Territory: Beer advertisements. Object: Carlsberg advertisements. Aim: The aim of my personal project is to show the changing attitudes and social values of the early 20th century society as opposed to our contemporary society. I have decided to show this using the marketing of beer. I also intend to point out how these represent the introduction of “Lad Culture” which became apparent in British society during the 1990’s along with ‘lads’ magazines such as maxim, FHM and Loaded as well as TV shows such as ‘men behaving badly’. It also shows a distinct change in attitude towards the consumption of alcohol in general; the development of the binge drinking culture that is so prevalent in today’s youthful society. I also believe these adverts show a distinct decline in the strong family values that we saw in the first half of the 20th century. I will thus talk about Hegel’s view of family values and compare them to that of a lesser known modern philosopher, David Cooper’s, works called ‘The death of Family’.
Category: 2007
The aim of this project is to explore the belief that music can work as a healing or soothing mechanism for people suffering from cases of mental illness, bereavement, and any other personal problems. Music as a form of therapy • Although a relatively new form of practised therapy, music has been used as a way of helping people for hundreds of years; whether it be in calming physical disabilities, helping people to express repressed emotions, dealing with unconscious fears. • The British Society for Music Therapy was founded in 1958 by Juliette Alvin. It now treats a number of people, from adults to children, suffering from bereavement to illnesses such as cerebral palsy. Even though some illnesses are incurable, music is used as a way of providing joy and creating bonds between patient and client, and also between clients. Historical value • In Ancient Greece, it was commonly believed that music providing a form of communication with the gods. • The belief was still held in the Middle Ages, that music also symbolised a link with Satan, often being associated with the work of witches. Expressionism • Expressionism saw the emergence of pieces of music composed through unconscious emotions, rather than like previous decades of music which conformed to forms, strict melodies, rhythms and timbres. Aspects of Nietzsche’s theory of dualism emerged in many expressionist works. • Key figure was Schoenberg, who wished to see the elimination of the conscious will in expressionism. • Leads to exploring Freud and Hegel’s theories on consciousness and unconscious; overcoming problems which lie in the unconscious by realising and thus being able to treat them. The Enlightenment • The avant-garde movement had key figure Andre Breton, who developed his theory of automatism; this can be related to the way music is now used to help release emotions without the interference of thought processing. Foucault • Studies in madness; Foucault recognised the effects music could have on those suffering from forms of madness.
Territory: Current debate about religion in modern British society regarding the rise in faith schools (a third of all new ‘City Academies’ will be in the control of Evangelical Christians or Christian organisations) and what this means in regards to curriculum, equal opportunities and tolerance towards those of other faiths or none. I wish to examine what form religion should take in a British child’s education. Thinkers: Richard Dawkins in chapter 8 ‘What’s wrong with religion? Why be so hostile?’ and chapter 9 ‘Childhood, abuse and the escape from religion’ from his highly controversial book ‘The God Delusion’. Andrew Wright in ‘Religious Education in the Secondary School’. Also secular, religious and government reports and media. Central Themes: – Are Faith Schools ‘fair’? Is it right to discriminate against a child by refusing them entry to a local school on what is essentially the basis of their parents religion? – Do Faith Schools provide an ethos of tolerance and understanding or do they exaggerate current cultural and religious divides? – Should religious theories be taught in schools alongside science, e.g. Intelligent Design and Evolution? – Should religion be ‘public’ or ‘private’? – Does it matter? A study showed that only 12% of school leavers from a Catholic school saw themselves as being Catholic and many rejected most of the doctrinal teachings. – Where is the state/religion divide in our society?
CONCEPT: We live in uncertain and chaotic times. As globalisation propels us forward, it is undoubtedly provoking a unique identity crisis, at the level of both the individual and the society. The vast displacements of persons during the twentieth century has demographically revolutionised the Western nation-state; multiculturalism and diversity have already been engrained into the social fabric. Concurrently, technology is creating the framework for a new culture, firmly rooted in aesthetic ideals, quickly dismantling traditional borders while subtly performing an institutionalisation of the individual. Marcuse’s “One-Dimensional Man” has come about. METHOD: The project aims to investigate such factors as the erosion of the nation-state, the “deterritorialization of culture” and the technologies of alienation in order to demonstrate how an extreme individualism, bred in Nietzsche’s shadow, is engulfing our society into new degrees of superficiality. MAIN TEXTS: Various works of Friedrich Nietzsche, Culture and Imperialism, by Edward Said, Civilisation and its Discontents, by Sigmund Freud, Culture, Globalisation and the World-System, edited by Anthony King, and One-Dimensional Man, by Herbert Marcuse.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is an inspiring novel by Kevin Kesey which brought to attention the shocking treatment of the mentally ill in the old gothic asylums of the early Twentieth Century. My aim for this project is to… • Learn how the mentally ill have been treated through history. • See how things have changed and see whether this change has been positive or negative. • Use literature like One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest and Human Traces (by Sebastian Faulks) to analyse the changes. • Pinpoint which treatments work and do not work in modern day times. • Try and see different ways we can move forward in helping the mentally ill to be more accepted in society.
