Media Violence and Altruism

There has been indisputable evidence that media violence accelerates aggressiveness and violent behavior that might have either short or long-term consequences in any given society (Nier, 2006). It has also been argued that exposure to media violence triggers aggression whether verbally, emotionally or in terms of perception. Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Media Violence and Altruism specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Converging studies reveal that children who are exposed to elements of media violence tend to become aggressive during adulthood. Additionally, undesirable acts such as spouse abuse, forcible rape as well as physical assaults are likely to be aggravated by habitual exposure to media violence from childhood (Nier, 2006). Apparently, study conducted delineates the reason for increased aggression by evaluating on the existing aggressive scripts and programs in the media (Nier, 2006). Consistent presenc e of children in violent media avenues is a major factor that results to increased aggression even as they grow up. Statistics indicate that individuals who spent more time watching media programs committed violent acts more than those who spend fewer hours in the media (Nier, 2006). Scholars argue that, media violence influences social behaviors both positively and negatively (Nier, 2006). However, enormous damage has been noted in correlation with watching aggressive programs. A qualitative review from psychologists affirms that, as media violence amplifies, case of aggressive behavior has become widespread. Pointless to say media violence exceedingly contributes to violent behavior. However television and media institution decline that violent media can not result to aggressive behavior (Nier, 2006). Moreover, they insist that entertainment industries influence behavior positively. In this case, violent media shows help to release aggression that would be locked in peoples min d. For instance, films on murder are seen as therapy to remove individual antagonism (Nier, 2006). Philosophers argue that, viewing violent plays enhances an emotional release from bad feelings such as doubt and phobia. Advertising Looking for essay on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Imperatively, my opinion supports the scientific perspective indicating that, media violence results to aggressive behavior. Apparently, a country like America whose media is full of violence has experienced a high score of violent cases (Nier, 2006). In this case, there is a close link of social aggressive behavior with media violence. Article analysis: Altruism Altruism is a behavioral condition where individuals voluntarily help others at their own cost. In an ethical perspective, altruistic individuals benefit others without expecting returns or compensation (Fels Zeckhauser, 2008). Philosophers affirm that philanthropists opt to enhance their wellbeing with their colleagues in order to live happily co-exist with them. Theoretically, altruism has a basic principle that asserts that man has no right to live for his own sake. In this case, philanthropists view serving other people as the only way to justify holistic existence (Fels Zeckhauser, 2008). Moreover, self-sacrifice is perceived as a basic virtue and moral duty. Most importantly, altruism promotes cohesiveness within families since it enhances cooperation. Amazingly, individuals’ altruisms have impacted positively on global affairs. It is definite that total altruism demands absoluteness from people bearing in mind that the latter is a natural condition that normally has an evolutional value. Sociologists confirm that this behavior evolve in order for individuals to fit among their counterparts. In this case, philanthropists broaden their perspectives as part and parcel of ensuring that they eliminate barriers that inhibit their complex soc ial web. Additionally, evidence indicates that the condition is depicted by every individual in some manner (Fels Zeckhauser, 2008). However, there is growing controversy on whether altruism is different from egoism. Undeniably, egoism is driven by individuals benefitting themselves without caring whether they offend others or not. In most cases, people deny the very existence of true altruism since they doubt the authenticity of their own motives when helping other people. Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Media Violence and Altruism specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Definitely, research indicates that true altruism exists though there are those who are more philanthropic than others. To shed light on this, it is vital to note that human altruism should not be construed with compassion. Although the two are connected, the former involves emotion while the latter is real action (Fels Zeckhauser, 2008). Reference s Nier, J. (2006). Taking sides clashing views in social psychology. Washington: McGraw Hill. Fels, S. Zeckhauser, R. (2008). Perfect and total altruism across the generations. Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, 37(3), 187-197. This essay on Media Violence and Altruism was written and submitted by user Clark Marks 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.

