Having danced for 15 years before coming to University I wanted to grasp the opportunity to study dance in a different light with both hands. In this project I got the chance to explore dance in its different forms at different points throughout history. Tribal and ritual dance, dance in ancient Greece, Folk dance, Ballet dance, Ballroom, Modern and Contemporary Dance. Each dance form has played a different social role and has contributed to individuals’ lives: ritual dance attempted to bring about results when there was nothing else a community had the power to do, Folk dance brought the community together. Dance also has a role as an art form and as a means of expression, it can also provide structure and discipline through tuition or become a means of channelling emotion or aggression or even be an escape from the world. I wanted to explore this changing role of dance throughout time and within varying cultures and societies. Why is there no fixed role for dance? I wanted to look at how dance’s role alters depending on the historical or social context. Do we take from dance what we need from it at that particular time and place in history? Did we turn to dance rituals because we had no other answers? Did we use freer more provocative dance as an outward expression of women’s liberation? Is the discipline in dance tuition useful now to focus our young generation that seems to have gone off the rails? Is it necessary now as a creative outlet in a society obsessed with standardisation? It seems that we cannot escape dance, it has existed in varying forms throughout most of history and I believe it always will do. Dance can transform to suit whatever our culture or society needs from it and it can also transform us. This is part of the beauty of dance; it is a tool for us as individuals and as a society. Philosophical Sources: Nietzsche on Art; Helen Thomas’s Sociology of Dance; Peter Brinson’s Dance as Education, Towards a National Dance Culture; Susan Leigh Foster; Francis Sparshott.
Category: 2008
My territory for my project is society itself and I have been looking at two possible scenarios that could happen. The first scenario which I call the left wing scenario is where society could go down the road to anarchy because of course of the youth going out of control and the striping away the powers of the parents and teachers of punishing the youth for doing wrong. To argue my case for this scenario I shall be primarily using Thomas Hobbes and his book Leviathan. I shall also be using the novel Battle Royale by Koushun Takami as a comparison to this scenario. The second scenario is what I call the right wing scenario this is where the government tries to counter the trend of declining into anarchy by putting in place legislation to the places they see as the causes of the problems. The problem is if they continue to increase the laws it could unintentionally end up a repressive state obsessed with keeping order. To back up my argument on this point I shall use both Hobbes and Niccollò Machiavelli’s book The Prince. And use the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell to use as a comparison to this scenario. I will then conclude with my thoughts on the matter. And start an introduction to the solution to the problems posed by the two scenarios to try and prevent them from happening.
Territory – Pulp Fiction. Object – Jules Winnfield. 1994 Quentin Tarantino cult classic set in the glamorized gang culture of the Los Angeles underworld. Hitman Jules works alongside Vincent Vega for mob boss Marsellus Wallace. The film portrays Jules’ lifestyle as a double existence in which his brutal career disposing of those who have fallen out of favour with Mr. Wallace is contrasted by his integration into legitimate society. Aims. To uncover the drives and mentality behind Jules’ lifestyle I focussed the project around two main questions; • Why does Jules live this lifestyle of crime outside of the sphere of legitimate society? • Is he at any point truly disenchanted with the constraints of capitalist society? Philosophical Ideas I used Marx’s work to develop a foundation for a critique of modern western society. This theory displays the weaknesses and problems of a consumer-driven market that is based on profit and hierarchal discrimination of classes. The systematic manipulation of the consumer market by the predominant corporative sphere in contemporary society is then analysed using Adorno’s theory of the culture industry. This provides me with perspective for the use of the theme of Americana which is so prominent throughout the film. I then used Beck’s theory of individualization to examine Jules’ character and uncover how and why he has assumed his double role within society. Conclusions. The penetration of the American culture fits with Adorno’s notion of a culture industry; it demonstrates how invasive the extreme exposure of specified and manipulated creativity can be in the lives of the average person. Jules immerses himself in this element of western life while maintaining his role as a hitman, displaying the autonomy he exercises to work both within and outside of this framework of legitimate society. His existence within gang culture in its totality reflects the two-faced nature of capitalism; we see a prosperous exterior that hides the brutal capabilities of a paranoid core.