Territory: I have chosen to investigate the ways in which capitalism and modern consumerism have changed and shaped our concept of moral values. I will focus on the way in which consumerism manipulates and controls our society and whether the values of modern Britain are gradually being eroded. Questions that need addressing: I wish to discover why there has been a shift in the material condition of humanity in the west and how the post-modern power structures have changed us. This shift to a capitalist world with the significance of materialistic values is a model that I wish to dissect with the purpose of unveiling the mechanism of change that brought it about. The outcome of this will be the ability to grasp the shift from the old centralised ideology of value systems to the material values which are fashionable and sought after today. Additionally, I hope to discover whether the decline in religious belief in Britain is associated with the erosion of moral values. Key thinkers and sources: The main sources of my research will lie within the philosophical thought of Max Weber and Friedrich Schiller. I will also be drawing upon the ideas of Karl Marx and the modern sociologist Mike Featherstone.
My project will focus on the impact of capitalism on education in modern society focusing mainly on the work of Jean-Francois Lyotard. Through his work I look at Lyotard’s attempt to describe the state of knowledge and the problem of its legitimation in developed western societies. • Over the last few hundred year’s education has changed dramatically, especially within the developed world. Gone is the idea that reason alone is a sufficient guide to action. In fact the idea that rational thinking provides us with a universal guide has become increasingly problematic during post-modernity. • With the rise of capitalism as the dominant socio-economic force within the modern world, knowledge has become a commodity which can be bought and sold. For Lyotard, knowledge is now the principal force of production. This commercialisation of knowledge, according to Lyotard could raise serious questions about the nature of ethics and the very relationship between governments and large multinational companies. • My essay will judge the role of what Lyotard calls ‘performativity’ in education and the capitalist system that requires constant re-evaluation in order to generate optimal output. • Using up-to-date education statistics and recent newspaper and TV articles I will attempt to show how education is not simply about educating people. It is instead a means to produce a workforce to meet the demands of capitalism. However that very capitalist system has now infiltrated schools, with the rise of privately funded academies, and new emphasis on league tables and performance related pay. I will discuss how this has impacted on education, positively or negatively? • What impact has this also had on the individual freedom, happiness and identity? Is our culture of working exhaustive hours in order to consume and the desire to consume installed in us through education? Main Sources: Jean Francois Lyotard – The Postmodern Condition: A report on Knowledge and Just Education, Jacques Derrida – Derrida and Education, Jurgen Habermas – The Legitimation Crisis
To explore noise and its theoretical underpinnings. Drawing on the work of Deleuze and Guattari, I wish to argue that noise appears as a perpetual deterritorialization of music. Over the course of the twentieth century there arose an increased difficulty to distinguish music from its counterparts of silence and noise. It was not until Luigi Russolo’s 1913 essay The Art of Noises that noise was encouraged to be used in musical composition, consequently liberating musicians from the antiquity of harmony and rhythm which dominated musical discourse for centuries. Noise today can be found permeating numerous musical acts. However, my intention was to examine those artists whom present noise with no melodic retrieval, who remain with noise as noise. My main referral was the work and philosophies of Masami Akita (Merzbow) a quintessential figure within noise music. Attali suggested that music, the codification of noise and silence “prefigures new social relations.” Likewise, I wanted to examine noise as a possible marker of temporal and cultural difference. Territories and Change: Drawing on the work of Deleuze and Guattari, I argued that noise is a perpetual deterritorialization of music. Capitalism brings with it both restrictions but also the possibility to escape such restrictions. Just as the human is encouraged to live creatively within capitalism, noise artists likewise attempt to exist creatively within music, challenging conceptions of how music is to be defined and created. That is, noise artists such as Merzbow trace lines of flight in an attempt to resist stratification. In this sense I also examined noise as an example of a smooth space and a rhizome. Noise however cannot escape musical strata entirely; rather it remains within music, forever on its periphery challenging what it is we define as music. It thus seems that the ethos or idiom of noise is dependent upon musical strata. Noise therefore must remain within music as extra-idiomatic, that is, a sense from within music that it is uncontainable. In examining noise as a perpetual deterritorialization of music, I was examining a change in musical conceptions as they have been hitherto and as they may come in the wake of the possibilities opened up by noise.
