GEOG1200 1nd EditionExam # 1 Study Guide Lectures: 1 - 6Topic 1What is modernity? What are some of its characteristics?- process of being modern - Movement or way of life that emerged in the late 18th Century- Faith on human labor o Humans control their destiny- Alienation of humans from natureo Nature is desacralized o Nature is raw material - Industrial revolution - Urban way of lifeo People live near where they work- Democracy is secularo No longer dependent on Kings for power - Socialo Moved away from religiono Formal education is secularo Readings are more accessible What are the different stages through which a society becomes modern?- Rostow’s Theory Stages of Growtho Traditional society: agricultural society o Pre-condition to take off : scientific discovery and inventiono Take off: industrialization/ reinvesting some profito Drive to Maturity: producing more than they consume, tradeo Age of mass consumption: buying more stuff than needed What were the main impetuses that propelled the medieval era to the modern?- Spirit of enlightenment(scientific philosophy)o Descartes, Galileo, Pythagoras, Euclido Logic: Inductive and Deductive Inductive: specific to general  Deductive: general to specific- Italian Renaissance o 14th-16th Centurieso Rising revolt of the merchant classo If groups of people work hard they can change their status - Lutheran reformation o Directed attack against Catholic church o Where Protestant reformation started o Christianity split into two- Protestant and Christianityo Individuals had power to challenge God if became too corrupt What is enlightenment rationality?- Medieval society based their rationality on religious belief- Theory building: deductive/ inductive- Ex. Thunder was explained by believing the Gods were angry- Enlightenment rationality is the modern explanation- Ex. Thunder is just thunder, a force of nature, not religious What is the postmodern stance towards modernity?- Challenge enlightenment rationality- Intolerant of world view - Living for the sake of living- Challenge grand theories-industrialization- Respect differences, diversity, buy local What are some of the critiques of modernity?- Economic inequalities between upper and lower classes- Extraction of resources, became alienated to nature, abuse - Social alienation, technology, pursuit of profit; divorce rates, families, fast food Topic 2What is Weber’s most famous work called? What is the main thesis of this work?- “Protestant ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism”- Culture produce economy - Calvinism helped produce capitalism ideasHow according to Weber, protestant ethic produced the spirit of capitalism? Indicate clearly which characteristics of Calvinism produced what kind of economic behavior? - Culture produces economy/ capitalism - Pursuit of self-interest- Competition- Profit- Reinvestment - Calvinism: o Labor and Calling  One way to get the grace of God is through hard work Answer your calling (predestination) what your parents do  Labor in pursuit of profit as long as it is donated  Can see in landscape, large universities paid by people, art halls etc. o Predestination  Elect to go to heaven or not when born Existential angst: not knowing if elect or not, focus on work o Transcendence God created the world and left it, not involved in everyday life- Labor and calling produce specialization- Family know how, natural division of labor, order of society into groups of specialists, increase efficiency, increase productivity and increase profit - Predestination produces efficiency, productivity, increases profit to the max- Transcendence produces responsible for what happens, can’t blame it on God, allows acceptance of scientific temper What are the main criticisms of Weber’s thesis?- It is culturally deterministic: produces cause to one variable only rather simplistic explanation- Used idealistic instead materialistic: ideas produced action/practice (idealistic) practice producesideas (materialistic)- Eurocentric: a belief that Western civilizations is a cove of modernity, it must spread by whatevermeans o It ignores historical facts o Limited view of modernity by conflating modern with industrial capitalism Are you an idealist like Weber or a materialist, give reasons for your answer?- I am a materialist because I believe that practice produces ideas. I believe that for example a cave man ate fruit because he was hungry and because of this practice began to think about the practice and came across the idea of finding other food options. The action of retrieving berries for hunger became hunting and gathering for a variety of food because he had new ideas of what he wanted to eat. Topic3Explain briefly what is meant by free market/trade capitalism? - No government involved, open trade Explain briefly Smith’s concept of ‘self interest,’ ‘division of labor’ and ‘invisible hand’? - Every individual is rational, use it to achieve wealth through labor, increase exchange value or create surplus so they can trade. The invisible hand controls the market in two ways; price and morals of individuals. Why is division of labor advantageous? Critically evaluate Smith’s theory of free market?- Allows for self-interest which is regulated by internal and external forces. - Free market is not fair, it has pre-existing inequalities; larger companies with more money can easily beat out an up and coming company, not allowing small business to gain income. Explain and critically evaluate Ricardo’s concept of ‘comparative advantage?- Nations should produce only those goods that they have a natural or historical advantage, international nations should only exchange and trade what they have the highest comparative advantage or least comparative disadvantage. - Although this is good in theory there is an unequal exchange and third world economies have nochance against big nations. Big nations reach modernization way before small nations. Infant industries produce at a higher cost because they’re still developing, they eventually die out. Small nations find it hard to compete and the inequality increases. Topic4Explain the difference between idealism and materialism?- Idealism is consciousness leading to practice - Materialism is practice leading to consciousness What is Hegel’s ‘transcendental idealism’?- The consciousness leads to