Free persuasive essay sample

free persuasive essay

The task of projecting the content of the options available for choice is both simplified and complicated by the need to employ normative variables to structure outcomes. In principle, a complete statement of consequences is impossible to achieve. Normative concern, however, focuses on certain kinds of consequences--those that involve significant dimensions of human life. That commitment to radical individualism simplifies the task of projecting outcomes, for anything that does not affect human life in an important way, either directly or indirectly, can safely be ignored. way, either directly or indirectly, can safely be ignored. Nevertheless, the need to state consequences using normative variables means that the theories used to project them must make use of, or be linked to, a set of normative variables.

Free Persuasive Essay Sample

In terms of the example used earlier, Smith's decision would depend on the effect of selecting one or the other of the options on the people who would be impacted by the change. If the only information available referred to wages and benefits, choice would be extremely hazardous. Of course, the economic effects of the choice would count heavily because they influence so many other dimensions of life directly and indirectly. But even the absolute level of wages and benefits would have to be balanced against relative costs, particularly of food, clothing, and shelter, as well as hidden costs such as need to send the children to private schools because of the inadequacy of the public schools.

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Other aspects of the situation likely to influence the decision would include job security, opportunities for advancement, kind of work performed, and even the physical characteristics of the workplace. Beyond these economic-related matters lie such concerns as the availability of medical, cultural, and recreational facilities; the quality of the schools; levels of public safety; ease of access to shopping and other requirements; and so on. Finally, a range of personal and familial concerns would probably be weighed before choosing. Leaving the family may be regarded as too high a cost to pay for a slightly larger income, particularly if family relations are close, or some members of the family are in poor health.

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The result of Smith's projections, calculations, and weightings can be brought together in a relatively systematic matrix, showing the input variables measured and their values, the normative variables affected by these input variables, and the weighting attached to each part of each outcome. Technically, such variables as "income" are not normative, in the strict sense; they are considered important because changes in their values will affect individual life. How they will affect individual life will be stated using genuinely normative variables. heir structure is quite complex, and discussion of their meaning and limitations can be delayed to another unit.

 free reflective essays

… The weightings, which are the key to the decision, involve two levels of comparison. In the first instance, the two options can be compared with respect to income, etc., and a weighting attached to each continuum. Thus Smith may prefer more to less income, lower to higher living costs, good to poor schools, and so on. The more difficult decisions appear when increased income (less increased living costs) must be balanced against poorer schools and weaker family relations. Examination of that process too can be delayed until another unit as long as the principle involved is clear.

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Having projected the normative implications of each option as fully as possible, Smith now needs an instrument that will order the outcomes to show the preferred option. That instrument may already be available: Smith may already have produced a generalized structure that will apply to the situation. For example, if he has changed jobs and locations several times in the past, the family may already have decided that he would not change jobs again unless there were exceptional reasons--a major increase in income, a choice between moving and unemployment, and so on. The priority would assert that in choosing between jobs: "Prefer the present position to any alternative that does not include exceptional improvements." Since the choice to be made is certainly a case of "choosing between jobs," the pattern should apply.

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If such a priority is not available, one must be created. The experience used to produce the instrument need not be direct. Other persons who have changed jobs can be consulted to obtain information about their reaction to the option chosen, and the information can be extrapolated to the present case--adjusted for any differences in personal or family likes and dislikes. Given the kind of general knowledge available in modern society, the relative desirability of a range of conditions of life can be considered more or less accurately without experiencing them directly.

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Finally, since experience will not usually refer to every aspect of the choice, some element of risk and uncertainty is likely to be involved in every determination of priorities. The family will not know "what it's like to live with" some of the conditions projected for the future, and will have to guess, or weigh the choice on other grounds and assume the unknown will prove tolerable. After all the weighing and comparing are completed, the particular decision must be made, meaning the preferred outcome must be identified and justified. That preference can then be generalized into a priority and applied to the particular case and other cases.

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Once a preferred outcome has been identified by applying or creating a priority, it remains to bring that preferred outcome into being, to reify the priority. A program of action, a set of rules of action, must also be created that will actually produce the preferred outcome. Those rules of action or action program will be referred to as policies. The need for a separate apparatus for applying the priority may not be obvious, but the separation is essential for justification or criticism. If Smith developed a priority and applied it, and the result was to show that the present job was preferable to the new position offered, some action would still be required to implement the intellectual decision.

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… Refusing the offer requires an action program, which may consist in a simple phone call, a written refusal of the offer, or a message conveyed by an intermediary. There is a difference between making a decision intellectually and implementing it. The decision can be reached on the basis of a priority structure; implementation requires a policy based on valid theories. Usually, policies are developed out of the theories used to project the outcome from which choices are made. The theories must be practical, within the limits of present resources and technology, and not merely valid in principle.