Aim: Explore how the issue of abortion has relation to free will and how in turn, society relates to this ethical issue. I want to analyse how an ethical situation can affect the relations between families and society with relation to the novel, ‘The Abortionist’s Daughter’. Territory: The compelling novel, ‘The Abortionist’s Daughter.’ Within which the ethical position of abortion is key. Philosophy: Freud- Unfreedom and unhappiness within society. I will see how people can feel like their freedom as an individual is corrupted through society and its rules and regulation and set values and morals. Mill- Utilitarian view of abortion with relation to the effect on the individual within society. Hobbes- Murder and the social contract will be included to understand how society and the women within it could be restrained by this view. Christian philosophy Augustine- This will highlight how there has been a change in attitude since the time of Augustine and this may be through the fact that religion is now not as paramount to people’s lives within Christianity therefore people may not have such a strong belief on abortion either way. Key Concepts • Freedom/ freewill • Society and its rule over your choice • The nature of personhood/ right to life • The question of religion and ethical questions • Moral and legal policy
Territory: Capital Punishment using ‘Ted Bundy’ and ‘The Life of David Gale’ to explore arguments for and against this form of punishment. Personalised Content: The discussion of these films is supported by information that has appeared in the media after the execution of Saddam Hussein, which has brought capital punishment back into the society’s consciousness. I have noticed a change in attitudes towards capital punishment and a trend in the reasons why it has gathered support. The threat of terrorist attacks and the increase in violent crime in society has brought about increased support for the death penalty. Prior to 2001 it was generally found that people opposed the death penalty on moral grounds, however it is now gained the greatest amount of support in recent history. The increase of support surrounding the death penalty has brought about further ethical implications, including discussion of methods used and debate over whether criminals should be allowed to die with dignity. Philosophical Content: I was interested in considering how certain ethical theories would link with capital punishment, in particular the theories put forward by Kant and Mill. I wished to link the films used to one of the theories in order to gauge whether they assisted in supporting or rejecting the particular standpoint. I linked ‘The Life of David Gale’ to Kant’s view outlined in his ‘Groundwork to the Metaphysics of Morals’ and found that the film just reinforced Kant’s view that it is acceptable to use capital punishment as a form of retribution. The argument in ‘David Gale’ is against capital punishment, but is so weakly constructed that it only assists in showing the strengths of Kant’s work. ‘Ted Bundy’ was linked to Utilitarianism as at the end of the film we see a celebration at the death of a serial killer, showing that at times capital punishment may produce the greatest happiness for the greatest number,
Project Outline: In our daily lives we experience a huge amount of artistic representation in the things we see and do. This art can take any form, be it adverts, architecture or sculptures; but on the whole it goes unnoticed by the observer. This project is looking to uncover hidden meanings behind these artworks to explain their origins and placement in the urban environment whilst focusing on the implications to the observer. Methods and Sources: Architecture, Advertisements, Film, Street Art, Photography, Sculptures,Television Etc. The Ideas: What is the purpose of art? – Modernity vs. Postmodernity; do they exist?; Why do people create art? – Existentialism in art and the principles of Sartre; What is good art? – Aesthetic qualities from Kant and Hegel.
Territory: This project will focus on the development of surfing from its roots in Hawaiian culture to the position we find it in today. The key points in this progression will provide indications of the motivating factors behind the world’s top surfers. Object: • Kelly Slater – 8 Time world champion and arguably the greatest competitive surfer of all time • Laird Hamilton – Big wave pioneer who helped develop tow-in surfing Philosophy: The work of Hobbes and Hegel will form the foundation of the philosophical content. Hobbes’ social theory will help to place surfing in context with the ever changing situations that are a result of the cultures we experience. However, his concept of the state of nature in which we find humans stripped down to their most primitive form provides a strong argument to suggest extreme sports such as surfing are irrational and unnecessarily dangerous. The analysis of Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit will provide an alternative approach to nature of risk taking.
