This essay examines the concept of madness and discusses whether madness should have a place in our metaphysical framework. It begins by exploring Nietzsche’s presentation of madness in his text The Gay Science, and concludes that madness ought to be included within philosophy. It then goes on to examine Foucault’s historical analysis of madness in his text, Madness and Civilisation, which demonstrates how the voice of madness has gradually been reduced to silence as the language of reason takes over. This essay concludes that the voice of madness ought to be included within philosophy for at times it is only the authoritative voice of madness that can lead us to new truths.
Category: 2021
I Will Survive: Self-preservation and its practical application
Self-Preservation is a force endowed to all organic beings. Its innate nature means it is inescapable, leading to it being a definite presence among action in the world. As a concept it has been subject to interpretations, and my own will supplemented by Schopenhauer, Nietzche and Darwinism. Within the project I will attempt to offer a comprehensive story of the practical application, to understand how the will developed and changed in its environment. Within the project I wrestled with questions such as:
“Who runs the world?”
“Why did modern countries develop the way they did?”
“How do we fix societies for the better”?
My analysis began with ancient history, where self-preservation showcased itself in establishing systems of hierarchy as extension of the will’s desire to dominate. Following on from this I focused on Western society and how self-preservation inspired the actions of imperialism. Next, I explained how self-preservation transitioned into neo-liberalism as well as the resulting disguise from the new environment. Finally, I presented potential solutions to the harmful effects of self-perseveration that I encountered within the project.
Anorexia is a mental illness which predominately affects women, whereby the sufferer severely restricts their food intake in order to lose a significant amount of weight, founded on an intense fear of gaining weight. In this dissertation I examine the feminist theories of Simone de Beauvoir in The Second Sex and Susan Bordo in Unbearable Weight in order to gain an understanding of the development of anorexia. In doing so, I hope to provide an account of anorexia that offers a level of compassion to those who suffer from the disorder.
I analyse Beauvoir’s account of women’s oppression in The Second Sex, in which she argues that women are subservient to men because they are defined in relation to men, rather than in and of themselves. I suggest that anorexia develops during adolescence when young girls realise this inevitable subordination, concentrating on the themes of control and objectification. I then consider Bordo’s claim in Unbearable Weight that anorexia is a manifestation of our cultural idealisation of slenderness, and modern understanding of femininity. I find that although both Beauvoir and Bordo provide a useful insight into why women develop anorexia, Bordo provides a more progressive feminist theory in the context of anorexia.
The dramatic increase of cases of eating disorders over the past century means that it is now necessary to explore possible reasons for this rise in instances. In this dissertation, I will discuss how complicit capitalism is in eating disorders in women, as it seems that the increase in cases has coincided with the increasing grip capitalism has on the individual. First, using the work of Karl Marx and Jean Baudrillard I will explore the way that the individual within a capitalist society is made to see their body as an object which must be saleable in order to be useful. Due to the social prestige of a thin body, we see its owner as having more value than the owner of a fat body. Second, I will explore how the impacts of capitalist society on a woman can lead to her developing an eating disorder. Simone de Beauvoir’s theory of the socialisation of the woman shows how a woman is forced to see herself as an object belonging to the male subject. She is left feeling that her body is the only object she has any mastery over and makes it thinner in order to show this mastery. Julia Kristeva’s abjection will be used to show how the woman is forced into ‘choosing’ her status of an object within a capitalist society and that consequently she feels she must be the perfect object of desire. Lastly, I use the work of Massimo Recalcati to explore the direct connections between eating disorders and the capitalist world. Within capitalism we are encouraged to fear the Other, this makes the individual desire to cut them off – which they do through food. Recalcati also suggests that capitalist society makes us see the lack which causes our desire as a void which must be filled, and people with eating disorders do so through food – that being the presence of food or the absence of it. I will explore each of these sections separately before concluding with a synthesis of all of them.
This piece of writing will look at the concepts of sex and gender according to second and third wave feminists before applying these notions to female only spaces and the issues which may arise from these places. The territory of this essay is looking at what issues the transgender community may face and the more specific object being female only spaces and the issues that transgender women may face when attending such places.
The first part of the essay includes typical views of sex and gender that second and third wave feminists had. It will also explore how the views of second wave feminists could be seen as similar to those of today’s critical feminists or trans-exclusionary radical feminists (TERFs). Within this section is the views of third wave feminist Judith Butler on sex and gender. Her distinctions of sex and gender became helpful in understanding more about the transgender community.
The definition of transgender is presented in this essay as an umbrella term which includes many different aspects. It is understood that the recent growth in acceptance for the trans community has emerged from the media as well as politics. While acceptance has increased recently, there is still a minority that do not accept the transgender community. Some organisations have attempted to exclude trans women from female only spaces and attempt to ensure these spaces only welcome biological women.
Throughout the essay it is clear that, based off their views, second wave feminists would not include transgender women in female only spaces perhaps at all or especially if they only self-identity as a woman as opposed to having had surgery or hormone therapy. Third wave feminists, including Judith Butler, would oppose this view and suggest that all transgender women, whether they self-identify as a woman or have undergone surgery, should be welcomed into female only spaces.