Territory: Richard Dawkins. Concepts: Atheism; the search for epistemological certainty; and the interaction of science and religion. I explore the following questions; Is there truth to the claim of Dawkins’ that atheism is necessitated by the natural sciences and is the only option for the serious, progressive and thinking person of our time? Where did this claim emerge from? How was it that the western mind moved from confidence in objective truth to an outright denial of objective truth? Why is nature conceptually malleable and is open to such different interpretations? Are science and religion locked in a battle to death? Is God relegated to the irrational, to the margins of culture, where he is embraced by deluded fanatics? The question of whether there is a God has not, despite the predictions of neo-Darwinists, gone away since Darwin. There may be minds on both sides of the argument that are closed, however the evidence and the debate are not. Scientists and theologians have much to learn from each other; perhaps a proper and right understanding of religion could give a good epistemological grounding to understand science by.
Introduction- Why does today’s society hold such diverse attitudes towards animals? Can controversial practices such as factory farming be justified in our anthropocentric society or is it time to modify our relationship with animals? Aim- In my investigation I want to establish why society is so confused regarding the moral of animals. I will consider how our attitudes towards animals in society have changed throughout history by examining the influences of religion and science. After establishing this I then wanted to scrutinize the relevant philosophical theories which I believe are present in our attitudes now. Kant’s notion of personhood justifies using animals in any way for human benefit and thus is appropriate regarding some of today’s animal practices e.g. animal testing. Singer’s utilitarian outlook which considers animals to have equal moral status with mankind can be related to other aspects of society’s attitudes e.g animal charities. Finally I will examine Owen’s ecological outlook on nature which relates to society’s growing concern for the wellbeing of the whole of the natural world. After considering the strengths and weaknesses of all these views I could then establish which moral attitudes we ought to adopt and enforce.
TERRITORY- FIGHT CLUB. 1999 film about an unnamed protagonist who struggles with his growing discomfort with consumerism and changes in the state of masculinity in American culture. In an attempt to overcome this, he creates an underground fighting club as a radical form of psychotherapy in order to change the way in which he lives his life. CONCEPTS- My main concept was the idea of EXISTENTIALISM and the way in which we live and our influence to live our lives The two philosophers I looked at with relation to the concept where • Jean-Paul Sartre • Friedrich Nietzsche The relationship between my territory and my concept is that fight club is a film based around how we should live and tells the story of one man’s struggle to achieve the existentialist ideal of discovering your own truth. It also challenges existentialist views on God and the question of whether or not we all have a “will to power”. Relevance : The idea of how we should live is particularly relevant today with people more equal than ever are we conforming to the way in which the government wants us to live. Why has violence become so prominent in modern day society- what can we do to stop it?
Territory: I chose to look at the Government’s recent health policies particularly the July 2007 Smoking ban in public places. This has led me to consider the term “Nanny State” commonly associated with the government today and conceptions of the role of government in general. Concepts: The concepts chose to look at are the role of both the government and individual in a society and fundamentally the concept of liberty in the context of society. Aims: My objective was to evaluate how the role of the government has changed, culminating in recent government plans to introduce a contractual scheme regulating access to the National Health Service. By considering the views of groups such as “Forest” and individuals fighting for the liberties which are seemingly under threat, I was able to evaluate whether the government is justified in its action or whether it is indeed encroaching upon our individual liberties. This led me to look at the contrasting political views of Hobbes and Mill, thereby evaluating different conceptions of the government and its relationship with the individual. With Hobbes I considered his presentation of the social contract and the issues of freedom that ensue with such a strict, systematic view of human nature, such as the risk of totalitarian government and the repression of human rights. To contrast this view, I contemplated Mill’s more liberal attitude to the role of government, which favours individual responsibility, whilst not forgetting the societal problems associated with laissez-faire governments. To conclude I evaluated the role of an ideal government and the effect this has on our perception of our own government, leading me to argue that the government is ultimately a manifestation of the actions of the individual.