Territory: Women and their representation within society over the last 100 years. Object: Within Territory looking at women in relation to Identity, Self-Image and Social Determination. Philosophical Concepts: Sartre – Existence preceding essence. Debord – Society of the Spectacle, Donna Haraway – Cyborg and a sexless society. Over the last 100 years, the representation of women within society has completely turned around. With advancements in liberation and law, women now enjoy an equal status in UK society. I was initially inspired by fashion, and how women have used fashion as a vehicle of expression. However I realised the way women dressed and expressed themselves, merely mirrored the social and cultural changes of the time. I looked at each decade over the last 100 years in the UK, studying the major changes of each decade which have impacted women’s liberation. How women’s identity has changed from a second class citizen, to the role of a strong maternal figure, to enjoying equal status. Key historical moments like WWI/WWII and women getting the vote have helped. Women’s self-image has changed, as women enjoy relaxed rules about dress, sex, marriage and children. This has allowed women to liberate the way they are seen and how they feel about themselves. Fashion movements like the mini skirt along with movie stars like Marilyn Monroe encouraged women to view and express themselves differently. Women’s social determination has moved to a point where first and second wave feminism are contradicting each other and influences from the media mean women are confused about their true role and representation within society. From Thatcher to Madonna, how are women now supposed to fit into society?
In August of 2006 I noticed a Headline on a copy of The Sun newspaper, the most popular newspaper in the United Kingdom. Accompanying a full page picture of the celebrated reality television star Jade Goody, the headline read: “THE FACE OF EVIL” This headline inspired me to focus my second year project on celebrity culture. Specifically I am interested in this modern phenomena present within our culture of individuals gaining celebrity seemingly for merely the fact that they are available to us to observe on a mass scale, at peak times, the ratings for the T.V. show on which Jade Goody found her fame, Big Brother reached to over seven million. Following the notorious incident of alleged racial abuse committed by Jade onto another contestant, our chancellor of the exchequer and soon to be Prime Minister Gordon Brown made a public apology in concerns to the incident. This led me to ask several questions. Is Jade Goody seen as a public representative of British culture and standards? For what reason specifically do we ‘celebrate’ people who have gained fame in this manner? On what basis could we reasonably suggest that jade is evil personified? My suspicion is that this culture is an element of a grand illusion, a mere spectacle. Exploring this subject I have drawn on the writings of the situationist Guy Debord, and various publications concerning modern mythology.
Key concepts: University education system, changes in teaching methods, the idea behind university, vocational elements to further education, course structure and the general university institution set up/structure. Object and territory: The object-Is represented by the student; the student represents the consumer of the territory and is essentially the most affected and involved aspect of the movements occurring within the university education system. Within my project I have looked to the student with regards to how they are affected by changing teaching methods, different forms of institution, funding issues, course structure changes, employability aspects and government incentives etc. The territory- Is Newcastle University; this institution gives me an example of a 19th century university which offers various types of degree. In order to use this university within my project I researched into the history and future of the institution in terms of the significant changes that were either planned or has already occurred. The university was essentially used as a representative for universities nationally, because my project homes in more generally to university systems as a whole rather than one specific university. This is possible because the issues and transformations that have occurred for Newcastle are typically apparent within all universities nationally. Research methods: In order to research my topic I used a variation of methods, most of my research coming from newspaper articles, radio broadcasts, books and experience of my course itself. I also looked to the ‘Idea of a university’ put forward by John Newman in order to gain some perspective on what originally made a university; this allowed me to compare the postmodern ideas of education to a previous account of what a university institution originally represented. Essentially I wanted my research to focus on the major changes that were occurring within university education and I wanted to highlight these for individuals in order for them to note the possible future that may exist within the university system. The change: Within my project in terms of research into the university I am looking to its origins in comparison with today’s situation. This is a broad time spectrum hence obviously within this time scale I will be focussing more on the modern and contrasting it back to make the changes apparent. I also want to bring in the postmodern and consider the future of university education which will tie in specifically with Lyotard and my considerations over the possibility of computerised learning. Philosophical concepts: Within my project I want to tie in 3 key thinkers with regards to the focus of my project. Initially I will bring in the more general thinkers, Kant and Mill. Kant who will emphasise the importance of learning essentially because we are rational beings and it can be seen as a benefit to educate because it allows man to become ‘man.’ We have a duty to be educated within the world and to use this to continue to act rationally and essentially make good actions to display goodness in society. Hence my ideas on Kant will tie in with the more traditional methods of teaching which emphasis moral training. Then I will bring in Mill that will focus on the utility principle and claim education is always correct and beneficial regardless of its methods, if it benefits society and this is clearly apparent when we consider the needs of the labour market and the emphasis on low unemployment. Finally I will bring Lyotard and his ideas on the inhuman and tie them in closely with the changing teaching methods of education specifically to computer learning or Open University degrees where everything is done via a computer. Personal change/ development: I feel I have through my project developed a wide variation of skills especially my organisation and research skills; this project has ensured that I work to deadlines and collect sufficient information to ensure I produce a good end product. I have been allowed to investigate something interesting to me that I otherwise would not have had the time to look to in depth. It has taught me about the institution of which I am part of and has given me insight into something particularly relevant to myself. I can use my findings in the future to explain myself and my degree in greater detail than before undergoing this project.