Conditions at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory - 1911

Conditions at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory - 1911 To understand the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire of 1911, its helpful to get a picture of the conditions at the factory before and at the time of the fire. Conditions at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Most of the workers were young immigrants, Russian Jews or Italians, with some German and Hungarian immigrants as well. Some were as young as 12 to 15 years old, and often sisters or daughters and mother or cousins were all employed at the shop. The 500-600 workers were paid at piecework rates, so that pay for any individual depended on the skill of the work done (men mostly did the collars, which was a more highly paid task) and how quickly one worked. Pay averaged around $7 per week for most, with some paid as high as $12 per week. At the time of the fire, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory was not a union shop, though some workers were members of the ILGWU.  The 1909 Uprising of the Twenty Thousand and the 1910 Great Revolt had led to growth in the ILGWU and to some preferential shops, but the Triangle Factory was not among those. Triangle Shirtwaist Factory owners Max Blanck and Isaac Harris were concerned about employee theft. On the ninth floor there were only two doors; one was routinely locked, leaving open only the door to the stairwell to the Greene Street exit. That way, the company could inspect handbags and any packages of workers on their way out at the end of the work day. There were no sprinklers in the building. There had been no fire drills to practice response to fires, though a fire expert, hired in 1909 on the advice of an insurance company, had recommended implementing fire drills. There was one fire escape which proved not very strong, and an elevator. On March 25, as most Saturdays, workers had begun to clear the work areas and fill bins with fabric scraps. Garments and cloth were in piles, and there would have been considerable fabric dust from the cutting and sewing process. Most of the light inside the building came from gas lamps. Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire: Index of Articles Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire  - the fire itselfThe 1909 Uprising of the Twenty Thousand  and the 1910 Cloakmakers Strike: background​After the Fire: identifying victims, news coverage, relief efforts, memorial and funeral march, investigations, trialFrances Perkins and the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire

Eastern Europe and Russia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Eastern Europe and Russia - Essay Example As reviewed by Butler (2007), the highlight of European civilization had been mostly focused on one group, the Byzantine Empire, which had thrived despite the incursions on fifth century C.E. The race had adopted the Greek culture and its philosophy. Nonetheless, like other great civilizations, the empire, too, had experienced its ultimate end in 1453 (â€Å"The Byzantine Empire,† n.d.). Despite its massive fall in 40th century, their existence still holds substantial contributions to Eastern Europe and Russia up to now. It paved way to the emergence of eastern Cyrillic alphabet, as well as the Orthodox Christianity in Russia (Peterson, 1995). As further explained by Butler (2007), â€Å"Eastern Europe, especially Russia, was heavily influenced by Byzantine architecture.† Such masterpiece can be witness in the â€Å"onion dome† of most Russian Churches. In similar area, the art of this empire had influenced the styles in Europe in terms of â€Å"designs that dep ict God, icons, religious images†¦mosaic, pictures and colored bits of stained scenes or tile cemented in place—brought scenes from the Bible to life.† By claiming part of the Greek’s heritage, the Byzantine Empire had contributed in Literature, as well—preserving important scholarly writings. Its thoughtful conservation had aided much in the development of the European culture—the Renaissance (â€Å"The Byzantine Empire,† n.d.). The eastern part of the continent had experienced fateful changes, from various barbaric invasions to prolonged Communist stand. Most Eastern European countries took a sharp turn, as communism was terminated in 1989-1991 (Fukuyama, Lewis, Orenstein, Kapstein, & Converse, 2008). The struggle in transition phase had been difficult for most East European countries. Modifications in economy had a negative effect on the people in Eastern Europe. â€Å"The number of jobs had declined†¦in some sectors, the number of workers in Czech had been cut in half†

The romaticicm in Framkistein Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The romaticicm in Framkistein - Essay Example Significantly, a profound exploration of the overriding themes, the plot, the characters, etc of Frankenstein: The Modern Prometheus confirms that many of the main ideas behind the literary movement of Romanticism can be seen in the novel. Thus, the themes such as the significance of nature, childhood, beautiful vs. sublime, revolt, etc reveal the basic Romantic ideals of the period. As Anneli Elsa?er purports, â€Å"In Frankenstein Mary Shelley contrasts beauty and serenity of nature to the destroying powers that can be released when meddling with scientific progress. Her themes fit well into the ideas of the Romantic poets; she understands the state of childhood and also focuses on nature as counterpart to the progress and destruction of Industrialism and progress.