John Locke and Immanuel Kant Essay

We are here concerned with the relationship between the human mind, somatic-sensory perceptions, objects of perception, and claims of knowledge arising from their interaction, through the philosophies of John Locke and Immanuel Kant. Confounding the ability to find solid epistemological ground, philosophers have, generally speaking, debated whether ‘what’ we know is prima facie determined by the objective, as-they-are, characteristics of the external world 1(epistemological realism) or if the mind determines, as-it-is, the nature of objects through its own experiential deductions (epistemological idealism). The purpose of this paper is to use the synthetical approach of Immanuel Kant, who utilizes a logical schematization of cognition along with experience (transcendental idealism), in the attaining of knowledge, to criticize Locke’s claims against innate ideas, and subsequently, origin and attainment of knowledge. In the first part of this paper, I will explain the major differences which distinguish epistemological realism and idealism. This disambiguation of philosophical jargon is to allow the reader to understand why the debate exists, how it impacts what human’s claims as ‘knowledge’, and whether or not the debate has any contemporary philosophical importance. This last feature is a relevant aspect of the debate since ‘knowledge’ applies to a great many areas of human life, including, but not limited to, the sciences, morality and ethics, and aesthetics. In the second part of this paper, I will outline Kant’s idealism, otherwise known as, transcendental idealism. This section will lay out the terminology in Kant’s epistemology which will act as a backdrop for comparing and contrasting the theory of Locke. This section will also describe the foundation of Kant’s epistemological claims. As mentioned in the introduction, the mind, the somatic-sensory perceptions, and objects of perception are to be accounted for in the debate between idealism and realism. Thus, the second part of the paper will conclude with an understanding of how knowledge arises under the rubric of Kant’s transcendental idealism. The third part of this paper is then dedicated to providing an account of Lockean innate knowledge and its place in our epistemological enquiry. It is presumed that several deficiencies, to be discussed, are apparent in Locke’s epistemological realism without the use of innate ‘ideas’. These deficiencies, however, are percolated only in light of the Kantian juxtaposition for which this section serves the purpose. In the final part of this paper, I will conclude that while Locke’s epistemological theories h ave had a great influence on the progress of epistemology, especially as a critique against rationalism, the idea of no innate ideas impressed upon the mind prior to experience ultimately leads Lockean realism to base claims that all knowledge arises solely from experience as inexhaustively question-begging without Kant’s transcendentalism. Dealing with the problems of realism and idealism can be seen in humans as young as three years old. Although it may not be so apparent to parents at the time, when a child asks, â€Å"How do you know that? † they are challenging the method in which a person uses to ‘know’ what they know. However, children, like philosophers, might not be satisfied with the first answer and continue with a meta-inquiry: â€Å"How do you know that? † While this interrogative approach to understanding the world can be frustrating it does illuminate a particular problem in reasoning, generally. That is, at some point we are forced to answer, vacuously, â€Å"I know, because I know. † However, the persistent child philosopher can rebut with, â€Å"How do you know that you know? The problems intrinsic to the line of questioning above demonstrate a broad epistemological problem. To solve the problem philosophers have sought out ways in order to make ‘what we know’ or explaining ‘how we know’ a bit more reliable or certain. That is, to provide an answer to our inquisitive three year old that breaks the meta-inquiry of knowable certitude. Knowledge, however, is a little tricky because there is an identity problem between the world and the ideas, or tho ughts, in our minds. In making claims of knowledge we must presume certain things are true. To say that you know something assumes that you (1) believe the world represented in your mind is exactly as it is whether you perceive it or not and what we have to say about the world must correspond to the way the world is perceived, (2) the world gives us information about objects, which can be accurate, but our minds are the final decision makers about the nature of those objects which can lead to skepticism, or (3) there is nothing stable about the appearances of the world as presented to our minds, and what we know is solely the product of collective reflection, otherwise known as easoning. In the context of my thesis, it could be argued that if a set of instructions were provided, such as innate ideas in the mind, these three broad, epistemological viewpoints would be narrowed down to one. The first assumption, (1), is the philosophical position known, broadly, as epistemological realism. The second assumption, (2), is more of a dualism in that it is believed there is enough perceived objectivity in the world to have some certain knowledge of it, but it is still subjected to our experiential bias (intuition plays a more integral role in this doctrine). This is a kind of realism in that certain properties about the objects we perceive are unalterable or indisputable since they would retain those characteristics whether or not they are observed. The third position is epistemological idealism. This position holds, generally, that knowledge is not a product of the nature of objects, but instead, derived from the nature of the mind. In other words, the certainty of knowledge is granted through the nature of the mind found within the species deliberating over certain claims. As mentioned, the debate between idealism and realism does have, beyond satisfying the curiosity of toddlers, implications in other areas of philosophy. It is not the focus of this paper, but an example that illustrates potential problems is that of ethics and morality. In epistemological realism, it may be the case that certain acts produce pain in humans, but there is nothing, it is alleged, which a person can point to in the world that would verify this (kind of) pain as bad, good, rightly, wrongly imposed. In other words, epistemological realism holds that we can know facts about the way the world is because our mind is receptive and capable of reproducing them accurately in our minds, but it is another thing to try to extrapolate from these facts/experiences a particular value/meaning to attach to prescriptive claims. In the extreme case, an epistemological realist might claim that all rules of morality are completely made up and merely appeal to our feelings about facts, but we cannot know for certain. As for idealism, morality appears as a less problematic discourse since the very proprietor of knowledge is that which is arbitrating over moral disputes. However, the kind of facts and/or values which moral claims arise, for idealists, are of a strictly theoretical nature and can be said to carry as much empirical or logical certainty as those doubted in the case of realism. At best they