Pareto distribution
The Pareto distribution, named after the Italian civil engineer, economist, and sociologist Vilfredo Pareto, is a power law probability distribution that is used in description of social, scientific, geophysical, actuarial, and many other types of observable phenomena. Definition[edit] If X is a random variable with a Pareto (Type I) distribution,[1] then the probability that X is greater than some number x, i.e. the survival function (also called tail function), is given by where xm is the (necessarily positive) minimum possible value of X, and α is a positive parameter. Properties[edit] Cumulative distribution function[edit] From the definition, the cumulative distribution function of a Pareto random variable with parameters α and xm is When plotted on linear axes, the distribution assumes the familiar J-shaped curve which approaches each of the orthogonal axes asymptotically. Probability density function[edit] It follows (by differentiation) that the probability density function is Suppose
Vilfredo Pareto
Vilfredo Federico Damaso Pareto (born Wilfried Fritz Pareto; Italian: [vilˈfreːdo paˈreːto]; 15 July 1848 – 19 August 1923) was an Italian engineer, sociologist, economist, political scientist, and philosopher. He made several important contributions to economics, particularly in the study of income distribution and in the analysis of individuals' choices. He was also responsible for popularising the use of the term "elite" in social analysis. He introduced the concept of Pareto efficiency and helped develop the field of microeconomics. His legacy as an economist was profound. Biography[edit] Pareto was born of an exiled noble Genoese family in 1848 in Paris, the centre of the popular revolutions of that year. From Civil engineer to liberal, and then to economist[edit] For some years after graduation, he worked as a civil engineer, first for the state-owned Italian Railway Company and later in private industry. He did not begin serious work in economics until his mid-forties.
Henri Lefebvre
Henri Lefebvre (French: [ləfɛvʁ]; 16 June 1901 – 29 June 1991) was a French Marxist philosopher and sociologist, best known for pioneering the critique of everyday life, for introducing the concepts of the right to the city and the production of social space, and for his work on dialectics, alienation, and criticism of Stalinism and structuralism. In his prolific career, Lefebvre wrote more than sixty books and three hundred articles.[1] Biography[edit] In 1961, Lefebvre became professor of sociology at the University of Strasbourg, before joining the faculty at the new university at Nanterre in 1965.[7] He was one of the most respected professors, and he had influenced and analysed the May 1968 students revolt.[8] Lefebvre introduced the concept of the right to the city in his 1968 book Le Droit à la ville[9][10] (the publication of the book predates the May 1968 revolts which took place in many French cities). Lefebvre died in 1991. The critique of everyday life[edit] "Change life!
Sartre and Marxist Existentialism: The Test Case of Collective Responsibility: Thomas R. Flynn: 9780226254661: Amazon.com
Marxism Versus Existentialism
George Novack’s Understanding History Existentialism and Marxism are the most widely discussed and widely held philosophies of our time. The first is dominant in Western Europe and gaining increasing popularity in the United States. The second is not only the official doctrine of all communist countries but, in one form or another, is accepted as a guide by many movements and parties throughout the world. Over the past 20 years the proponents of these two schools of thought have engaged in continual debate with one another. The centre of this controversy has been France. The development of Sartre has been especially paradoxical. In his latest philosophical treatise, The Critique of Dialectical Reason (1960), the first section of which has been published in English as Search for a Method , he declares that existentialism has become a subordinate branch of Marxism which aspires to renew and enrich it. To what extent, if any, can these philosophies be conjoined?
Western Philosophy
Georges Bataille
Georges Albert Maurice Victor Bataille (French: [ʒɔʁʒ batɑj]; 10 September 1897 – 9 July 1962) was a French intellectual and literary figure working in literature, anthropology, philosophy, economy, sociology and history of art. Eroticism, sovereignty, and transgression are at the core of his writings. Life and work[edit] Bataille attended the École des Chartes in Paris, graduating in February 1922. Though he is often referred to as an archivist and a librarian because of his employment at the Bibliothèque Nationale, his work there was with the medallion collections (he also published scholarly articles on numismatics). Founder of several journals and literary groups, Bataille is the author of a large and diverse body of work: readings, poems, essays on innumerable subjects (on the mysticism of economy, poetry, philosophy, the arts, eroticism). Fascinated by human sacrifice, he founded a secret society, Acéphale, the symbol of which was a headless man. Key concepts[edit] Other[edit]
Thus Spoke Zarathustra
Thus Spoke Zarathustra: A Book for All and None (German: Also sprach Zarathustra: Ein Buch für Alle und Keinen, also translated as Thus Spake Zarathustra) is a philosophical novel by German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, composed in four parts between 1883 and 1885. Much of the work deals with ideas such as the "eternal recurrence of the same", the parable on the "death of God", and the "prophecy" of the Übermensch, which were first introduced in The Gay Science.[1] Origins[edit] Thus Spoke Zarathustra was conceived while Nietzsche was writing The Gay Science; he made a small note, reading "6,000 feet beyond man and time," as evidence of this.[2] More specifically, this note related to the concept of the eternal recurrence, which is, by Nietzsche's admission, the central idea of Zarathustra; this idea occurred to him by a "pyramidal block of stone" on the shores of Lake Silvaplana in the Upper Engadine, a high alpine region whose valley floor is at 6,000 ft. Synopsis[edit] Themes[edit]
Fatalism
Fatalism is a philosophical doctrine stressing the subjugation of all events or actions to fate. Fatalism generally refers to any of the following ideas: The view that we are powerless to do anything other than what we actually do.[1] Included in this is that man has no power to influence the future, or indeed, his own actions.[2] This belief is very similar to predeterminism.An attitude of resignation in the face of some future event or events which are thought to be inevitable. Friedrich Nietzsche named this idea with "Turkish fatalism"[3] in his book The Wanderer and His Shadow.[4]That actions are free, but nevertheless work toward an inevitable end.[5] This belief is very similar to compatibilist predestination.That acceptance is appropriate, rather than resistance against inevitability. This belief is very similar to defeatism. Determinism, fatalism and predeterminism[edit] Fatalism is a looser term than determinism. Likewise, determinism is a broader term than predeterminism.