† (Elsa?er, 2) Although the dark motifs of Frankenstein may not seem to conform to the brighter tones and subjects of the poems of the romantic poets such as Percy Bysshe Shelley, William Wordsworth, and Samuel Tay lor Coleridge, Mary Shelley was deeply influenced by the romantics. Therefore, this paper makes a comprehensive analysis of Shelley’s Frankenstein, novel by highlighting the Romantic elements in the work, in order to establish that this novel is a prime example of a Romantic novel. In a comprehensive appraisal of the major themes of Shelley’s Frankenstein, it becomes evident that the focal point of the novel is nature, which is a favorite theme of every Romantic poet. Whereas nature offers comfort and assistance to characters such as Walton and Victor in the novel, the theme of nature is closely connected to the underlying message of the novel: one should not attempt to conquer nature, but should try to embrace and harmonize with it. In fact, the novelist presents nature as a source of solace to almost all the characters in the novel, most markedly to Victor and his monster. Thus, the novelist presents the monster as a lover of nature, and he has various connections to Romanticism. However, the monster is mocked by the nature when he is transformed into an anti-romantic, and it is evident from this character’s own words: â€Å"Nature decayed around me, and the sun became heatless; rain and snow poured around me; mighty rivers were frozen; the surface of the earth was hard and chill and bare, and I found no shelter. Oh, earth! how often did I imprecate currents on the cause of my being! The mildness of my nature had fled, and all within me turned to gall and bitterness.† (Shelley, 110) Significantly, every Romantic poet focused on the soothing spirit of nature in their poems and Shelley’s Frankenstein reveals the soothing spirit of the nature through the characters such as Walton, Victor and his monster. Victor Franklin is a character who has experienced the soothing influence of the natural beauty tremendously in the novel, and it is evident that nature has shown the power to lift his spits again, whenever he feels the dark m ood within himself. â€Å"When happy, inanimate nature had the power of bestowing on me the most delightful sensations. A serene sky and verdant fields filled me with ecstasy.† (Shelley, 55) It is important to recognize that Mary Shelley frequently uses images of nature all

BRIDGES OF KEESEVILLE (NEW YORK) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

BRIDGES OF KEESEVILLE (NEW YORK) - Essay Example Materials for building and construction that in use presently have some long history while certain structures constructed many years in the past are considered remarkable even today. In order for one to gain an understanding of why structures have been constructed in the manner in which were in the old age, it happens to be vital to look into the human activities within the past. Basically, this may be done done by way of recovery as well as analysis of material, culture as well as data of the environment, which has been left behind. There are several trends that mark construction history basically in the part of materials used. At first the materials were perishable, for instance grass hides. There then came more durable natural materials like timber, stone, clay, stone then event rely synthetic materials were introduced, for instance, brick, metallic, concrete as well as plastics. Old constructions that stand firm up to this day represent a great deal of culture and history and are regarded as significant historical sites apart from the services they offer. Keeseville stone arch bridge is a good example of such structures. Despite the significant services offered by the structure, is quite important in the heart of Keeseville region representing the past of the district. The upper bridge has been located within Keeseville village, where there lives a rural community and the village is located at the northeastern area of Adirondack Park. This bridge runs across the Ausable River that gets waters from the high peaks of Adirondack and flows around 5 miles down from Keeseville to lake Champlain. The stretch happens to be particularly beautiful for the river while it happens to be quite popular for recreation as well as fishing. Ausable River happens to be among the Wild as well as Scenic river system of New York State. This river

Does The Symbolic Interactionism Explain Anything Sociology Essay

Does The Symbolic Interactionism Explain Anything Sociology Essay Symbolic interactionism is a major theoretical perspective in sociology regarding intrasocial human behaviour. While Hurbert Blumer coined the term in 1937, its conception traces back to the nineteenth century; notably, in the American philosopher and sociologist George Mead [from The Chicago School] through to the pioneering Erving Goffman (Farganis, 2008). Although never formally categorized as a symbolic interactionist, Goffman hugely shaped the perspective as one of its main practitioners (Marshall, 1998). Symbolic interactionism primarily concerns small-scale human interactions, from Meads inception to Goffmans subsequent transformations. The principal issue is whether the system explains human phenomena from an individual scale of human psychology to the broad, macroscopic scale of societies and its questionable success in doing so, or indeed in explaining other phenomena. Fundamentally, the concept of symbolic interactionism is bipartite: interaction and symbolic (Carter, 2011). The former is the interaction between individual people and these relationships operative mechanisms. The latter refers to both the generation and interpretation of peoples social signals; from their facial expressions down to their choice of attire (2011). As a theory, the perspective examined the meanings