I will be investigating the anti-globalisation movement in America known as the Patriots, looking more specifically at their aggressive militia groups. These libertarians seek to build communities that are not governed by the ‘corrupt Federal Government’, communities which promote the Constitution’s Second Amendment right to bear arms so that one day they may fight the “Jewish gangsters’ New World Order” and it’s United Nations’ police force. In response to this I will be look at Derrida’s idea of ‘Community’, of ‘Hospitality’ and ‘Democracy’. Idea’s which revolve around a respect for the ‘Other,’ not aggression and hate. In addition to this I will look towards Žižek’s notion of racism as fantasy, as a respect for the ‘Other.’ For Žižek the state is the only buffer between a conflict of fantasies and must be in place to stop an all out war from happening between different ‘ethnic others.’
Lenny Bruce was a controversial American comedian in the 1960’s. He spoke about sex, religion and what it is to be obscene. It was not just the content of Lenny’s act that was thought to be obscene it was also the language he used. As a result of this he was charged with obscenity. This project looks at Lenny’s work and whether he was obscene or whether he was a moral philosopher. He claimed that had the court allowed him to see his work in context and allowed him to perform his act as evidence they would not find him obscene. His act was instead read out by a policeman or written down and used as evidence. However is there a distinction between speech and writing? Is context singular? Is what is obscene a fact or just an interpretation? Looking at the change in views on the binary opposition of speech and writing from Plato to Derrida this project will discuss whether had Lenny been allowed to perform his act in court would the decision of the court been different.
A friend once told me visiting Cuba is like “the closest thing to time travel”. To understand exactly what they meant I did no less than visit the place myself. When I arrived the immediate visual images I saw confirmed this. Foremost I noticed the appearance of the buildings and transport; many still used horse and cart, and there was an abundance of 1950’s cars and likewise Soviet cars from the 1970’s. But even more strikingly there was a lack of imagery that one takes for granted in a capitalist society. Instead of seeing a huge Coca-Cola signs leering at me as I drove down the road I would see a huge monument of Che Guevara eyes staring down at me. In place of brand-name slogans are sentiments of an anti-bush propaganda. Does this country really exist? It of course got me to thinking about how this country has come to exist amids such an advanced capitalist and technological world? What has inspired this country so strongly that it has not only sustained itself without support from the western world but has managed to resist attack from it? To understand this country as it is today, first must be understood the movement which inspired such a revolution as Che Guevara’s and Fidel Castro’s. Che Guevara was inspired by Marx and the revolution can be seen as an honest attempt to put implement the theory of Marx’s science. I will explore Marx, in particular reference to Hegel and further explore what relevance the concepts of such a movement have today. Having explored the past of Cuba and what has led it to become the place that it is today, I will then ask what future can not only Cuba as a place have but what future there are for all the ideologies that surround it. Is Cuba only the shadow of an old History? Or will the direction the Globalised world takes revert back to some of these ideologies?
Territory – Relationships, marriage and the family unit. Empirical Research – Government stats, art and literature. Philosophers – Kant, Hegel, Giddens. Concepts – Kant saw marriage a sexual contract, Hegel as an amalgamation of love and law, Giddens as unnecessary in the postmodern. My argument – Many see the emancipation of women and the sexual liberation of the sixties as causing chaos and the breakdown of the family. I will argue that harking back to nostalgic phantasms is a poor reflection of true reality and that one must ride with the times and embrace the pure relationship based on choice, freedom and intimacy.
TERRITORY: The exploitation of animals in genetic engineering. CHANGES: * Advancements in technology and therefore genetic engineering. * Attitudes towards illness and genetic defects. Potential changes: * Media hysteria towards genetic engineering. * The world as we currently know it to be. CONCEPTS: Ethical theorists – Peter Singer and Donna Haraway. Plus briefly also including; eugenics and the teachings of; Green-Peace, Catholicism, Judaism and Buddhism. Throughout my project I analyse the different forms of justifications offered for exploiting animals including; 1. Efficiency and practicalities. 2. Gaining knowledge and understanding. 3. Improving the environment. 4. Improving the human race. 5. Medical advancements. I offer examples for each of these justifications taken from Channel Four’s three-part documentary ‘Animal Farm’ broadcast on 19/3/07, 26/3/07 and 2/4/07. These justifications are juxtaposed with the work of Singer and Haraway, I also offer brief assessments of genetic engineering by; the philosophy of Eugenics, Green-Peace, Catholicism, Judaism and Buddhism in order to assess whether or not the exploitation of animals in genetic engineering can be justified.