are egocentric and/or egotistic. Even in contemporary debates, which diverge subtly from the philosophies this paper examines, the entailment of moral truths from realist or idealist doctrines remains unsolved. In some cases, such as Marxist philosophy, there can be a real confusion about which doctrine actually prevails. The Communist rule of Stalin and Mao is arguably a perversion of epistemological realism for what was actually and indiscernibly expressed as an idealist project. It was in the Critique of Pure Reason that the philosopher Immanuel Kant attempted to settle the problem of epistemological certainty and skepticism. Recalling the relationship between the mind, objects of the world, our perceptive apparatuses, and knowledge, Kant opens up the Critique of Pure Reason with two allusive statements[1]: (1) â€Å"†¦no knowledge our ours is antecedent to experience, but begins with it. † (2) â€Å"†¦though all of our knowledge begins with experience, it by no means follows that all arises out of experience. † Situating these two phrases within the context of realism and idealism requires parsing out the some key phrases within these statements. The first key phrase or term is â€Å"begins. † Kant tells us that â€Å"knowledge begins with experience. † That is, in order to say â€Å"I know,† one must first have an object which makes some kind of sensory impression on the mind. [2]â€Å"For how is it possible,† Kant asks, â€Å"that the faculty of cognition should be awakened into exercise otherwise by means of objects which affect our senses†¦so to convert the raw material of our sensuous impressions into a knowledge of objects? It is, therefore, objects in the world that first supply us with the â€Å"raw material† for ‘beginning’ the process of attaining knowledge; the term ‘process’ is important here, because the two statements above allude to two different kinds of knowledge. It is not the case, claims Kant, all knowledge is a direct derivative of compounding impressions of raw data. For Kant, and this point lays the foundation of idealism, the mind plays a much more integral role in determining how those impressions are arranged in pre-conscious faculties. This difference plays an important role in the realism/idealism debate since the relationship between the minds’ functioning and knowledge claims depends upon disassociating two different kinds of demonstrations: (1) a method of proving what is known, (2) the acquisition of knowledge. More specifically, the debate between realism and idealism must in some ways reconcile itself with knowledge claims that are a priori and/or a posteriori. The former refers to rationalized knowledge which is universal, necessary and independent of experience (though this last condition, as we will see, is not so clear in Kant’s idealism). The latter is empirical knowledge which is acquired directly through our sensory perception and is validated by the relationship between what is stated and the way the world appears to be. For example, the claim that ‘snow is cold’ is a posteriori since the concept of ‘cold’ is not directly related to ‘snow’ independent of human experience. What is a priori knowledge is the fundamental subject of Kant’s transcendental idealism. According to Kant, a priori knowledge is not just about a method of proof, but also about how we attain a priori knowledge. As mentioned above, Kant is concerned with not only the knowledge that comes from experience, but also knowledge that arises from experience. That is, Kant seeks to settle how a priori knowledge, knowledge that lends epistemological certitude regarding to certain claims, is attained and verified without relying on facts about an external world. It is here that we see explicitly how a priori knowledge and epistemological idealism are integral and linked to the realism/idealism discussion; a priori knowledge is attained through a logical rationalization of concepts about objects that does not require a direct experience of them. In other words, a priori knowledge is knowledge which, according to Kant, begins with experience, but does not necessarily arise from that experience. To unpack this influx of these epistemological connections, it will be instructive to begin with what Kant calls the Transcendental Aesthetic. There is, states Kant, an arrangement to the mind which makes experience possible. This arrangement, or what Kant calls ‘schematism’ not only makes experience possible, but it also limits the scope of possible experiences. To refocus, Kant’s position is that space and time are the two most fundamental conditions for having an experience. All objects which are presented to the mind are done so, necessarily, in time and in space. It is important to recall that objects of perception/experience make impressions on the mind which is done through any or all of the five senses. This means that space and time, in order to be objects of the external world, must possess the property of being sensible. But if space is the condition for which objects are experienced, then space can only exist because space exists (this kind of paradox is addressed in the Antinomies). The same applies to time. Kant, therefore, purports that space and time are mere formal conditionings of objects via the minds operation providing, at the same time, the possibility of experience and experiential limitations. The upshot for Kant is that he loses nothing with this claim. The reality of space and time, as external objects, would lend no more validity to knowledge claims since the properties of space and time are necessary conditions for experience. Thus, making knowledge claims do not change whether space and time are properties of realist or idealist doctrines. In addition, Kant avoids the paradoxes which arise from claiming space and as objects of external reality by placing them as antecedent conditions for experience, as is needed, in the mind. This leads us to what Kant calls ‘synthetical’ claims a priori. By placing objects in space and in time there are going to be properties pertaining to the relations of objects to other objects and properties of objects that will follow the logic of being so represented. When Kant says that knowledge can arise from experience he is referring to the synthetical claims a priori which are determined by the logic of space and time as formal conditions for experiential representations. This is how Kant is able to famously answer how ‘every change has cause’ is necessary without realist fact. Kant admits that change is something that must be experienced, but change is an experience in space and in time. Since time is represented as a succession or the proceeding of an object through/from time t1 to time t2, and change is a relation of cause and effect, and since a cause cannot be its effect (see the paradox of space and time being the conditions of their own existence above), then once we are able to experience an event as ‘change’ in relation to an object (in time and space), we can, and with no further experience, strictly use the concepts of ‘cause’, ‘event’, and ‘change’, to make the a priori claim that ‘every change has a cause’; note, not just a change, or some changes, but every change has a cause. In other words, because of Kant’s transcendental idealism, we are logically justified in attaching certain knowledge of properties and relations in and between objects beyond what is provided by what we know a posteriori.

