense has secured an unshakeable place as one of history’s most explosive and revolutionary books. A slim pamphlet published at the beginning of the American Revolution it was so widely read that it remains the all-time best selling book in US history. An impassioned argument for American independence and for democratic government Common Sense can claim to have helped change the face of the world more than almost any other book. But Paine’s pamphlet is also a masterclass in critical thinking demonstrating how the reasoned construction of arguments can be reinforced by literary skill and passion. Paine is perhaps more famous as a stylist than as a constructor of arguments but Common Sense marries the best elements of good reasoning to its polemic. Moving systematically from the origins of government through a criticism of monarchy and on to the possibilities for future democratic government in an independent America Paine neatly lays out a series of persuasive reasons to fight for independence and a new form of government. Indeed as the pamphlet’s title suggested to do so was nothing more than ‘common sense. ’ | An Analysis of Thomas Paine's Common Sense

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An Analysis of G.E.M. Anscombe's Modern Moral Philosophy

Elizabeth Anscombe’s 1958 essay “Modern Moral Philosophy” is a cutting intervention in modern philosophy that shows the full power of good evaluative and analytical critical thinking skills. Though only 16 pages long Anscombe’s paper set out to do nothing less than reform the entire field of modern moral philosophy – something that could only be done by carefully examining the existing arguments of the giants of the field. To do this she deployed the central skills of evaluation and analysis. In critical thinking analysis helps understand the sequence and features of arguments: it asks what reasons these arguments produce what implicit reasons and assumptions they rely on what conclusions they arrive at. Evaluation involves judging whether or not the arguments are strong enough to sustain their conclusions: it asks how acceptable adequate and relevant the reasons given are and whether or not the conclusions drawn from them are really valid. In “Modern Moral Philosophy ” Anscombe dispassionately turns these skills on figures that have dominated moral philosophy since the 18th-century revealing the underlying assumptions of their work their weaknesses and strengths and showing that in many ways the supposed differences between their arguments are actually negligible. A brilliantly incisive piece “Modern Moral Philosophy” radically affected its field remaining required – and controversial – reading today. | An Analysis of G. E. M. Anscombe's Modern Moral Philosophy

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An Analysis of Eric Hoffer's The True Believer Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements

Eric Hoffer’s The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements is one of the most widely read works of social psychology written in the 20th-century. It exemplifies the powers of creative thinking and critical analysis at their best providing an insight into two crucial elements of critical thinking. Hoffer is likely to go down in history as one of America’s great creative thinkers – a writer not bound by standard frameworks of thinking or academic conventions willing to beat his own path in framing the best possible answers to the questions he investigated. An impoverished largely unschooled manual laborer who had survived the worst effects of the Great Depression in the United States Hoffer was a passionate autodidact whose philosophical and psychological education came from omnivorous reading. Working without the help of any mentors he forged the fearsomely creative and individual approach to problems demonstrated in The True Believer. The book which earned him his reputation examines the different phenomena of fanaticism – religious or political – and applies Hoffer’s analytical skills to reveal that deep down all ‘true believers’ display the same needs and tendencies whatever their final choice of belief. Incisive and persuasive it remains a classic. | An Analysis of Eric Hoffer's The True Believer Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements

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An Analysis of Marcus Aurelius's Meditations

Despite being written between 170 and 180 Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations often resonates with modern readers because of its remarkable resemblance to a self-help book. Written as a series of personal notes in the last decade of his reign as Roman emperor the meditations were never intended for circulation. But they remain today among the classics of stoic philosophy – and as exquisite examples of problem-solving. Meditations sees a great leader engaged in solving one of the central problems of all philosophy: how to live a good life. Marcus Aurelius is quick to ask questions and generate solutions all of which lead him to a greater understanding of what a good life really is. He makes the decision that philosophy is an important tool we can use every day to help us understand and deal with the world. The best way to get to the bottom of a problem he records is to analyze its different aspects with care – this will help to ‘dissolve’ the issue. To keep our minds well balanced it is vital to keep our desire for the material and the sensual in check to avoid falling prey to negative behaviors like jealousy quarrelling and indulgence. Philosophy the Meditations show can also help us to understand other people’s problems and difficulties – acting as a continual spur to the consideration and resolution of problems wherever they arise. | An Analysis of Marcus Aurelius's Meditations

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An Analysis of Amartya Sen's Development as Freedom