and familiarities between human interaction at a micro-sociological level and in a very interpretative manner; the development of the self within the social realm (Mead, 1934). According to Mead, human experience could not be relegated to individual psychology alone, but analyzes experience from the standpoint of communication as essential to the social order (1934; 401). The ideas were antithetical to that of Descartes famous cogito ergo sum (1641), in which the self was seen as distinct and its existence was indubitably true independent from the body and Goffmans idea o f the social realm. Symbolic interactionism was thus an implicit reaction against a classical conception of man as individually responsible and essentially noble; the new sociology placed human beings in an inherently social context. Mead, and his continuation from Goffman, characterizes the self in two parts: the I and the Me (1934). The I was the response of an individual to the attitude of others, whilst the me was organized set of attitudes of others that the individual assumed (2001). Symbolic interactionism sought to explain how human beings and the self-understood interactions between one another and its negotiation of the world around them. In Salernos mind, Goffman perceived the individual as nothing more than a cog responsible for the maintenance of the social world by playing his or her part (2004, 184). Goffman is not discounting the importance of the individual; for him, society was the micro-level interactions between humans, and most importantly, could not exist witho ut them. Essentially Goffman characterises society as a macroscopic emergent property of microscopic interactions. This is literally true insofar as there is no independent soul or spirit to society except simply the aggregate of its members; nevertheless, this lack of large-scale theory exposes symbolic interactionism as fundamentally unambitious in explaining that elusive concept, society, as opposed to simply a large agglomeration of connected individuals. The question of symbolic interactionisms explanatory power remains unanswered. The next portion of this essay shall focus specifically on The Presentation of Everyday Life (1959); Asylum (1961); The Interaction Ritual (1967); Forms of Talk (1981) and will dissect Goffmans explanation of society. The idea of face work (1967) was crucial to understanding the complexities of symbolic interactionism in day-to-day cultural settings. It provided an in-depth description and a new insight into the presentation of self in everyday life (Carter; 2011). Goffman principally exploited the concept of dramaturgical metaphor, in which human actions are contextualized in time, place and audience (Goffman, 1967) and used a theatrical metaphor to extend this theory, emphasizing the view that interaction between people was a literal performance, moulded by the audience and surroundings. For Goffman, day-to-day life was impression management (1967). Harking back to Goffmans earlier work, the existence of these performances did not wane with ill mental health on the contrary illustrated in Asylum (1961). Everyday social life was a game, involving strategic interactions and moves. Robert Carters example of a teacher/pupil relationship in the classroom illustrates that Goffmans symbolic interacti onism provides detailed insight into everyday life and explains the meanings behind even mundane scenarios: the teacher uses the strategic interaction of walking around, looking at (the pupils) because otherwise I dont know whether the pupils are concentrating (2011). The significant social interactivity of teaching as opposed to manual labour, say strengthens this example. However, teachings relatively strict formality and explicit hierarchy is a particularly codified example of social interaction, unlike informal socializing and its unspoken rules; indeed, the symbols, whether they be the school bell or the teachers register, have very clearly prescribed roles, and consequently symbolic interactionisms claim that individuals prescribe meaning to their worlds objects loses its profundity of individual semiotic creation when that meaning is given, even forced, on them. For Goffman, all social interactions revolved around the concept of a front and back region (1959). Continuing the theatrical metaphor, he posited a divergence of the front self from the back self. The front acts as a vehicle for self-promotion and to define the situation for those who observe (1959; 22), in the same vein as an actor builds a facsimile of another persons social role. The back region is effectually where ones identity can reveal all the hidden and private traits, unavailable to view by society (2008; 372). The game of life, a process whereby the self was at odds with their audience reciprocally giving off false evidence and trying to uncover the truth (1969) reflects an a common psycho-social dichotomy of inner and outer worlds, but Goffman fails to adequately explain the dialogue between the two. He explores the game by expanding its breath by introducing teams (1959) extending his work to group dynamics; individuals bonded by reciprocal dependency and accomplishme nts rely firmly on cooperation and the maintenance of a group appearance (1959; 79); success lies unequivocally in unanimous action and demeanor; disagreements and digression are only seen in the back. Divisions between the team and its viewers was described as an audience segregation (1959; 137) allowing teams to manipulate their front to the demands of unique audiences. Thus, ideological altercations do not damage the team per se more importantly, they continue impression management, maintaining a constant collective face out of