Territory: Subliminal persuasion as seen in the corporate logo and advertising of the “Coca Cola” company has created a new type of ‘sacred’ icon. Object: “Coca Cola” advert from 1980’s with sexual subliminal message. Aim: The aim of my personal investigation is to show how attitudes towards sacred icons have changed with the rise of the corporate identity in a capitalist society. I have decided to show this through the marketing of “Coca Cola” as “Coca Cola” is one of the world’s most famous corporate logos. I have also investigated theories of false consciousness as well as Freudian ideas on sex, with regards to the question as to why subliminal sexual arousal would help to sell a non-sexual product.
• My aim in my project is to give a detailed discussion into the origins and implications of football related violence. In doing this I want to emphasise certain aspects of football related violence which make it such a serious problem. In researching this topic it became apparent that football violence is seen by most as being nothing more than physical outburst between alcohol induced ‘thugs’, I want to show that football related violence is much more than this. • In doing this I will give a detailed discussion on the origins and how the world wide problem of football related violence is seen as an ‘English disease’. From this point I will look at the implications of football related violence, for example, fascism and racism and related them to the work of George Bataille. This project will establish that acts of football related violence are much more than a ‘thugs’ battle.
Territory: The Iraq war began in March of 2003 with the American led coalition invasion of Iraq with the aim of quelling the threat to America and Europe from Weapons of Mass Destruction. This conflict is the foundation of my project and the territory which I will apply the philosophical concept of Ethics during my project. Object: Various problems have arisen since the conflict began in 2003. Such as: Britain’s under supplied assault on Iraq, The Detrimental Effects of Prolonged Warfare, The Topography and Terrain of Iraq, Destruction of Iraq’s infrastructure and Military discipline and morality within the Coalition Forces. During my last project I used the works of Machiavelli, Sun Tzu and Clausewitz to derive solutions to the above five problems. For example, undertaking attrition warfare over manoeuvre warfare in order to minimise destruction of infrastructure, or stimulating the Iraq economy to lessen the burden on the coalition to support Iraq financially. During this project, however, I am going to discuss the morality of those solutions. I will use the two opposing ethical philosophical fields of Teleology and Deontology; specifically, Utilitarianism and Kantian ethics. This is the philosophical grounding of my project and the application of pragmatic philosophy to real issues. Change: Development is an important process in philosophical thinking and so it is important to show change over time and apply philosophical concepts to it. For this project I am going to look at the change in humanitarian concerns over a period of one hundred years from World War II to the present Iraq conflict. In particular I will focus on aerial bombing. I will then use the ethical concepts developed throughout the project thus far in order to analyse the morality of the two conflicts with reference to aerial bombing campaigns conducted in both to conclude the morality of the Iraq war and also discover a change, if any, in concern for human rights.
Territory: I used DNA as my territory exploring the role that the genetic code has in the predetermination of humans and if there is the possibility of freedom within these constraints. Aims: The main aim of this project was to explore to what extent human beings are predetermined through their genetic codes. I was concerned with the idea that through the development of the scientific rationale in modern society, any understanding of freedom and autonomy that we had, did not belong with modern thought. Through exploration of the understanding that genetics have the possibility of predetermination, I was able to draw comparison between genetic inheritance and the theory of the eternal return. Through this comparison I was able to examine the possibility that we could break free from the determination of our genes and the cycle of repetition that we find ourselves in. It seems important for me to recognise that it was not only through our genetic make-up that we are predetermined, but that we are also greatly influenced by the world around us, and the society in which we live. We are influenced not only internally by our genes, but by all that surrounds us, adding to the idea that we are predetermined. This led me to question if it was at all possible for us to have freedom and negate that which influences us to allow us any sort of autonomy. The idea that humans are predetermined has major implications for moral responsibility. This is because the theory of predetermination seems incompatible with the idea of moral responsibility. If we are determined to act in a certain way then we cannot surely be held accountable because we did not choose to behave in such a way. I aimed to explore the idea that if we are to be accountable it is necessary for us to have some freedom, or at least the ability to gain autonomy. Philosophers: Predominantly I used the writings of Nietzsche, with particular interest to his theories on the concept of the eternal return. When looking at genetic determinism I compared his ideas with those of Dawkins and Matt Ridley. Through exploring the idea of predetermination through society I examined the writings of Locke with particular interest to his understanding of the Tabula Rasa and looked at how Nietzsche’s ideas related to this. Finally as I examined the implications of predetermination on moral accountability I looked towards the ideas of Durkheim, who saw man as being moral through his participation in society. I also looked at the work of Kant and his idea of transcendental freedom and morality through duty, once again comparing both thinkers with Nietzsche’s ideas.