Nacl on Peroxidase Activity

NaCl Effects on Peroxidase Activity My experiment was to see if adding NaCl to solution would have any effects on peroxidase activity. The materials that were used in this experiment were pH 7 buffer(DI water), peroxidase, NaCl, guaiacol and hydrogen peroxide; added in that order. Blanks were created for each NaCl concentration, 0%, 5%, 7. 5% and 10%. Each cuvette had . 5ml of pH 7 buffer, 1ml of peroxidase, . 02ml guaiacol for the experimental cuvettes and 0ml of guaiacol for the blank cuvettes, . 2ml of hydrogen peroxide and . ml of different concentrated NaCl in each cuvette. When it came to recording data for my experiment, I placed the cuvette in the spectrometer, which was set to 500nm, after adding the guaiacol and hydrogen peroxide right before. I recorded the absorbance every 15 seconds for 3 minutes. I ran the experiment twice for precision and got the average of the two tests. I then entered the data into JMP and made two graphs; one to see the relationship between the con centration of NaCl and activity and the other to see how salt affect enzyme activity.The first graph only required the time and the mean absorbance. To make the second graph, I had to find Time X, the time where reaction starts to slow down, which in my case was 90 seconds. The axes for the graph were Time X as the y-axis and NaCl concentrations as the x-axis. The graphs showed me that there is a relationship between NaCl concentrations and peroxidase activity. More the concentration of NaCl, the faster the reaction occurs.

John Steinbeck s Of Mice And Men - 1656 Words

In the novel ‘Of Mice and Men’, Curley’s Wife is one of the many characters who represent a minority in the American society in the 1930s. In the award winning book, John Steinbeck provides many different aspects to the world he was living in at the time he wrote the novel: dreams, hopes and loneliness to name a few, all channelled through one mentality - prejudice. Curley’s Wife was one of the many characters that Steinbeck used to get his point across about prejudice with. She is not a complex character, however ‘a significant figure’ may be a better fitting word. In my essay, I will be investigating if whether Curley’s Wife is presented by Steinbeck with dislike and/or sympathy, and if so, with how much. My very first point begins†¦show more content†¦Curley’s Wife is introduced in Chapter two of the novel, however in the passage, she is already being judged before she has even been physically introduced to the reader. This is when Candy is conversing with the new arrivals to the Ranch, George and Lennie. Here, Candy says â€Å"I think Curley’s married a †¦ tart†. In comparison to popular belief of the definition of ‘tart’, one definition in slang terminology states that a tart is ‘A nubile young temptress, who dresses teasingly and provocatively.’ By looking at this definition, it indicates to us that Curley’s Wife’s appearance won’t be much of a welcomed one. The fact that Steinbeck prejudices so early in the novel regarding her may show how fast people in his time were poisoned with the same prejudiced mentality. This statement of intent from Steinbeck also shows very quickly that Curley’s Wife won’t be any blessing as the novel progresses. Her physical introduction to the reader isn’t any better, this is evident when â€Å"the rectangle of sunshine in the doorway was cut off.† This excerpt is ominous; the ‘cutting off’ of the light symbolises the amount of trouble she brings. This is confirmed when George tells a staring Lennie to Don t you even take a look at that bitch. I don t care what she says and what she does. I seen em poison before, but I never seen no piece of jail bait worse than her. You leave her be. Lennie’s mental shortcomings prevent him from seeing the

Addiction Drugs And Alcohol - 1001 Words

Addiction in Many Forms Addiction is awfully commonly associated with drugs and alcohol. Addiction is not only related to drugs or alcohol, but it is also tied with things and activities. Addiction to drugs or alcohol are quite similar yet slightly different to addictions to activities and other things. Addiction to drugs and alcohol over time leads to a buildup of tolerance, causing the user to need more of what they are addicted to in order to experience the same or more of an effect than they once needed to attain the same effect. They take drugs to avoid or relieve withdrawal symptoms. Addicts start putting people close to you at risk and jeopardizing your social life just for a little more of what you are addicted to. Addiction to an†¦show more content†¦Sheff said, â€Å"Nic has been gone for six days, and my desperation has built to a frenzy. I have never experienced grief congeneric to this. I spend frantic hours on the internet reading harrowing stories of children on drugs.† (Sheff 117). Sheff shows he spent an excessive amount of time worrying for his son, thinking about him and researching what he is likely experiencing. this could relate to the withdrawal from a drug from an addict. The drug is Nic, and without Nic, David panics. Sheff spends every waking minute thinking about Nic similarly to how Nic spends his time thinking about his next high. Sheff loses much of his life to his son s addiction. David is in constant fear that his son may start using again, or even die. When Sheff thinks he is over the fact that his son is addicted to meth, he quickly realizes he will never truly be over it. Sheff writes about a moment where he thinks he is content with the fact that he could be cut off from his son, Nic, â€Å"Nic used to send me into a panic, but now - today, at least, today at this moment, at least - I am alright with the concept. But then I think, Nic could die†¦ I would miss all of it. I miss it now.† (Sheff 268 - 269). Sheff emphasizes that no matter how much he tries, he will always depend on Nic’s safety and well being for his own happiness. Even as David s uttermost peaceful moment through his son s addiction to meth, he still misses and cares for him, breaking down and

My Initial Goal For A Interview Project - 961 Words