many competing individual interests. The front-back bifurcation, nonetheless, is highly dependent on situation. Using the example of real actors rather than metaphor, back-stage for the actor is still his front. Another example: A teacher who retires from his frontstage performance in class to the backstage of the teachers room, is, from another perspective, still frontstage, since he does not recount his blunders in class to his colleagues. From this perspective, indeed, the situation in class is backstage. (Anthrobase) Specifically, the audience dictates behavior; fellow colleagues, in the realm of back-stage turn into another audience against which to shield when personal embarrassment is mentioned. Indeed, were the metaphor consistently and somewhat cynically applied, human beings are always disguising true feeling, and thus it is impossible for an external observer to actually access the back-stage. Goffman purports that some public actions are distinct from audience segregation, while still performance: they are ritual. Ritual means playing oneself (1967; 32). For Robert Carter, ritual and game are not mutually exclusive to the individual psyche, often generating real tension: Life as a game implies that youve actually seen it as a game; and once you see something as a game, you can no longer perform it ritually because youve understood that it is a game. (2011) In essence, it makes the distinction between gives and give off signs game playing versus ritual, respectively. Overall, while he was not formally a symbolic-interactionist, Goffmans work clearly shows the hallmarks of casting social interaction as a subtle web of symbols, and inner and outer being. He provides some limited explanation for the importance of meaning to asking, what is social? Previous works by Weber, although considering meaning essential to the question, never formulated a cogent argument as to why it was so. On the other hand, Goffmans dramaturgical approach saw meaning as such i.e., the object of throught, arises in experience through the individual stimulating himself to take the attitude of the other in his reactions toward the object (Wallace and Wolf, 202). In this respect, his works have succeeded where Webers fell short. Admittedly, the criticisms of symbolic interactionism are relevant later on; to insinuate that Goffmans work explains nothing can be considered as cynics front[!] Nevertheless, despite its merits, Goffmans works on the self overlook its fundamental flaws in application. In The Presentation of the Self in Everyday Life, Goffman asserts the view that all individuals play the game, hiding true intentions within the guise of the front. If true, then humans are inherently Machiavellian beings posing behind dishonest masks, precluding the potential for altruism and solidarity. Goffman is implicitly denying the very social conditions of being human. His supporters counter with the view that characterising role-playing as immoral or dishonest is naÃÆ'Â ¯ve: What distinguishes the honest from dishonest performers, is not the need for rehearsals and performance, but rather: a) whether the performers are socially authorized to play the roles and b) the attitude of the performers toward their own roles (Meyrowitz in Riggins, 1990; 70) It is true that a performance does not infer dishonesty per se; however, the inability to distinguish an actors true honest from dishonest performance seems to nullify Goffmans response to this issue; admittedly, this is predicated on a particularly ends-driven pseudo-consequentialism, that only an individuals end actions matter, rather than his internal psychological processes producing those. Goffmans work in Asylum (1961) specifically on The Moral Career of the Mental Patient (1959) attempted to dissect the nature of marginalized individuals in society, isolated from general society. His study sought to uncover how the incarcerated and practitioners created meaning during their interactions and how their presentation and construction of self was formed. Like The Presentation of the Self in Everyday Life, the Asylum followed Goffmans game and ritual concepts, although the situational environments were significantly different: to start, asylums were total institutions (1961) in which people were cut off from wider society and restrictively subordinated under their handlers. Moreover, the struggle for identity in a closed and draconian total institution sees the mortification of self (Goffman; 1959). Incarcerating mental patients implied an unacceptably incompetent front, and the inability to observe standard properties on the outside (Giddens 1987; 130). It is thus cl ear that for asylums to function as reforming institutes, it had to threaten a whole complex of practices whereby actors are able to demonstrate both to others and to themselves their competence as agents [sic.] (1987; 129). For Goffman, mental patients went through three self-explanatory stages: prepatient, inpatient and ex-patient (1959). Robert Carter purports that asylums often entailed a surprising reciprocal relationship in vulnerability: as patients are stripped of rights and free will and relegated to enforced infantilism (Giddeos, 1987) and effectively lose their identity, so too do the asylum and psychiatrists, in imposing their own definition of what a patient is (2011), suffer a vulnerability. During his stay at the asylum, appropriately adopting a front as a pseudo-employee, Goffman sought to modify the populist theories surrounding mental institutions of curing illness. Goffman wanted to expose and understand the gap between the work that the staff do and what they sa y are trying to do (Weinstein, 1982; 268). In many ways, his studies provided