Territory: My Territory is our Universe, from which I am looking into whether it is possible for life to exist else where in the Universe, other than Planet Earth. Concepts: The two concepts that I have chosen to analyse and examine are Charles Darwin’s theory of Evolution and the Judeo Christian religion. I have to look at Charles Darwin’s Evolutionary theory to be able to understand one belief of how life began to exist on Earth. Using his understanding, combined with statistical research of our planet, I will then look at our neighbouring planets within our solar system to see if Darwin’s theory is compatible with these planets to establish if life could evolve in the same way it did on Earth, on them. I will then be focus specifically on Mars and the recent explorations of the planet to determine whether their research into water on the planet is viable and enough evidence to suggest life has, or could form there. These scientific findings combined with bacterial evidence of beginning of life, founding a meteorite, show strong evidence towards the idea that life could exist elsewhere in the Universe. Because of this belief scientists have progressed their search beyond the edges of our solar system into the vast, open Universe to try and communicate with other potential life forms. Lastly I have studied the scripture of the Christian Religion, to use their belief that God created life only on Earth to contradict with Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution and maintaining the idea that life is exclusive to Earth. To support this religious account I have supported their argument with philosophers including William Paley, Thomas Aquinas and Brandon Carter. Key Philosophical Source -The Bible -Stebbins, Ledyard. G (1982) Darwin to DNA, Molecules to Humanity -Davies, Paul (1995) Are We Alone?
Yves Klein produced over one thousand “works” during the seven year period he devoted to painting. Although he is most commonly associated with his monochrome canvases (leading the patenting of his own International Klein Blue; IKB), Klein’s work is not abstract but conceptual. However prolific, his production was not the end goal of his efforts, but rather only an “interval” in his spiritual accomplishment; the quest for pure sensibility; the quest for the void. Klein fought all his creative life the “French defect” (as his role model Eugene Delacroix first spoke in his journals) the obsession with line, compositional prison bars of our own contrivance that delineate and concretize existence, drawing boundaries for our emotional and spiritual life. His works are a final and fatal wounding for painting-the impossibility of painting thereafter. This project is an attempt to chart the aesthetic progression of his painting towards the immaterial and the revelation of the artistic project situated in the quotidian. A pictorial quest for ecstatic and immediately communicable emotion; the painting of a future anticipated in the present.
Boredom and Alienation have become common symptoms of capitalism and can be found in workplaces all across contemporary society. In this project I set out to identify jobs in which these tendencies are most prevalent and to look at how and why this situation has arisen and what can be done to alter this damaging situation that we now find ourselves in. Case Study: Call centre workers workers are more satisfied at work when they: ‐ have a variety of tasks to complete ‐ are not just taking calls all day ‐ have more control over their methods used during conversations ‐ are provided with training to develop their skills. However, due to capitalist demand for the best possible profits from the least possible expense of resources mean that such conditions are not considered to be important and therefore call centre workers are often bored and frustrated with their jobs. Alienation: The philosophical concept of alienation denotes the state in which a person feels foreign to the world around them. This can occur, according to Marx, when labour no longer belongs to a worker but becomes a commodity to be bought and sold by the ruling classes who dominate the working class. Is Postmodernity to blame? Habermas believes that the fragmentation which has occurred in postmodernity is to blame for the crisis in communication. He claims that the ‘unfinished project of modernity’ needs to be completed by uniting all the different language games, created by the capitalistic colonization of knowledge as a commodity, by striving to reach consensus through negotiation and thus progressing towards Modernity’s goal of universal emancipation. This could be achieved, Habermas argues, through his theory of communicative action, which envisages a set of ideal conditions for genuine communication which could be used as a reference to ensure that negotiations were just. In essence, the breakdown in genuine communication and the instrumentalization of reason have led to people being dominated in a way which renders them un‐free. Therefore, if people could communicate in a way that was mediated by what is just and what is fair then people could break out of the shackles that their employers put them in and act in a way which is responsible and free at work.