My initial goal for this interview project was to discover if growing up in the 1960’s was shockingly different than growing up in the 2000’s. However, based on the responses I received describing aspects of their childhood, my two interviewees with a 40 year age gap sounded surprisingly similar. My 10 questions were arranged in a somewhat chronological order, first asking the interviewee to describe their first childhood best friend, then inquiring if they could recall at what age themselves or their peers started participating in mature, adolescent activities. My interviews were conducted over the phone with two women whom I could not imagine my life without. My first interview was with my childhood best friend, now 19-years-old, whom I met at eight-years-old after I moved to Haines from Fairbanks, Alaska. To this day, we have remained best friends. Due to that, our interview required an extent of additional effort to conduct it seriously. However, we managed to cover everything in 10 minutes. My second interview was with my father’s ex-girlfriend, now 61-years-old, who I have the utmost appreciation for. She has only been in my life since 2014, but considering she was a large part of my 18th birthday, senior prom, and high school graduation, I could never not consider her a member of my family. She was more direct in her responses, so our interview lasted only 5 minutes. My best friend *Zoey gave lengthy, humorous responses to my questions. I attempted to remain asShow MoreRelatedCore Java And The Software Industry987 Words   |  4 Pageslearning process is completed in the previous iterations, this iteration is meant for achieving the ultimate goal of the researcher. The goal is to secure Java developer position in the industry. Towards this end, the researcher will involve in activities such as preparing resume to reflect his skills, to upload resume into job portals, to receive mails from prospective employers, attending interviews, and securing his dream job in the software industry. Plan The aim of this iteration is to achieve JavaRead MoreA Interview With Florence s Case1011 Words   |  5 PagesBefore meeting with Florence, I will prepare for our initial interview by collecting and reviewing all the information about Florence’s case. During our first meeting, I need to help Florence feel as comfortable as possible. I need to structure the interactional framework from the framework of the client; I will start where she is. I will be attentive and receptive to her feelings, and demonstrate a real desire to help. I will allow Florence to share her perceptions of the problem. I will explainRead MoreThe Economic And Cultural Benefits Of Multigenerational Households1517 Words   |  7 Pages The goal of this action research project is to contrast and compare the economic and cultural benefits of multigenerational households in the Midwest of USA since the economic downturn. This research will focus on multigenerational households of families attending the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) Belleville Head Start Center . The families at this particular Head Start are diverse, young parents with low income and other factors that fit the criteria for this project. TheRead MoreData Catalog For Enterprise Geodatabase1008 Words   |  5 PagesSpatial information is usable when it has metadata, as it is straightforward to follow and find datasets. GIS data catalog for Enterprise Geodatabase is a project which allows acquiring information regarding the availability of GIS datasets and related properties such as quality, description, the point of contact, extent, etc. The audience for the project are the internal customers looking for data. Managing spatial metadata records are critical for maintaining an organization s investment in spatialRead MoreService Request Sr-Rm-022, Part 1 Essay1514 Words   |  7 Pagesan HR system to support the objective of this request. The objective is to create a detailed system design and a project implementation plan required to complete the project. The project should be completed in approximately six months, so the new system can be utilized in the second quarter of next year (Apollo Group, Inc. 2011). Smith Services Consulting Inc. has contracted my services as a systems analysis to analyze the HR system at Riordan Manufacturing. The business needs and currentRead MoreAn Ethical Business Of An Organization Exporting Textiles From A Developing Country?1557 Words   |  7 Pagesa developing country? The Research Question and Outcome The initial idea of creating a business originated during travel in Sri Lanka. After seeing the poverty and need of many workers who could barely support themselves or their families, I decided to investigate options to help in some way. Through my travels and observations, I realized the lack of ethical working conditions and pay. After considering the topic of my research project, I decided to investigate the best manner to set up an ethicalRead MoreThe Research Outcome Is Dependent On Careful Selection Of The Participants1336 Words   |  6 Pagesdata. The research outcome is dependent on careful selection of the participants for the research. In theory the more participants a research project has, the better the researchers understanding of the experience should be Likewise the demographics of the participants are also important to understanding the nature of the data (Bond, 2011). However, for my research I chose to select one person who immigrated to the United States from a nother country at least after the age of 18 and is willing toRead MoreImportance Of Its Pathways Intermissions Program1630 Words   |  7 PagesAfter a rigorous process that involved. a series of applications and interviews, I was selected to participate in the ITS Pathways internship program at Hospital Corporation of America Healthcare. It is â€Å"one of the first hospital companies in the United States†, which was founded by Dr. Thomas Frist, Jr. and Jack Massey in 1968, who had a vision of creating a company that would work closely with its local physicians, nurses and other business associates to incorporate innovative business practicesRead MoreBuilding A Sustainable Future For The People Of Ghana Through Community Based Health And Education Projects1615 Words   |  7 PagesFrom this initial partnership grew an organization that, according to their literature, seeks to assist in building a sustainable future for the people of Ghana through community-based health an d education projects. The organization’s Western leadership indicate that this approach followed from a community assessment whereby a collaborative partnership of Local opinion leaders (e.g. school headmasters, church leadership, political figures) and a group of medical, social work, and law students fromRead MoreThe Positive Effects of Friends and Family on Health Behaviors, A Research Section1153 Words   |  5 Pages(2008) quantified the potential combined impact of four health behaviors in a particular community to yield a 4-fold difference on mortality in the men and women. Study Goals and Objectives Study Goal: The goals of these research is to explain and predict the positive effects of social ties on health behavior. Study Objectives: My aim is to highlight the potentially positive impact of family and friendships on health outcome and predict the implications of these effects for future health promotion