Amartya Sen uses his 1999 work Development as Freedom to evaluate the processes and outcomes of economic development. Having come to the conclusion that development is best summed up as the expansion of freedom Sen examines traditional definitions and understandings of the term. He says people tend to think of freedoms as economic (the freedom to enter into market exchanges) or political (the freedom to vote and be an active citizen) and tries to understand why the definition has been so narrow hitherto. He concludes that an evaluation of true freedom must necessarily include the freedom to access social services such as healthcare sanitation and nutrition just as much as it must acknowledge economic and political freedoms. Evaluating the relevance of the current thinking behind development Sen concludes that the term ‘freedom’ cannot simply be about income. In many ways measuring income does not account for various “unfreedoms” (manmade or natural bars to wellbeing) that hinder development. Sen’s evaluation is all the more powerful for its clarity: The freedom-centered perspective has a generic similarity to the common concern with quality of life. | An Analysis of Amartya Sen's Development as Freedom

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An Analysis of Mahmood Mamdani's Citizen and Subject Contemporary Africa and the Legacy of Late Colonialism

Mahmood Mamdani’s 1996 Citizen and Subject is a powerful work of analysis that lays bare the sources of the problems that plagued and often still plague African governments. Analysis is one of the broadest and most fundamental critical thinking skills and involves understanding the structure and features of arguments. Mamdani’s strong analytical skills form the basis of an original investigation of the problems faced by the independent African governments in the wake of the collapse of the colonial regimes imposed by European powers such has Great Britain and France. It had long been clear that these newly-independent governments faced many problems – corruption the imposition of anti-democratic rule and many basic failures of day-to-day governance. They also tended to replicate many of the racially and ethnically prejudiced structures that were part of colonial rule. Mamdani analyses the many arguments about the sources of these problems drawing out their hidden implications and assumptions in order to clear the way for his own creative new vision of the way to overcome the obstacles to democratization in Africa. A dense and brilliant analysis of the true nature of colonialism’s legacy in Africa Mamdani’s book remains influential to this day. | An Analysis of Mahmood Mamdani's Citizen and Subject Contemporary Africa and the Legacy of Late Colonialism

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An Analysis of Chris Argyris's Integrating the Individual and the Organization

A critical analysis of Argyris’s Integrating The Individual and the Organization which forms part of a series of essays and books considering how organisations should be run. The essay explores the lack of congruence between the needs and expectations of individual employees and the organisations that employ them. The impact of the work depends heavily on reasoning skills. Chris Argyris used strong well-structured arguments to make his point. His reasoning has strong implications for solving a problem that many organizations experience: disengaged and disloyal employees. Grounding his argument in studies on human nature Argyris highlighted that demands of greater independence an expansion of interests and re-orientation of goals usually accompany maturation which is at odds with higher control stemming from formal organisations. This frustration he contends is detrimental to productivity increases the chance of failure and causes conflict. | An Analysis of Chris Argyris's Integrating the Individual and the Organization

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An Analysis of Max Weber's The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism

The German sociologist Max Weber is considered to be one of the founding fathers of sociology and ranks among the most influential writers of the 20th-century. His most famous book The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism is a masterpiece of sociological analysis whose power is based on the construction of a rigorous and intricately interlinked piece of argumentation. Weber’s object was to examine the relationship between the development of capitalism and the different religious ideologies of Europe. While many other scholars focused on the material and instrumental causes of capitalism’s emergence Weber sought to demonstrate that different religious beliefs in fact played a significant role. In order to do this he employed his analytical skills to understand the relationship between capitalism and religious ideology carefully considering how far Protestant and secular capitalist ethics overlapped and to what extent they mirrored each other. One crucial element of Weber’s work was his consideration the degree to which cultural values acted as implicit or hidden reasons reinforcing capitalist ethics and behavior – an investigation that he based on teasing out the ‘arguments’ that underpin capitalism. Incisive and insightful Weber’s analysis continues to resonate with scholars today. | An Analysis of Max Weber's The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism

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An Analysis of Frantz Fanon's Black Skin White Masks