SHOULD WE AS ADULTS STILL FIND MERIT IN THE MORAL LESSONS FOUND IN FAIRY TALES? KANT: The rise of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tales also coincided with the rise of Kantian thought, which taught us of the autonomous self. Anderson had switched the audience of fairy tales from both adults and children to just children. At the same time, Immanuel Kant was writing to argue for the autonomy of rational agents. The co-incision of the two shows a relationship that I shall investigate as it seems to be more than a coincidence that the two coincide. HAPPILY EVER AFTER? We have seen that the ethical value of fairy tales can either be embraced or dismissed depending upon which theory of morality you decide to follow, however is there anything else fairy tales can teach us? One of the most valuable things that fairy tales in their original form gave their audience was hope. MACINTYRE: One person in particular who would not agree with Kant’s opinion is Alisdair MacIntyre. MacIntyre’s theory of ethics and morality focuses on what is virtuous. ‘Virtue ethics’ is a type of moral philosophy that centres around a person’s character rather than rules or consequences. MacIntyre felt that the language and concepts of modern ethical theory are inappropriate as modern ethics are fragmented from so many different traditions or theories. A fairy tale is a piece of fiction that usually features characters found in folklore such as witches, trolls, fairies, and ogres. The phrase is also used as an adjective to describe something blessed with unusual happiness, for example, a fairy tale ending or fairy tale romance. But because not all fairy tales, especially in their original translation, necessarily end happily, it has also come to be used to refer to any far-fetched story, which may or may not include actual fairies. It is also worth noting that originally, fairy tales were told for the entertainment of adults as well as children.
“A true measure of a nation’s standing is how well it attends to its children – their health and safety, their material security, their education and socialization, and their sense of being loved, valued, and included in the families and societies into which they are born.” (UNICEF, 2007) • So why is Britain supposedly the worst place to bring up children? • Have things changed and worsened in the past hundred years, or is it just media hype? • What can be done to improve the upbringing of children? I focussed on children’s relationships, looking at how the family structure has changed, using Hegel as a historical comparison from the Enlightenment. I also looked at children’s subjective well-being, seeing how children in Britain view their health, school life and personal self worth. I then saw how consumerism and contemporary society affects the formation of a child’s identity. I used MacIntyre, Taylor and Giddens’ concept of narrative identity.
Although the idea of technology has been with mankind ever since the first tool was invented, the term has never achieved such a glorified status to which it was elevated in the twentieth century, a term and an aspect of science which will now take on an even more awe-inspiring tone in the twenty-first century; but now, eight years after the dawn of a new millennium, a millennium which was born into war, one cannot help to ask the question of whether the advent of new, more powerful technologies is actually beneficial to the progress of mankind, technologies which yes, could help many people, but also, if misused, bring about the premature end of our race. My project aims at discussing the repercussions of the prospective new sciences in our society, sciences which promise to change every aspect of life as we know it, and at asking the question of whether we are indeed ready for such power. I begin my discussion with a look at these new technologies, weighing the good aspects of them against the bad. Afterwards, in a slight departure from the technological basis of this project, I analyze the current state of society as I see it and discuss the problems which we must face before we even think about implementing new technologies; This part of the discussion will be aided by the philosophy of the situationists, specifically that of Guy Debord, regarding the society of the spectacle. After this analysis, I merge back into the theme of technology, and seek to examine the relationship between it and the spectacle before I address the views of technological determinism in relation to both Hegel’s and Nietzsche’s philosophy of history. Finally, I shall draw my conclusions regarding how ready we are as a race, a conclusion fully based on the discussions I have endeavored in to that point.