Changes and Develops Essay Example For Students

Changes and Develops Essay After washing away her sins Sheila walks towards the light as if she is walking into a new life where she has no secrets. The rain and light symbolise purity and change in Sheila, the rain represents her rebirth, new life from now on and her body language is open. In Act Three when the Birling family realise the Inspector was a fake mr Birling and Mrs Birling drown out Sheilas voice with their happiness, as the parents start to build their Capitalist lives back together Sheila and Eric stand outside the house symbolising that they dont want to live their lives how they did before the Inspector came. Sheila has changed and developed and is now a Socialist. Throughout the play Sheila Birling changed and developed. In Act One she was materialistic and could not stand up for herself, however in Act Two and Three she sees a different light and realises that she was a bad Capitalist and needed to change for the better. I think she has mainly changed because of the Inspector, if he had not of visited the family she would have still been selfish and a strong Capitalist who depended on her mother for approval. I believe that the point Priestly was trying to make was that people needed to be more caring about their community and the people in it. Priestley uses the character of the Inspector to convey his own thoughts, feelings and opinions about social issues. However, he also uses other characters, particularly Mr. Birling, to show the audience how cynical some people can be. J. B Priestly believed a great deal in Socialism. I think that Priestley set this play in 1912 for a reason. Arthur Birling is a rich businessman who thinks very highly of himself, even though he is often wrong. Arthurs family respect him and listen intently to his ideas that there isnt a chance of war and the Titanic is unsinkable. As the play was written in 1947 and set in 1912, this is an example of dramatic irony and the audience would know that Arthur was very wrong in his opinions and might even think him to be stupid. When he says the way some of these cranks talk and write now, youd think everybody has to look after everybody else, he explicitly says that he is a strong Capitalist and is narrow minded. Priestley wanted the audience to have a low opinion of Birling because he was discouraging at Capitalist politics and trying to show people like Mr Birling to be in the wrong. I feel Priestly wanted to teach the audience community and socialism is always a better way of living than being a capitalist.

Planning History Utopian Planners

Introduction Urban planning has evolved into different forms throughout the history of cities and city planning. Urban planning aims at improving a city to cater for the future social and economic needs of its inhabitants. It seeks to link the existing knowledge with the appropriate forms of action (Sager 1992, P. 67). Planning, therefore, has to be visionary with an appropriate idea about the future design of a city and the implementation of that design.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Planning History: Utopian Planners specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Modern urban planning entails two different approaches; visionary city planning that involves radical changes in the design of the city with substantial social and economic changes, and the institutionalized city planning, which proposes changes to the existing city structures and is affected by the prevailing economic and political forces within the city. Histori cally, urban city planning began in the nineteenth century with the sole purpose to regulate the new urban growth brought about by industrialization and improvement of transport and communication following the invention of the railway (Sitte 1965, P. 43). Military strategies to control territories and aesthetics of expression of cities significantly influenced visionary urban planning in the nineteenth century. Although visionary city planning made many achievements in city building, many of which are still monumental and beautiful today, it remained insensitive to the wider needs of the society and would have been disastrous if implemented on a large scale.  The poor living conditions of the urban poor, forced most middle class urban dwellers towards the end of the nineteenth century to begin agitating for reforms in city planning, which culminated into utopian planning (Cherry 1970, P. 87). Central to this movement was Ebenezer Howard, who conceptualized the ‘garden cityâ €™ to be the ideal alternative to the city planning of the nineteenth century. The garden city was an attempt to connect the vision for a new social order to the spatial expression of the city (Fisherman 1977, P. 23). Le Corbusier conceptualized the â€Å"Contemporary City for Three Million People† in 1922 and the â€Å"Radiant City† in 1935 both of which proposed a centralized city with high population and many facilities including skyscraper buildings and residential apartments (Cherry 1970, p. 89). Frank Lloyd Wright on the other hand, envisioned the Broadacre City plan in 1935, which was a decentralized city with low population and suburban residential homes (Mumford 1946, p. 42). Ebenezer Howard and the Garden City The garden city was a brilliant idea conceived by Ebenezer Howard in response to the environmental and social changes that were results of industrial revolution in Britain. Industrial revolution encouraged migration into urban areas and consequently led to poor and unhealthy living conditions in cities.Advertising Looking for essay on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In a bid to curb overpopulation in cities and the associated deterioration of social facilities, Howard envisioned an organized planned dispersal, whereby people could set up industries in towns to provide the services and various occupations to the people of a particular culture within the town (Gossel Leuthauser 1991, p.94). He also envisioned that the population size in the towns be reduced to about 30,000 inhabitants so that the inhabitants could live and work within walking distance. In this way, the garden cities could provide social facilities near the residential places and avoid overpopulation in cities. The garden cities also comprised of a spacious layout to for occupation by residential suburban houses, parking space for the residents and enough space for schools and other social amenities.  