Christian Etzrodt
Yamanashi Gakuin University iCLA, I Cla, Faculty Member
The aim of this paper is to determine whether Nitobe Inazō provided an accurate description of the ethical code of the samurai in his famous work Bushido, or an idealised and nostalgic text without any foundation in the works of... more
The aim of this paper is to determine whether Nitobe Inazō provided an accurate description of the ethical code of the samurai in his famous work Bushido, or an idealised and nostalgic text without any foundation in the works of historical samurai. In order to do so, I am comparing Nitobe's Bushido with a sample of 29 original bushidō-texts from the Kamakura to the Edo period. The surprising result of this analysis is that Nitobe did not only include the most discussed values of the original samurai texts in his book, but also gave a representative description of most of them. Despite much, modern criticism of his work, it seems that Nitobe was not the politically motivated commentator which modern history has made him, but an accurate assessor of the ethics of the bushi class.
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In the first part of this series, I demonstrated that the current fractional reserve banking system produces a fundamental conflict of interest between private banks and society. The aim of this second part is to describe three radical... more
In the first part of this series, I demonstrated that the current fractional reserve banking system produces a fundamental conflict of interest between private banks and society. The aim of this second part is to describe three radical solutions to this interest conflict. The Chicago Plan and the Sovereign Money approach propose to prohibit private banks to create money by abolishing fractional reserve banking. The Modern Money Theory on the other hand tries to challenge the current economic systems as a whole based on chartalist ideas. All three approaches have serious deficits. However, they are complementing each other well. The Modern Money Theory solves the main problem of the Chicago Plan and the Sovereign Money proposal, whereas the latter two solve the major issues of the former. I will outline a synthesis of those three theories in order to overcome the interest conflict between the private banks and society.
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The aim of this paper is to show that problems in financial markets are not the result of unethical behaviour of specific individuals, but instead are caused by a fundamental conflict of interests between the private banks and society. By... more
The aim of this paper is to show that problems in financial markets are not the result of unethical behaviour of specific individuals, but instead are caused by a fundamental conflict of interests between the private banks and society. By inflating bubbles through fractional reserve banking and securitization the private banks can increase profits but also increase the risks for the society at large. I will discuss why the most common proposals for reducing the risk for society are very likely not solving the problem, because they do not resolve the fundamental conflict of interest.
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This essay investigates the need for and the challenges associated with the establishment of western style liberal arts education in a non-western nation. Two such programs in Japan are examined: Akita International University and... more
This essay investigates the need for and the challenges associated with the establishment of western style liberal arts education in a non-western nation. Two such programs in Japan are examined: Akita International University and Yamanashi Gakuin University’s International College of Liberal Arts or iCLA. The authors have been deeply involved in the establishment and administration of both of these all-English language liberal arts ba degree programs. The difficulty of establishing a liberal arts education curriculum in a country like Japan is explored by examining the cultural and institutional obstacles within the Japanese system of higher education. The two case studies are presented to highlight the establishment problems and subsequent successes of these programs in a nation with little tradition of liberal arts education at the university level. Finally, the questions of how to justify a liberal arts education program and how to design such a program are discussed by an examination of the utility of area studies as an organizing framework for liberal arts education in a non-western society.
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Text interpretations are usually leading to ambiguous results. This is especially the case for the interpretation of Max Weber's methodology. I discuss Thomas Burger's interpretation that Weber applied Rickert's methodology and that he... more
Text interpretations are usually leading to ambiguous results. This is especially the case for the interpretation of Max Weber's methodology. I discuss Thomas Burger's interpretation that Weber applied Rickert's methodology and that he never developed his own standpoint regarding the methodological problems. In contrast to this view, I propose an alternative interpretation based on the Methodenstreit in economics and the philosophies of Kant and Rickert. In my opinion We-ber offered a very unique solution to an old philosophical problem, which resulted in a complete break with the Platonic and Aristotelian tradition. His solution is what I call the postulate of internal consistency (a logical consistent application of an arbitrary scheme of interpretation). I will use Popper's method of deductive falsification to decide if Burger's or my interpretation produces fewer contradictions.
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The aim of this paper is an analysis of the different standpoints of Parsons and Schutz concerning We-ber's suggestion that sociological explanations have to include the subjective point of view of the actors, the Cartesian Dilemma that... more
The aim of this paper is an analysis of the different standpoints of Parsons and Schutz concerning We-ber's suggestion that sociological explanations have to include the subjective point of view of the actors, the Cartesian Dilemma that the actor's consciousness is not accessible to the researcher, and the Kantian Problem that theories are necessary in order to interpret sensory data, but that there is no guarantee that these theories are true. The comparison of Schutz's and Parsons's positions shows that Parsons's methodology is naïve and unsuitable for a sociological analysis. But although Schutz's methodological standpoint is much more reasonable, it is also problematic, because it excludes highly abstract social "facts" such as social systems from the research agenda. Parsons can deal with such highly abstract facts, despite the drawback that with his methodology the truth content of theories cannot be judged.
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The aim of this paper is to analyze differentiation theory without relying on the system concept, because this concept has a questionable methodological status. The replacement of the system concept with an interaction concept allows a... more
The aim of this paper is to analyze differentiation theory without relying on the system concept, because this concept has a questionable methodological status. The replacement of the system concept with an interaction concept allows a completely new approach to the phenomenon of social differentiation, because interaction types are structurally related to value dilemmas. However, whereas such value dilemmas are not recognized in pre-modern societies, they become obvious in modern societies. The fact that we have lost the illusion of order in modern societies leads to the phenomenon of differentiation into advocates of different values in the domains of economics, sociology, and political science.
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The aim of this paper is to test Max Weber's Protestant-ethic thesis. The thesis is described in a systematic way, followed by a detailed discussion of the critiques of Gordon Marshall and Malcolm MacKinnon. Their critique challenges... more
The aim of this paper is to test Max Weber's Protestant-ethic thesis. The thesis is described in a systematic way, followed by a detailed discussion of the critiques of Gordon Marshall and Malcolm MacKinnon. Their critique challenges Weber's thesis in relevant parts, but although I largely agree with their arguments, they do not lead to a clear verification or falsification. I shall furthermore present a new test of the Protestant-ethic thesis by investigating whether or not the founder of modern economics, with its spirit of modern capitalism, had a connection to Neo-Calvinism—as we should expect, if Weber was right. The result of my test is that Adam Smith was a Neo-Calvinist and that I have therefore failed to falsify the Protestant-ethic thesis.
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George H. Mead and Alfred Schutz proposed foundations of an interpretative sociology from opposite standpoints. Mead accepted the objective meaning structure a priori. His problem became therefore the explanation of the individuality and... more
George H. Mead and Alfred Schutz proposed foundations of an interpretative sociology from opposite standpoints. Mead accepted the objective meaning structure a priori. His problem became therefore the explanation of the individuality and creativity of human actors in his social behavioristic approach. In contrast, Schutz started from the subjective consciousness of an isolated actor as a result of a phenomenological reduction. He was concerned with the problem of explaining the possibility of this isolated actor’s perceiving other actors in their existence, their concreteness, and the motives for their behavior. I treat these two approaches and their associated problems as equally relevant. The evaluation is based on their success in solving their specific problems. The aim is to decide which of the two approaches provides the more adequate foundation for an Interpretative Sociology.