Territory: My initial study took place in West Jesmond Primary School, in Jesmond, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. I spent time in the school and particular classrooms collating information and observing the ways in which values are promoted within the school. Aims: My intentions were to discover the ways in which children are educated beyond the curriculum within school. I paid close attention to the following questions: • In what ways are we educated outside of the classroom? • What impact does our upbringing and initial education have on adulthood? • What consequences does education regarding values have on society as a whole? • Is there a responsibility for teachers/parents to introduce children to a set of values? Philosophy and Sources: After much deliberation I cut down my interest in philosophers to the work of Sartre and Freud. I concentrated my study on Sartre’s Existentialism and Humanism and Freud’s New Introductory Lectures on Psycho-Analysis. I used documents from the National Curriculum to support my findings and in particular the Statement of values by the National Forum for Values in Education and the Community.
The aim of this project was to investigate the changes within schools over the last forty years and evaluate them within Mill’s utilitarian theory. I found that the education system has become controlled by central government, who use schools as a training ground to promote future economic growth.This could then be evaluated within the Situationist philosophy of the commodification of society. I found that schools are a means of keeping students as the Proletariat class in order to function an ever growing economy for the Bourgeois. The morality of this needs to be considered in terms of what we deem the human function to be. If we accept our society as it is, in its commodified state then we must assume under Mill’s theory that the changes are ethical. For Mill something is ethical if it promotes the greatest amount of happiness throughout society. In a commodified society we seek to maximise economic productivity in order to for further development and hence making society more commodified, and so the changes would be ethical under Mill’s theory. If however we feel we should teach for education’s own sake and for long term societal values then the changes would have to be rejected as unethical.
Project Territory: China and its special administrative region, Hong Kong. Areas of Investigation: One country – two systems – to try to preserve the economic and political strengths that Hong Kong had built up and to maintain its capitalist free market, Hong Kong was offered the option of setting up a ‘one country, two systems’ policy – giving Hong Kong a great degree of autonomy from China. Capitalist paradise, communist paradise? Capitalism in Hong Kong has developed since the Second World War, and the region is now known to be a leading example of a laissez-faire capitalist economy. Attracting mainland Chinese and expatriates from afar, Hong Kong’s entrepreneurs over the last few decades have made extreme achievements. In opposition to Hong Kong’s capitalism, China’s Communist Party is the world’s largest political party. After the ‘May Fourth’ anti-imperialist movement in 1919, Marxist ideas began diffusing throughout China. Today though, the question that has to be asked is whether China is now a communist, socialist, nationalist or even capitalist society. Western Hong Kong, Eastern China. China has been much longer in development than Hong Kong has if the start of Hong Kong’s true development is considered to have begun only when the British gained control of it. Before this time, Hong Kong was, compared to the size of China, an insignificant port on China’s South coast. It can be said then, that Hong Kong has a more Western development behind it, while China, obviously had an Eastern viewpoint behind its development. Philosophical Ideas: John Locke – liberalism in relation to Hong Kong’s ‘one country, two systems’ method of government. Karl Marx – capitalism and communism, the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. The Communist Manifesto in relation to the governing principles of China. Max Weber – Weber’s connection between religion and economics and a brief look at his discussion of an ideal type of capitalism. Guy Debord – modern lives being invaded by the ‘spectacle’ and our passivity towards our own existences. This is related to China’s lack of freedom of speech and no free press forcing passivity onto the Chinese population. Conclusion: Hong Kong took risks – risks that worked to Hong Kong’s advantage – however, as the term ‘risk’ suggests, Hong Kong’s actions could just have easily made the region head down another road completely. Today, Hong Kong is not taking risks, but under the risk of China’s influence. Is Hong Kong a model or a threat to China? – The question may have to be reversed to China – model or threat to Hong Kong?