The garden city envisioned the larger urban system as a network of interlinked communities. It proposed a close link between the town and the countryside with a clear definition of the country, which the design would reserve for agriculture. It also provided for easy access by the urban residents to the countryside (Hall Ward 1998, p.71). It also envisioned the creation of common developmental and social facilities that would lead to neighborhoods and estates within cities. To control the city development, Howard envisioned a unified land ownership, whereby the trust ownership controlled the agricultural zone. He also envisioned a cooperative municipal enterprise, which would regulate trade and industry in the cities without affecting the individual freedom with regard to trade and industry. The main major purpose of the garden cities was to promote dispersal of the people from major cities using the three magnets concept. The garden city provided a channel for an or ganized relocation of the city dwellers to other towns to relieve the pressure on social facilities and the impacts of overpopulation in the major cities in the nineteenth century (Hall Ward 1998, p.81). However, dispersal could have happened in any case because of majority of the urban dwellers avoiding the problems of overpopulation could have sought a better environment either in the suburbs or in smaller towns away from the cities (Fishman1977, p.153). Still, the garden city was an ideal alternative to reducing congestion in the cities. The cities of the nineteenth century experienced traffic congestion and provided little room for expansion. In contrast, the planned new towns provided an opportunity to avoid problems of overpopulation by providing the right infrastructure to match the expanding population growth in the major cities.  Despite Howard’s garden city concept providing an opportunity to reduce urban congestion by promoting decentralization of industries and facilities, its implementation could have been disastrous.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Planning History: Utopian Planners specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More According to Howard, the social city concept entailed one garden city giving rise to another garden city after attaining a population threshold of 30,000 inhabitants (Howard 1902, p.14). However, this would have produced a cluster of interdependent towns that would be expensive to administer. Verma (1996) points out that despite the noble nature of the garden city concept, the many new regional centres would have been economically expensive to administer as opposed to a small number of large centres (p.43). Fundamental to the concept of the garden city was the neighbourhood idea, where the people would live within walking distance to their workplaces, shops, primary schools and public spaces. The idea behind this concept was the need to establish some kin d of balance between work and homes. However, Howard based this concept on the belief that the population growth would match industrial expansion to cut down the level of commuting back and forth the workplaces. The concept would not have worked; firstly, given that industrial growth leads to population increase due to attraction of immigrant workers into cities, establishment of smaller towns would not have encouraged outward labour mobility since many people worked in the industrialized cities (Cherry 1970, p.61). Secondly, the workers in the new towns would have been still dependent on the employers in the major cities and thus would continue working in the major cities. Under the garden city concept, people from all social classes were to move to the smaller towns including the employers. This would be possible through provision of various incentives to employers, thereby attracting them to invest in the small towns. Such incentives included already built factories on lease amon g others (Fishman 1977, p.154). However, given that, the cost of operating a new franchise is high few employers could have relocated their businesses to the smaller towns. In addition, relocation of large factories would have exerted unprecedented pressure on infrastructural facilities further affecting transport and communication. Howard envisioned that the establishment of the garden city would encourage people to move into the city and as a result, the population would steadily rise to maximum of 30,000 inhabitants, after which another city would arise (Fishman1977, p.321). In addition, Howard envisioned that the establishment of the garden city would result into a rise in land value, which would generate enough money to pay off the investors and finance schools, parks, museums and other public places. However, Howard failed to note that for the land value to rise, productivity in the garden city had also to be high (Sager 1992, p.73). Obviously, rise in land values alone would not achieve productivity of the garden city; it also required increase in productivity of the enterprises and factories established in the garden cities. In this regard, investors could only benefit if there was a rise in productivity of their enterprises rather than on rise in land value.Advertising Looking for essay on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Surplus productivity in the garden city would encourage capital and labour flows into the garden city, which would create more congestion in the garden city than anywhere else would.  The physical realization of Howard’s garden city was in the construction of the city of Letchworth guided by architects, Raymond Urwin and Barry Parker. The design of the residential homes of this garden city was attractive but it took longer than Howard had anticipated for the city to attract people (Glasscock 1996, p.24). After 35 years of Letchworth’s establishment, it had only 15,000 inhabitants compared to the population of 30,000 anticipated. In addition, most workers could not afford houses in the garden city with some opting to commute from other towns while others opted for cheap informal settlements set up by speculators. The envisioned idea of the garden city did not match the Letchworth city in terms of architecture and social life. Frank Lloyd Wright’s and the Broada cre City Broadacre City was Frank Lloyd Wright’s concept for the ideal multi-cantered, low density, suburbs. The utopian planner introduced this scheme with an aim of decongesting cities in 1932 in his book, The Disappearing City. In terms of population density, Broadacre