Frantz Fanon’s explosive Black Skin White Masks is a merciless exposé of the psychological damage done by colonial rule across the world. Using Fanon’s incisive analytical abilities to expose the consequences of colonialism on the psyches of colonized peoples it is both a crucial text in post-colonial theory and a lesson in the power of analytical skills to reveal the realities that hide beneath the surface of things. Fanon was himself part of a colonized nation – Martinique – and grew up with the values and beliefs of French culture imposed upon him while remaining relegated to an inferior status in society. Qualifying as a psychiatrist in France before working in Algeria (a French colony subject to brutal repression) his own experiences granted him a sharp insight into the psychological problems associated with colonial rule. Like any good analytical thinker Fanon’s particular skill was in breaking things down and joining dots. His analysis of colonial rule exposed its implicit assumptions – and how they were replicated in colonised populations – allowing Fanon to unpick the hidden reasons behind his own conflicted psychological make up and those of his patients. Unflinchingly clear-sighted in doing so Black Skin White Masks remains a shocking read today. | An Analysis of Frantz Fanon's Black Skin White Masks

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An Analysis of Clifford Geertz's The Interpretation of Cultures Selected Essays

Clifford Geertz has been called ‘the most original anthropologist of his generation’ – and this reputation rests largely on the huge contributions to the methodology and approaches of anthropological interpretation that he outlined in The Interpretation of Cultures. The centrality of interpretative skills to anthropology is uncontested: in a subject that is all about understanding mankind and which seeks to outline the differences and the common ground that exists between cultures interpretation is the crucial skillset. For Geertz however standard interpretative approaches did not go deep enough and his life’s work concentrated on deepening and perfecting his subject’s interpretative skills. Geertz is best known for his definition of ‘culture ’ and his theory of ‘thick description ’ an influential technique that depends on fresh interpretative approaches. For Geertz ‘cultures’ are ‘webs of meaning’ in which everyone is suspended. Understanding culture therefore is not so much a matter of going in search of law but of setting out an interpretative framework for meaning that focuses directly on attempts to define the real meaning of things within a given culture. The best way to do this for Geertz is via ‘thick description:’ a way of recording things that explores context and surroundings and articulates meaning within the web of culture. Ambitious and bold Geertz’s greatest creation is a method all critical thinkers can learn from. | An Analysis of Clifford Geertz's The Interpretation of Cultures Selected Essays

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An Analysis of John Berger's Ways of Seeing

Ways of Seeing is a key art-historical work that continues to provoke widespread debate. It is comprised of seven different essays three of which are pictorial and the other containing texts and images. Berger first examines the relationship between seeing and knowing discussing how our assumptions affect how we see a painting. He moves on to consider the role of women in artwork particularly regarding the female nude. The third essay deals with oil painting looking at the relationship between subjects and ownership. Finally Berger addresses the idea of ownership in a consumerist society discussing the power of imagery in advertising with particular regards to photography. | An Analysis of John Berger's Ways of Seeing

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An Analysis of Carole Hillenbrand's The Crusades Islamic Perspectives

For many centuries the history of the crusades as written by Western historians was based solidly on Western sources. Evidence from the Islamic societies that the crusaders attacked was used only sparingly – in part because it was hard for most westerners to read and in part because much of it was inaccessible even for historians who did speak Arabic. Carole Hillenbrand set out to re-evaluate the sources for the crusading period not only looking with fresh eyes at known accounts but also locating and utilizing new sources that had previously been overlooked. Her work involved her in conducting extensive evaluations of the new sources assessing their arguments their evidence and their reasoning in order to assess their value and (using the critical thinking skill of analysis a powerful method for understanding how arguments are built) to place them correctly in the context of crusade studies as a whole. The result is not only a history that is more balanced better argued and more adequate than most that have gone before it but also a work with relevance for today. At a time when crusading imagery and mentions of the current War on Terror as a ‘crusade’ help to fuel political narrative Hillenbrand's evaluative work acts as an important corrective to oversimplification and misrepresentation. | An Analysis of Carole Hillenbrand's The Crusades Islamic Perspectives

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An Analysis of Griselda Pollock's Vision and Difference Feminism Femininity and the Histories of Art

Vision and Difference published in 1988 is one of the most significant works in feminist visual culture arguing that feminist art history of is a political as well as academic endeavour. Pollock expresses how images are key to the construction of sexual difference both in visual culture and in broader societal experiences. Her argument places feminist theory at the centre of art history proffering the idea that a feminist understanding of art history is an analysis of art history itself. This text remains key not only to understand feminine art historically but to grasp strategies for representation in the future and adding to its contemporary value. | An Analysis of Griselda Pollock's Vision and Difference Feminism Femininity and the Histories of Art

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An Analysis of Leon Festinger's A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance

Leon Festinger’s 1957 A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance is a key text in the history of psychology – one that made its author one of the most influential social psychologists of his time. It is also a prime example of how creative thinking and problem solving skills can come together to produce work that changes the way people look at questions for good. Strong creative thinkers are able to look at things from a new perspective often to the point of challenging the very frames in which those around them see things. Festinger was such a creative thinker leading what came to be known as the “cognitive revolution” in social psychology. When Festinger was carrying out his research the dominant school of thought – behaviorism – focused on outward behaviors and their effects. Festinger however turned his attention elsewhere looking at “cognition:” the mental processes behind behaviors. In the case of “cognitive dissonance” for example he hypothesized that apparently incomprehensible or illogical behaviors might be caused by a cognitive drive away from dissonance or internal contradiction. This perspective however raised a problem: how to examine and test out cognitive processes. Festinger’s book records the results of the psychological experiments he designed to solve that problem. The results helped prove the existence for what is now a fundamental theory in social psychology. | An Analysis of Leon Festinger's A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance

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An Analysis of Burton G. Malkiel's A Random Walk Down Wall Street

Burton Malkiel’s 1973 A Random Walk Down Wall Street was an explosive contribution to debates about how to reap a good return on investing in stocks and shares. Reissued and updated many times since Malkiel’s text remains an indispensable contribution to the world of investment strategy – one that continues to cause controversy among investment professionals today. At the book’s heart lies a simple question of evaluation: just how successful are investment experts? The financial world was and is full of people who claim to have the knowledge and expertise to outperform the markets and produce larger gains for investors as a result of their knowledge. But how successful Malkiel asked are they really? Via careful evaluations of performance – looking at those who invested via ‘technical analysis’ and ‘fundamental analysis’ – he was able to challenge the adequacy of many of the claims made for analysts’ success. Malkiel found the major active investment strategies to be significantly flawed. Where actively managed funds posted big gains one year they seemingly inevitably posted below average gains in succeeding years. By evaluating the figures over the medium and long term indeed Malkiel discovered that actively-managed funds did far worse on average than those that passively followed the general market index. Though many investment professionals still argue against Malkiel’s influential findings his exploration of the strengths and weaknesses of the argument for believing investors’ claims provides strong evidence that his own passive strategy wins out overall. | An Analysis of Burton G. Malkiel's A Random Walk Down Wall Street

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An Analysis of Geoffrey Parker's Global Crisis War Climate Change and Catastrophe in the Seventeenth Century

Few historians can claim to have undertaken historical analysis on as grand a scale as Geoffrey Parker in his 2013 work Global Crisis: War Climate Change and Catastrophe in the Seventeenth Century. It is a doorstop of a book that surveys the ‘general crisis of the 17th century ’ shows that it was experienced practically throughout the world and was not merely a European phenomenon and links it to the impact of climate change in the form of the advent of a cold period known as the ‘Little Ice Age. ’ Parker’s triumph is made possible by the deployment of formidable critical thinking skills – reasoning to construct an engaging overall argument from very disparate material and analysis to re-examine and understand the plethora of complex secondary sources on which his book is built. In critical thinking analysis is all about understanding the features and structures of argument: how given reasons lead to conclusions and what kinds of implicit reasons and assumptions are being used. Historical analysis applies the same skills to the fabric of history asking how given chains of events occur how different reasons and factors interact and so on. Parker though takes things further than most in his quest to understand the meaning of a century’s-worth of turbulence spread across the whole globe. Beginning by breaking down the evidence for significant climatic cooling in the 17th-century (due to decreased solar activity) he moves on to detailed study of the effects the cooling had on societies and regimes across the world. From this detailed spadework he constructs a persuasive argument that accounts for the different ways in which the effects of climate change played out across the century – an argument with profound implications for a future likely to see serious climate change of its own. | An Analysis of Geoffrey Parker's Global Crisis War Climate Change and Catastrophe in the Seventeenth Century

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An Analysis of Thomas Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

Thomas Kuhn’s The Structure of Scientific Revolutions can be seen without exaggeration as a landmark text in intellectual history. In his analysis of shifts in scientific thinking Kuhn questioned the prevailing view that science was an unbroken progression towards the truth. Progress was actually made he argued via paradigm shifts meaning that evidence that existing scientific models are flawed slowly accumulates – in the face at first of opposition and doubt – until it finally results in a crisis that forces the development of a new model. This development in turn produces a period of rapid change – extraordinary science Kuhn terms it – before an eventual return to normal science begins the process whereby the whole cycle eventually repeats itself. This portrayal of science as the product of successive revolutions was the product of rigorous but imaginative critical thinking. It was at odds with science’s self-image as a set of disciplines that constantly evolve and progress via the process of building on existing knowledge. Kuhn’s highly creative re-imagining of that image has proved enduringly influential – and is the direct product of the author’s ability to produce a novel explanation for existing evidence and to redefine issues so as to see them in new ways. | An Analysis of Thomas Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

