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Differentiation (sociology)
In system theory, differentiation is the tendency of subsystems in a modern society to increase the complexity of that society. Each subsystem can make different connections with other subsystems, and this leads to more variation within the system in order to respond to variation in the environment. Differentiation that leads to more variation allows for better responses to the environment, and also for faster evolution (or perhaps sociocultural evolution), which is defined sociologically as a process of selection from variation; the more differentiation (and thus variation) that is available, the better the selection. Introduction Talcott Parsons was the first major theorist to develop a theory of society consisting of functionally defined sub-systems, which emerges from an evolutionary point of view through a cybernetic process of differentiation. Niklas Luhmann, who studied under Talcott Parsons, took the latter's model and changed it significantly. Parsons regarded s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
System Theory
Systems theory is the transdisciplinary study of systems, i.e. cohesive groups of interrelated, interdependent components that can be natural or artificial. Every system has causal boundaries, is influenced by its context, defined by its structure, function and role, and expressed through its relations with other systems. A system is "more than the sum of its parts" when it expresses synergy or emergent behavior. Changing one component of a system may affect other components or the whole system. It may be possible to predict these changes in patterns of behavior. For systems that learn and adapt, the growth and the degree of adaptation depend upon how well the system is engaged with its environment and other contexts influencing its organization. Some systems support other systems, maintaining the other system to prevent failure. The goals of systems theory are to model a system's dynamics, constraints, conditions, and relations; and to elucidate principles (such as purpose, mea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Religion
Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or religious organization, organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural, transcendence (religion), transcendental, and spirituality, spiritual elements—although there is no scholarly consensus over what precisely constitutes a religion. It is an essentially contested concept. Different religions may or may not contain various elements ranging from the divine, sacredness, faith,Tillich, P. (1957) ''Dynamics of faith''. Harper Perennial; (p. 1). and a supernatural being or beings. The origin of religious belief is an open question, with possible explanations including awareness of individual death, a sense of community, and dreams. Religions have sacred histories, narratives, and mythologies, preserved in oral traditions, sac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Function (engineering)
In engineering, a function is interpreted as a specific process, action or task that a system is able to perform.R.Barker, C. Longman, Case Method: Function and Process Modelling, Addison-Wesley Professional, 1992. In engineering design In the lifecycle of engineering projects, there are usually distinguished subsequently: ''Requirements'' and ''Functional specification'' documents. The ''Requirements'' usually specifies the most important attributes of the requested system. In the ''Design specification'' documents, physical or software processes and systems are frequently the requested functions In products For advertising and marketing of technical products, the number of functions they can perform is often counted and used for promotion. For example a calculator capable of the basic mathematical operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, would be called a "four-function" model; when other operations are added, for example for scientific, financial, or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harvard
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Its influence, wealth, and rankings have made it one of the most prestigious universities in the world. Harvard was founded and authorized by the Massachusetts General Court, the governing legislature of colonial-era Massachusetts Bay Colony. While never formally affiliated with any denomination, Harvard trained Congregational clergy until its curriculum and student body were gradually secularized in the 18th century. By the 19th century, Harvard emerged as the most prominent academic and cultural institution among the Boston elite. Following the American Civil War, under Harvard president Charles William Eliot's long tenure from 1869 to 1909, Harvard developed multiple professional schools, which transfo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
University Of Freiburg
The University of Freiburg (colloquially ), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (), is a public university, public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The university was founded in 1457 by the House of Habsburg, Habsburg dynasty as the second university in Austrian-Habsburg territory after the University of Vienna. Today, Freiburg is the List of universities in Germany#Universities by date of establishment, fifth-oldest university in Germany, with a long tradition of teaching the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences and technology and enjoys a high academic reputation both nationally and internationally. The university is made up of 11 faculty (division), faculties and attracts students from across Germany as well as from over 120 other countries. Foreign students constitute about 18.2% of total student numbers. The University of Freiburg has been associated with figures such as Hannah Arendt, Rudolf Carna ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lüneburg