key tools to the field of social care; according to Weinstein, his work has been cited in legal cases predicated on the care of mental patient, as well as applications in health policy (1982; 267). However, although Goffman intended to provide meaning for human interactions in the asylum as well as in everyday life his work was still criticised. Critics of symbolic interactionism often attack Goffmans micro-sociological approach as fundamentally flawed in prescribing a grand theory of society. The perspective is seen to be overly impressionistic (Hawaii; 1) in its research methodology as well as being wholly unsystematic to the point of chaos (Psathas 1980; 53) Its highly subjective and qualitative methods, and the interpretative nature of the dramaturgical approach, mean that its application is limited to small-scale interactions. Any macroscopic extension highlights the shortcomings of Goffmans work; his theorems are often limited to specific and present moments and entail relatively little developments of concepts which can used transsituationally (Psathas, 1980; 54). Effectively, it lacked cross-cultural analysis and universality (Comp, 3) and ergo could not adequately describe the massed hoi polloi. Moreover, given the limitations in Goffmans approach across regional boundaries, any historical comparative analysis was, and still is, impossible. However, Richard L. Lanigan states that Goffmans work in Forms of Talk do not necessarily relegate his holdings to that of solely micro-sociology. Goffmans work on a radio audience gives a holistic collective entity that at the very least is preconceived to be an aggregate displaying group typicalities in society (Riggins, 1990; 122). Nevertheless, Lanigans support of Goffman does not invalidate the point that Goffmans dramaturgical was inadequate for achieving a social science of social actions due to his lack of rigorous method and empirically interactional phenomena (Psathas, 1996; 11). However, Goffmans work in The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life can stretch to macro-sociological readings. In Barnharts model, the contextualizing of Goffmans writings with other thinkers (opens) a beneficial link between micro- and macro structures of society becomes visible. (n/a ; 5). Linking Goffman to Durkheim, Barnharts critique suggests that his work has significance at both micro and m acro levels of society, namely in the concept of spontaneity. As Goffman sees its relevance to the aspect of a true and uncontrived performance of the spontaneous actor, Durkheim entertains the idea of the macro-sociological model of spontaneity (1984; 313). The concept linked both scopes of sociology and reaffirmed the notion of truth in contemporary social organizations (Barnhart, n/a; 5). It therefore rebutted the claim that Goffmans work lacks macroscopic application and cannot explain large-scale pheonomena. However, attempts by Goffman supporters eventually trail off. According to Giddens, Goffman managed a strict separation between his work and that of sociologists interested in the macro-structural properties of social systems; to compound, he resolutely refused to do so (Giddens 1987; 131). Criticism of Goffman does not end there: Riggins contends that Goffmans writing often descends into a stylistic merger of scholarly monograph with the novel or with journalistic accounts (1990; 65). Not only was Goffmans work as a macro-sociologist completely void, his critics went on to attack even his writings on micro-sociology stating that his works were descriptive rather than prescriptive. John Lofland suggesting that Goffman was more concerned with labeling, defining, and characterizing types of behaviors (sic), roles, events, and rules than with showing logical connection among the types (Riggins, 66). Works such as The Presentation of self in Everyday Life often espouse ideas that are somewhat innate to the workings of modern society; to suggest that some men conceal lust for underage girls or suppress their desire to release bodily fluids in a social setting is fundamentally intuitive. They seek to preserve their status in society but not openly admit to be a pedophile or c hurlish, respectively; they have made the trade-off in the psychological effort of self-control and the social benefits of not admitting such inadmissible desires. If Goffmans opponents seem overly zealous, even his advocates, such as Randall Collins, admit that he fails to push on through to full possession of the theoretical territories he has reconnoitered (1980; 206). His works descriptive nature leaves little room for explanatory theory; by failing to explain the true mechanisms of social interaction, he fails in evaluation and analysis. Goffmans symbolic interactionism and the dramaturgical approach are sociologically inadequate. Its micro-sociological approach limits itself to small intimate groups and lacks cross-cultural universality, and even in its own sphere is insufficient; while exploring previously uncharted scholarly realms, such as in asylums, Goffmans work tends to open up the surface of immediate relevance (Collins, 1980: 175) but presented countless observations and few integrated theories (Meyrowitz in Riggins, 1990; 65). Symbolic interactionism is useful in characterising meaning and superficial behaviour, but fails to rigorously justify itself in phenomenologically-grounded investigations, relegating itself to being thoroughly interesting rather than thoroughly theoretical (Riggins; 1990, 65). Goffman failed to construct an overarching paradigm for human beings and their civilization, instead content with a mass of disjointed bits; thus he remains more a footnote of description than a titan of theor y.

