• Login
    View Item 
    •   Home
    • UA Graduate and Undergraduate Research
    • UA Theses and Dissertations
    • Dissertations
    • View Item
    •   Home
    • UA Graduate and Undergraduate Research
    • UA Theses and Dissertations
    • Dissertations
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Browse

    All of UA Campus RepositoryCommunitiesTitleAuthorsIssue DateSubmit DateSubjectsPublisherJournalThis CollectionTitleAuthorsIssue DateSubmit DateSubjectsPublisherJournal

    My Account

    LoginRegister

    About

    AboutUA Faculty PublicationsUA DissertationsUA Master's ThesesUA Honors ThesesUA PressUA YearbooksUA CatalogsUA Libraries

    Statistics

    Most Popular ItemsStatistics by CountryMost Popular Authors

    Coping with Complexity: Essays on Evolution and Institutions

    • CSV
    • RefMan
    • EndNote
    • BibTex
    • RefWorks
    Thumbnail
    Name:
    azu_etd_18956_sip1_m.pdf
    Size:
    2.574Mb
    Format:
    PDF
    Download
    Author
    Schaefer, Alexander
    Issue Date
    2021
    Keywords
    complexity
    evolution
    institutions
    Advisor
    Schmidtz, David
    
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Publisher
    The University of Arizona.
    Rights
    Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction, presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author.
    Abstract
    Despite their disparate subjects, the following essays share a number of common themes. Chief among these are complexity, evolution, and institutions. The first two essays examine Hayek's social theory, an examination that brings to light two basic points about complex societies. First, they are difficult to predict and control. Second, they adapt to internal and external changes. These features lay the groundwork for section II, which examines the proper form of governance structures for a complex, adaptive society. The first essay of part II applies multilevel selection theory to the problem of governing complexity. It concludes that polycentric political organization, supplemented by a few additional ``design principles,'' facilitates a socially beneficial process of competition and evolution. The second essay of part II uncovers a related benefit of polycentric governance. Due to its decentralized and competitive nature and due to the vast amount of relevant and constantly changing information generated in a complex society, polycentric governance institutions utilize information more effectively than centralized modes of governance. There is a substantial welfare benefit to utilizing this information by implementing reforms that seek to address the concerns and satisfy the preferences of millions, or perhaps billions, of citizens. Moreover, centralized governance becomes increasingly difficult as increasing numbers of increasingly interdependent variables become relevant to any given problem. Polycentricity is an adaptation of the state in response to the problem of social complexity. Like biological adaptations, this adaptation may be blind and unintentional. It may even precede the phenomenon to which it proves adaptive. Yet, it is adaptive nonetheless, since it provides an effective response to the problems posed by its environment. Finally, part III begins to examine some of the normative, philosophical consequences of these social scientific investigations. If society is in a constant state of flux, if it is evolving in response to fluctuating variables, then the traditional task of political philosophy may stand in need of amendment. Philosophers from Plato to Rawls have attempted to characterize a conception of justice, a political summum bonum, that transcends the institutional variations of time and place. If justice is, at least in part, a project of reconciliation, and if the values held by citizens continue to evolve, then there may not be a stable conception of justice that transcends societal dynamism. We may, instead, need to content ourselves with identifying certain general desiderata that better enable society to coordinate on a shared conception of justice, however ephemeral this conception might prove to be.
    Type
    text
    Electronic Dissertation
    Degree Name
    Ph.D.
    Degree Level
    doctoral
    Degree Program
    Graduate College
    Philosophy
    Degree Grantor
    University of Arizona
    Collections
    Dissertations

    entitlement

     
    The University of Arizona Libraries | 1510 E. University Blvd. | Tucson, AZ 85721-0055
    Tel 520-621-6442 | repository@u.library.arizona.edu
    DSpace software copyright © 2002-2017  DuraSpace
    Quick Guide | Contact Us | Send Feedback
    Open Repository is a service operated by 
    Atmire NV
     

    Export search results

    The export option will allow you to export the current search results of the entered query to a file. Different formats are available for download. To export the items, click on the button corresponding with the preferred download format.

    By default, clicking on the export buttons will result in a download of the allowed maximum amount of items.

    To select a subset of the search results, click "Selective Export" button and make a selection of the items you want to export. The amount of items that can be exported at once is similarly restricted as the full export.

    After making a selection, click one of the export format buttons. The amount of items that will be exported is indicated in the bubble next to export format.