city, catered for a low population with a density of five people per acre. The scheme aimed at reducing congestion in cities to avoid development of informal settlement. In contrast to Ebenezer’s garden city, which involved turning the city into a suburban countryside, the Broadacre city converted the countryside into a city (Rybczynski 2005, p. 17). The spread of the Broadacre city would constitute an urban where each family had access to small farms and recreational sites with industrial and other urban facilities placed a few miles from the residential places. The Broadacre city plan embodied economic reforms based on Wright’s model of democracy, which he described as Usonia. The Usonia was against Marxist’s socialism ideology and Wright derived it from the ideas of the nineteenth century utopians like Edward Bellamy and Thorstein Veblen. The Wright’s plan allowed the families to own homes and relieved them from property owners. Wright assumed that the land use would be the responsibility of the owners (Rybczynski 2005, p.132). Under Wright’s plan, the land would be public and then redistributed to the private owners including families, who would use the land productively. Therefore, the Usonia concept opposed cooperation but encouraged individualism whereby it encouraged private ownership of land. The Broadacre city offered an opportunity to ordinary people to live in countryside lifestyle while enjoying the economic opportunities and recreations associated with urban centres.  Wright’s plan envisioned that the residential houses adopt any design the owners preferred with no two houses built the same so long as the structures, the constru ction method and the materials used in the construction were integral and natural. A central civil authority would have the responsibility of determining what is natural and integral to the place. The plan envisioned an â€Å"a sprawling, open, individualistic structure† where families would live in suburbs surrounding urban centres (Duany, Zyberk, Speck 1992, p. 54). Wright realized that in his plan physically separate the communities. The plan brought communities of interest together through communication and transportation and the process would replace the physical communities of a place. However, Mumford criticised the plan’s suggestion of establishing an individualistic structure by referring to it as being antisocial that would affect the decongestion of the cities. It is evident that Wright’s plan would have turned out to be disastrous if implemented. The suburbia would not match Broadacre City’s low densities, which Wright envisioned would become suburbs. Under the Broadacre plan, the buildings were concentrated in the city centre, where offices and industries were located. This would have contributed to congestion within the city, as more activities were concentrated there (Duany, Zyberk, Speck 1992, p.231). Wright’s Broadacre city intended to reduce congestion from the city centre; however, concentration and dispersal are a common occurrence in cities. In addition, Wright assumed that the rise in land value would promote economic development and improvement in the standards of living. However, land alone cannot contribute to economic prosperity particularly in cities (Rybczynski 2005, p. 42). Economic prosperity in cities allows more people to own land and homes hence his assumption that increase in land value would lead to dispersal could have turned out to be incorrect as more people could afford land leading to concentration. Wright never envisioned the suburban homes to be sites of wealth production in the fut ure. Nowadays, suburban homesteads can be used to generate income through crop farming and livestock rearing, which can support families living within city suburbs.  Broadacre plan was not fully implemented as Wright had envisioned. Nowadays, the city suburbs do not match what Wright had envisioned in his Broadacre city plan (Hall, Ward 1998, p. 75). This indicates an appropriate judgment considering that the rationale behind Broadacre City was Wright’s program of social reform. In essence, the substance of Broadacre City was aesthetic and to curb the problems occasioned by overpopulation (Ritzdorf 1996, p. 212). Wright envisioned a system of governance in Broadacre city that promoted architecture and aesthetics with regard to particular culture rather than on physical city construction laws. Wright did not seek to protect nature but rather he proposed the establishment of homes in the countryside (Muschamp 2001, p. 67). This would have affected nature and wildlife. Wright defended his plan by suggesting that establishment of the city within the country side would not affect nature but would contribute to improved quality of the building and the city. However, establishment of human settlements in countryside forests would have adversely affected the wildlife. In addition, the Broadacre city plan cannot be a conventional architectural design for all cities because of its emphasis on aesthetics but rather a plan designed to redeem a particular city from the challenges of high population by promoting dispersal. Nevertheless, Wright’s plan would have found a role in the modern urban planning, which increased demand for aesthetics as its central aspect characterizes (Duany, Zyberk, Speck 1992, p. 27). Most people demand public action to prevent acquisition of public places as part of aesthetics. In this regard, people feel that aesthetics, as enshrined in Wright’s plan, are both a public and private affair and building homes away from the city center is a common phenomenon nowadays. LeCorbusier and the Radiant city LeCorbusier’s Radiant city concept arose out of a new concept of expanding the individual freedoms and establishing a capitalist economy. The plan involved clearance of the existing prehistoric cities followed by the rebuilding of a modern city using modern architectural designs (Le Corbusier 1967, p. 41). Under this plan, quality housing, les unites, would be available to everyone based on the size of each family. He envisioned a city with buildings five meters above the ground and therefore ensuring allocation of more land to nature. Within the les unites, would be pedestrian streets linking buildings together (Richards 2003, p.114). Le Corbusier suggests that the center of the radiant city would mainly composed of commercial buildings mainly skyscrapers (about 5%) while the surrounding area (95%) would be occupied by trees and parks. Residential buildings taking a zigzag shape would surround the city center. The residential buildings would house catering and accommodation services. In