Informative Speech on Teenage Suicide -- Teenage Suicide Essays

Look around at your peers in the school. How many of them wish they were dead? When 13.7% of males and 30.1% of females in 10th grade say they seriously consider committing suicide, we need think about what is wrong. What makes these 15 and 16 year olds that have so much of their life left to live want to die? 14% of teens said they tried to kill themselves. That’s like having 3 people in our class who have tried to commit suicide. The pressures of life at our age are difficult but they’re not so difficult that 4,135 teenagers a year should be killing themselves. The rate of teenage suicide has tripled since 1950, but why?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Is it because movies and video games have become more violent? Is it because they make death seem to be heroic, romantic, and glamorous? A 16-year-old boy who attempted suicide because of teasing at school said that before he tried to commit suicide he imagined his funeral with all the people who teased him feeling horrible about what they had done. He didn’t seem to think that when he died it would be over. All he cared about was that dieing would just get him revenge. So is it because teenagers are less realistic about death that caused the suicide rate to triple?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Or is it because of the breakdown of the family? In 1980 there were only 411 cases of divorces for youths under 25 and in 1999 there were 824. The amount of divorces has more then doubled. More and more families are getting divorced an...

Hume vs Kant: Causality

Hume s ultimate goal in his philosophic endeavors was to undermine abstruse Philosophy. By focusing on the aspect of reason, Hume shows there are limitations to philosophy. Since he did not know the limits, he proposed to use reason to the best of his ability, but when he came to a boundary, that was the limit. He conjectured that we must study reason to find out what is beyond the capability of reason. Hume began his first examination if the mind by classifying its contents as Perceptions. Here therefore [he divided] all the perceptions of the mind into two classes or species. First, Impressions represented an image of something that portrayed an immediate relationship. Secondly, there were thoughts and ideas, which constituted the less vivid impressions. For example, the recalling of a memory. From this distinction, Hume decreed that all ideas had origin within impressions. From the distinction of perceptions, Hume created his microscope in order to trace all ideas back to impressions. He did this to search for the limits. If an idea could not be traced back to its impression, it was too abstruse. Hume separated the objects of human reason into two categories. First, the relation of ideas, which represented all that is a priori. Secondly, he created the category of matters of fact. Matters of fact made up the a posteriori piece of the spectrum of reason. Matters of fact are contingent, meaning they could be otherwise. In order to go beyond the objects of human reason, Hume proposed that reasoning was based upon cause and effect. Causal relations help us to know things beyond our immediate vicinity. All of our knowledge is based on experience. Therefore, we need experience to come to causal relationships of the world and experience constant conjunction. Hume stated that he shall venture to affirm, as a general proposition which admits no exception, that the knowledge of this relation is not in any instance, attained by reasonings a priori, but arises entirely from experience. (42) Unfortunately, our experience of constant conjunction only tells us about the past. Rationally, that is all it tells us. We can expect the effect to follow the cause, but it is not a sufficient basis to assume the effect will come from the cause in the future. These things are contingent- they could be different. The connection between these two propositions is not intuitive it is always inferred. Hume asserted that the future will resemble the past. This is the assumption underlying all our ideas of causality. If the future does not resemble the past, then all our reason based on cause and effect will crumble. When Hume proposed questions such as Is there any more intelligible proposition then to affirm that all trees will flourish in December and January, and will decay in May and June? (49), Hume demonstrates that it is not a relation of ideas that future will resemble the past; it is possible that the course of nature will change. Therefore, what happens in the future is neither a relation of ideas, nor a matter of fact. It is impossible, therefore, that any arguments from experience can prove this resemblance of past to future, since all these arguments are founded on the supposition of that resemblance. (51) Now Hume proposed that all inferences come from custom, not reasoning. Through custom or habits, we have become accustomed to expect an effect to follow a cause. This is not a rational argument. This argument centers on the theory of constant conjunction, which does not fall under either fork of reason. All inferences from experience, therefore, are effects of custom, not reasoning. (57) Hume analyzed the idea of causality by emphasizing the three demands that can be verified through observation. First he argued the aspect of constant conjunction. In this aspect, the cause and effect must be spatially and constantly existent. Secondly, he asserted that it must have temporal priority, in that, the cause had to precede the effect. Lastly, the event must have a necessary connection- we must develop an understanding of why a cause produces a certain effect. Hume s critique of causation is that we cannot see it, we must infer it. For example, two billiard balls, one moving toward the next demonstrate temporal priority because one ball is moving first. Secondly, constant conjunction occurs because the balls exist together spatially and constantly. But, there is no necessary reason why this happens. Hume asserted that we can imagine a world in which the effect would be different. He then concluded that we can t get an impression of a necessary