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An Analysis of Gilbert Ryle's The Concept of Mind

Gilbert Ryle’s 1949 The Concept of Mind is now famous above all as the origin of the phrase “the ghost in the machine” – a phrase Ryle used to attack the popular idea that our bodies and minds are separate. His own position was that mental acts are not at all distinct from bodily actions. Indeed they are the same thing merely described in different ways – and if one cuts through the confusing language of the old philosophical debates he suggests that becomes clear. While in many ways modern philosophers of mind have moved on from or discarded Ryle’s actual arguments The Concept of Mind remains a classic example of two central critical thinking skills: interpretation and reasoning. Ryle was what is known as an “ordinary language” philosopher – a school who considered many philosophical problems to exist purely because of philosophical language. He therefore considered his task as a philosopher to be one of cutting through confusing language and clarifying matters – exemplifying the critical thinking skill of interpretation at its best. Rather than adding to philosophical knowledge as such moreover he saw his role as one of mapping it – giving it what he called a “logical geography. ” As such The Concept of Mind is also all about reasoning: laying out organizing and systematizing clear arguments. | An Analysis of Gilbert Ryle's The Concept of Mind

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An Analysis of Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique

Betty Friedan's book The Feminine Mystique is possibly the best-selling of all the titles analysed in the Macat library and arguably one of the most important. Yet it was the product of an apparently minor meaningless assignment. Undertaking to approach former classmates who had attended Smith College with her 10 years after their graduation the high-achieving Friedan was astonished to discover that the survey she had undertaken for a magazine feature revealed a high proportion of her contemporaries were suffering from a malaise she had thought was unique to her: profound dissatisfaction at the ‘ideal’ lives they had been living as wives mothers and homemakers. For Friedan this discovery stimulated a remarkable burst of creative thinking as she began to connect the elements of her own life together in new ways. The popular idea that men and women were equal but different – that men found their greatest fulfilment through work while women were most fulfilled in the home – stood revealed as a fallacy and the depression and even despair she and so many other women felt as a result was recast not as a failure to adapt to a role that was the truest expression of femininity but as the natural product of undertaking repetitive unfulfilling and unremunerated labor. Friedan's seminal expression of these new ideas redefined an issue central to many women's lives so successfully that it fuelled a movement – the ‘second wave’ feminism of the 1960s and 1970s that fundamentally challenged the legal and social framework underpinning an entire society. | An Analysis of Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique

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An Analysis of Edward Said's Orientalism

An Analysis of Mary Douglas's Purity and Danger An Analysis of the Concepts of Pollution and Taboo

An Analysis of Elizabeth F. Loftus's Eyewitness Testimony

An Analysis of Edmund Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France

An Analysis of Theodore Levitt's Marketing Myopia

An Analysis of Antonio Gramsci's Prison Notebooks

An Analysis of Thomas Paine's Common Sense

An Analysis of G.E.M. Anscombe's Modern Moral Philosophy

An Analysis of Eric Hoffer's The True Believer Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements

An Analysis of Marcus Aurelius's Meditations

An Analysis of Amartya Sen's Development as Freedom

An Analysis of Mahmood Mamdani's Citizen and Subject Contemporary Africa and the Legacy of Late Colonialism

An Analysis of Chris Argyris's Integrating the Individual and the Organization

An Analysis of Max Weber's The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism

An Analysis of Frantz Fanon's Black Skin White Masks

An Analysis of Clifford Geertz's The Interpretation of Cultures Selected Essays

An Analysis of John Berger's Ways of Seeing

An Analysis of Carole Hillenbrand's The Crusades Islamic Perspectives

An Analysis of Griselda Pollock's Vision and Difference Feminism Femininity and the Histories of Art

An Analysis of Leon Festinger's A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance

An Analysis of Burton G. Malkiel's A Random Walk Down Wall Street

An Analysis of Geoffrey Parker's Global Crisis War Climate Change and Catastrophe in the Seventeenth Century

An Analysis of Thomas Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

An Analysis of Gilbert Ryle's The Concept of Mind

An Analysis of Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique

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