essence, Le Corbusier based his plan on the belief that modern age architecture should be suitable and expressive of modernism. In the Radiant city design, he employed architectural skills and picture designs to develop his idea of the city as opposed to a rational basis (Etlin 1994, p. 72). Le Corbusier, unlike Howard, did not belief in the natural economic order but believed that leadership within the society was important (Serenyi 1975, 82). In his plan of the radiant city, Le Corbusier envisioned a pyramid of hierarchies with the workers occupying the bottom position so that the order would prevail in the society (Fisherman 1977, p. 211). The leadership would occupy the top position in his plan of the radiant city for easy administrative control of the workers. Le Corbusier envisioned social lifestyle of the citizens of the radiant city. He saw that division of labor within the society wou ld promote unity and cooperation, which is necessary to promote economic growth (Fisherman 1977, p. 65). Unlike his first design of the Contemporary city of three million people, where he designed the residential buildings according to economic classes arranged around the business center of the city, he designed the Radiant city for all people with less regard to the economic classes (Le Corbusier1967, p. 87). The les unites accommodated every member of the society regardless of his/her economic status and promoted cooperation and equality (Fisherman1977, p. 41). Additionally, Le Corbusier integrated nature into the residential areas by allocating less land to residential housing and the rest to nature.  Despite Le Corbusier design of the Radiant city providing a way of promoting equality and individual freedoms, the plan raised many concerns. Kennedy (1998, p. 53) believed that Le Corbusier individual freedom that were promoted by the Radiant city design were not personal liberti es since Le Corbusier did not consult the citizens for whom he was planning for (Curtis1986, p. 112). His design of the facilities, services, and rules were more favorable to him rather than to the other citizens reducing the citizens into mere performers with no say in issues affecting their social life (Verma 1996, p. 72). Moreover, under the Radiant city plan, individuals had no say in the administration or governance issues affecting their lives and the plan expected them to act rationally all the time with antisocial behavior not conceived in his plan (Kennedy 1998, p.54). In this respect, the plan did not cater for social problems such as crime in the society. In addition, the plan did not address the needs of minority members of the society but rather considered that all citizens were equal. However, it was highly unlikely that all the people would behave rationally with no criminal or social problems taking place within the radiant city. In this regard, Le Corbusier assumpti on that humans would behave rationally with no crime or any social problems occurring was rather naà ¯ve than real (Kennedy 1998, p. 63). In the radiant city, Le Corbusier notion of authority was rather bureaucratic and patriarchal than administrative (Sennett 1980, p. 74). The plan, less grand unities, reserved for the administration the top part of the residential houses consisting of multi-storey buildings and skyscrapers, which represented a paternalistic authority (Kennedy, 1998). In addition, Hawkins (1997) while supporting the radiant city design concept as a way of providing housing for the masses in the wake of unprecedented population growth occasioned by industrial revolution argues that the design would have ultimately led to congestion in future (, p. 82). Conclusion The theories of Howard, Wright, and Le Corbusier were remarkable providing an alternative to the architectural designs of the nineteenth century urban planning. In addition, they offered solutions to the s ocial problems experienced in the nineteenth century cities and promoted quality of living for the citizens. However, the plans failed to address all the social aspects affecting the nineteenth century cities and consequently their implementation would have produced disastrous results. Despite the plans having a visionary view of connecting humans with nature, they failed to address issues related to human history and the future population growth needs. Reference List Cherry, G., 1970. Town Planning in the Social Context. London: Leonard Hill Curtis, W., 1986. Le Corbusier: Ideas and Forms. New York: Rizzoli International  Publications. Duany, A., Zyberk, E., Speck, J., 1992. Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the  Decline of the American Dream. New York: Routledge Etlin, R., 1994. Frank Lloyd Wright and Le Corbusier: The Romantic Legacy.  New York: Manchester University Press Fishman, R., 1977. Urban Utopias in the Twentieth Century. Cambridge, Mass: The MIT  Press.  Glasscock, R., 1996. Ebenezer Howard: 1850-1928 and the Garden  City. Advanced journal in Policy Studies: Sustainable Urban Design, 15(7). pp. 126-142. Gossel, P., Leuthauser, G., 1991. Architecture in the Twentieth Century,  Berlin: Benedikt Taschen Hall, P., Ward, C., 1998. Sociable Cities: The Legacy of Ebenezer Howard John. New  York: Wiley Sons. Howard, E., 1902. Garden Cities of To-morrow. London: Routledge. Kennedy, R., 1998. Le Corbusier and the Radiant City Contra: True Urbanity  and the Earth. Advanced journal in Policy Studies: Sustainable Urban Design, 15(7), pp. 221-223 Le Corbusier., 1967. The Radiant City. New York: The Orion Press  Mumford, L., 1946. Green-Belt Cities: The British Contribution. London: Faber and  Faber Muschamp, H., 2001. File Under Architecture. New York: MIT Press Richards, S., 2003. Le Corbusier and the Concept of Self New Haven  London: Yale University Press. Ritzdorf, M., 1996. Feminist Thoughts on the Theory and Practice of P lanning.  Cambridge, MA: Blackwell Rybczynski, W., 2005. City Life. New York. Blackwell publishers Sager, T., 1992. Why Plan? A Multi-Rationality Foundation for Planning. Scandinavian  Housing Planning Research, 9, pp. 129-147 Sennett, R., 1980. Authority. New York: W.W. Norton and Company.  Hall Publishers. Serenyi, P., 1975. Le Corbusier in Perspective. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall  Publishers. Sitte, C., 1965. City Planning According to its Artistic Principles. New York: Random  House Verma, N., 1996. Pragmatic Rationality and Planning Theory. Journal of Planning  Education and Research, 16 (1), pp. 5-14 This essay on Planning History: Utopian Planners was written and submitted by user Coen Sweet to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.