connection, we can only experience constant conjunction and temporal priority. Experience only teaches us how one event constantly follows another, without instructing us in the secret connection which binds them together. We therefore conclude that reason is a limited faculty and that we have no reason to trust our common methods of argument or to think that our usual analogies and probabilities have any authority. (83) In conclusion, Hume asserted that since we do not have any impression of necessary connections, it is our expectation that believes the effect will follow the cause. The appearance of a cause always conveys the mind, by a customary transition, to the idea of the effect. (87) Since we are trained to expect the impression of necessary connection, the idea of it comes from our minds. Therefore, our belief in necessary connections of the universe is based on a rational facts. Immanuel Kant, a philosopher after Hume, sets out to reform metaphysics. Kant believed that if Hume was right, metaphysics would be impossible. But, Kant was unwilling to surrender to Hume s skeptical argument, so Kant sets out to do a critique in order to explore the possibilities and reform metaphysics. Kant begins his critique searching for a priori knowledge within philosophy. Kant began to search for the a priori principles that were rationally deductible in order to explain why we perceive the things we cannot perceive. Kant believed that the only way that we could get to things necessary and universal was through a priori. Kant found that the concept of the connection of cause and effect was by no means the only concept by which the understanding thinks the connection of things a priori, but rather that metaphysics consists altogether of such concepts. (8) Kant began to examine pure a priori reason by establishing his critique. He stated that there are boundaries and contents. He set out to find what is inside the limitations and what is outside. Kant examined the three bodies of knowledge: math, physical science and metaphysics. Kant said that science must have necessity and universality. This places math and science within reason. Kant first divided judgement into two kinds of knowledge- analytic and synthetic. In the Prolegomena, Kant criticized Hume for having regarded mathematical judgements as analytic. Had he realized that they were synthetic, Hume would have been able to conclude that some synthetic judgements can be made a prior. Kant concluded that math and science fell under a priori synthetic judgements. This gives us universality, but it also tells us something. For Kant, knowledge must be necessary and universal qualities must come from a priori synthetic judgements. They have to tell us something we don t know, something completely independent of experience. This idea of Kant s, completely contradicts Hume. Hume had asserted that anything based on empirical facts had no necessity, and therefore was contingent. Hume also stated that empirical facts couldn t give us universality either, because we can t know future will resemble the past. Kant stated that all Hume s beliefs centered upon the fact that nothing but experience could furnish us with such connections. For Hume, all science was empirical, and we could only know what happened so far. In contrast, for Kant, he said that scientific laws claim necessity and universality. It is only from a priori that we get universality and necessity. Kant then continued his critique to decipher if metaphysics is possible. Kant separated the faculties of the mind and the way it thinks into three distinctive categories. First, he stated that math was exhibited through intuition. The forms of intuition were a priori and had two capacities. First, intuition gave us space and time through pure intuition, and sensory data through empirical intuition. Then, Kant set up a metaphysical distinction between numena and phenomena. Numena represents the things in themselves, while phenomena represents the things for us. In this dichotomy we have no access to numena. The only way we can get to things outside us is through intuition, but intuition has these forms. This shows our limitations. Mathematics is not applicable to numena. We can have mathematical knowledge of phenomena. From this we can infer we have inter-subjective knowledge. Kant has given us universal and necessary knowledge in the phenomenal realm. Kant points out that the error may arise owing to an illusion, in which [he proclaim] to be universally valid what is merely a subjective condition of the intuition of thing and certain only of all objects of senses, namely for all possible experience. (39) Kant has just suggested that the error and base for all metaphysics is not distinguishing between phenomena and numena. Finally, Kant explained that everything is a distinction of phenomena and numena. We receive necessity and universality through this distinction and also from the projection that phenomena comes from certain a priori aspects. Therefore, the future will resemble the past, because we make it resemble the past. Kant used understanding, the second faculty of the mind to explain causality. As the understanding stands in need of categories for experience, reason contains in itself the source of ideas. (76) The function of understanding is thinking, and thinking must use concepts to be an objective thought. The presence of this objective thought verifies its actuality. Therefore, causality, for Kant, was the way in which mind puts together experiences to understand them. Kant found many problems within Hume s account. Through his endeavors to prove that metaphysics is possible, and his analyzing of causality, Kant solved the problems he saw within Hume s account. Specifically, in the Prolegomena, Kant stated that Hume justly maintains that we cannot comprehend by reason the possibility of causality. (57) Kant also attacked Hume s ideas by describing Hume s treatment of the concept of causality to be a bastard of the imagination, impregnated by experience. (5) Kant succeeded in re- establishing the objectivity of causality, a task that Hume had rejected as impossible.

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