Lüneburg, officially the Hanseatic City of Lüneburg and also known in English as Lunenburg, is a town in the German Bundesland (Germany), state of Lower Saxony. It is located about southeast of another Hanseatic League, Hanseatic city, Hamburg, and belongs to that city's wider Hamburg Metropolitan Region, metropolitan region. The capital (political), capital of the Lüneburg (district), district which bears its name, it is home to roughly 77,000 people. Lüneburg's urban area, which includes the surrounding communities of Adendorf, Bardowick, Barendorf and Reppenstedt, has a population of around 103,000. Lüneburg has been allowed to use the title ('Hanseatic Town') in its name since 2007, in recognition of its membership in the former Hanseatic League. Lüneburg is also home to Leuphana University of Lüneburg, Leuphana University. History ImageSize = width:1050 height:100 PlotArea = width:1000 height:50 left:50 bottom:25 DateFormat = yyyy Period = from:950 till:2000 Tim ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sociological Systems Theory
Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociology was coined in the late 18th century to describe the scientific study of society. Regarded as a part of both the social sciences and humanities, sociology uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about social order and social change. Sociological subject matter ranges from micro-level analyses of individual interaction and agency to macro-level analyses of social systems and social structure. Applied sociological research may be applied directly to social policy and welfare, whereas theoretical approaches may focus on the understanding of social processes and phenomenological method. Traditional focuses of sociology include social stratification, social class, social mobility, religion, sec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Larmore
Charles Larmore (born 23 March 1950) is an American philosopher. He is the W. Duncan MacMillan Family Professor of the Humanities and Professor of Philosophy at Brown University, noted for his writings on political liberalism as well as on various topics in moral philosophy and the history of philosophy. Education and career Larmore received his A.B. at Harvard (1972) and his Ph.D. at Yale (1978). He taught for many years in the philosophy department at Columbia University, and then as the Chester D. Tripp Professor and the Raymond W. & Martha Hilpert Gruner Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago in philosophy and political science. Philosophical work He has been a defender of political liberalism along with John Rawls, as well as a contributor to moral philosophy (moral realism, the nature of the self) and to the history of philosophy from the 16th to the 20th centuries (including such figures as Montaigne, Descartes, Bayle, Kant, Hölderlin, Schopenhaue ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stephen Holmes (academic)
Stephen Holmes (born February 21, 1948) is the Walter E. Meyer Professor of Law at New York University. He received a B.A. in 1969 from Denison University and a Ph.D. in 1976 from Yale University, where he won the John Addison Porter Prize for that year. After joining faculty at the University of Chicago as an Associate Professor of Political Science in 1985, Holmes became a tenured Professor of Political Science and Law at the university's law school in 1989. He joined the faculty at Princeton University from 1997-2000 as a Professor of Politics before his present post. Media commentary In 2004, he was interviewed in the BBC documentary '' The Power of Nightmares: The Rise of the Politics of Fear''. Selected publications *''Benjamin Constant and the Making of Modern Liberalism'' (1984, Yale University Press, ) - on Benjamin Constant, translated into French *''The Anatomy of Antiliberalism'' (1993, Harvard University Press, ) - translated into German, Italian and Chinese ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Production (economics)
Production is the process of combining various inputs, both material (such as metal, wood, glass, or plastics) and immaterial (such as plans, or knowledge) in order to create output. Ideally this output (economics), output will be a goods and services, good or service which has value (economics), value and contributes to the utility (economics), utility of individuals. The area of economics that focuses on production is called production theory, and it is closely related to the consumption (or consumer) theory of economics. The production process and output directly result from productively utilising the original inputs (or factors of production). Known as primary producer goods or services, land, labour, and capital are deemed the three fundamental factors of production. These primary inputs are not significantly altered in the output process, nor do they become a whole component in the product. Under classical economics, materials and energy are categorised as secondary factors a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