Suggested solutions to these issues which ensure both sides are happy include creating spaces where people who are comfortable around transgender women can go, as well as spaces for people who are not. As well as this, the essay explores the idea that education is key to the acceptance of the transgender community today.
Heidegger understands death as the end to existence in the world. But with the presence and pursuit of posthumous legacy, is this accurately represented in modern secular society? This project explores the notion of legacy, investigating the way legacy can be understood as a continuation of existence after death, and establishing posthumous existence as a way of coming to terms with the fear of death. In opposition to Heidegger’s thought, this notion of legacy is explored by analysing the limitations of Heidegger’s notion of existence and the ‘being-towards-death’, and discussing the impact of Western religious beliefs regarding death and posthumous existence. The continuation of existence through posthumous legacy and the way this contradicts Heidegger’s thought by providing an alternative to the acceptance of mortality is supported by analysis of societal customs and traditions surrounding death in the world and the representation of death in literature.
Social and emotional skills are situated at the heart of human lives. We are social beings that depend on collaborative behaviour to thrive in any given society, yet historically and traditionally speaking our society promotes competitive behaviours that have damaging effects on our emotional and social well-being. Over the recent years mental health awareness has been growing rapidly and more people are waking up to the fact that our emotional intelligence is just as important, if not more, than our intelligence quotient. This notion has stimulated an explosion of exploration into the educational process and this essay will explore why the vast majority of schools today still possess the old factory based model for education.
The private prison industry has expanded into immigration detention in return for money and is using the forced labour of their inmates to return a sizeable profit to their shareholders. Is this a justifiable punishment for illegal immigrants making the crossing into the USA, or does it constitute a form of modern-day slavery? This research will determine that through its investigations into deontology, consequentialism, retributivism and anti-foundationalism that the industry is fundamentally founded on concepts that do not relate to justice and so its form of punishment cannot be justified but must rather be considered a form of slavery.
This research project sets out to investigate a basis for the possible link between oppression and the sense of community within a working-class society, mainly in Tyneside. Community relations will be observed more specifically within events including the Meadow Well riots, the UK miners’ strike and the aftermath of the closing of shipyards under the power of Margaret Thatcher. Philosophical concepts discussed will be focussed through the political lens of philosophy, with Marx and Rawls. Marx’s work on class oppression and Rawls’ ‘Theory of Justice’ will be explored in relation to the working-class communities in Tyneside. As well as this, identity-focused philosophers, including Taylor, Bauman and Nietzsche are to be discussed and compared with each other, and the object in question.
By using the feminist philosophy of Judith Butler and Susan Bordo, explain why so many women suffer from eating disorders. The project refers to the role of women in society and the aesthetic expectations that are placed upon them with the advancement of social media.
By using the feminist philosophy of Judith Butler and Susan Bordo, explain why so many women suffer from eating disorders. The project refers to the role of women in society and the aesthetic expectations that are placed upon them with the advancement of social media.
The project chose to focus on eating disorders as they are a phenomenon which can cause serious damage to the mental and physical health of an individual. Specifically, the project analysed the relationship that females have with food. Alongside this, the project considered the effects of social media. Certainly, social media is something which has increased over the past few years. With this in mind, my aim was to uncover the negative impact it can have on female body image.
A Philosophical Investigation into Women’s Rights to Equal Status:
To what extent can it be argued that a historic power imbalance still exists between the sexes, despite the efforts made to extinguish this gap?
Object:
-Robert Browning’s poem, My Last Duchess-
An insight into the use of language relative to women’s power and the extent to which women remain powerless due to lexical choice, in the modern media.
Looking at the death of Sarah Everard as a modern example.
Territory:
An in-depth analysis of the change in power attributed to women in the past 200 years.
Focusing on changes in legislation and societal attitudes towards women.
Could it be argued that women now have equal power to men or has the male desire for dominance simply diverged into other areas of society?
Concept 1:
-Plato’s Republic-
A discussion of the existence of power in Plato’s Polis, and how power exists in society. Moving on to consider Plato’s understand of the role of women in society and subsequently what this means for women in terms of power and equality.
Concept 2:
-Foucault’s Power / Knowledge-
Considering Foucault’s understand of power could it be that women should be equal to men in society? Using Foucault’s Repressive Hypothesis, and Sovereign Power, to formulate an understanding of Foucault’s understanding of power equality.
The following project considers ‘memetics’ as a theory of the role of imitative dynamics in the genesis and development of human culture. This entails an exposition of memetics as the product of a series of conceptual transpositions between different practices and domains, which are tracked at length. Situating the object in question in the domain of fundamental anthropology (such circumscribing both cultural genesis and development), the concept applied to this object shall be René Girard’s ‘mimetic theory’ both with respect to its critique of a neglect of acquisitive, and therefore conflictual, mimesis pertaining broadly to theories of imitation, and its competing account of the function of imitation in the genesis and development of human culture. Having offset memetics with the theoretical conclusions of mimetic theory, the project shall conclude with an evaluation of memetics as an account of the role of imitative dynamics in human culture.
The aim of this project is to look at consumerism, specifically consumer behaviour during the coronavirus pandemic and how it has evolved. The project will also explore how big tech companies such as Microsoft and Google are planning on using this for their own profit and power gain, whilst finally looking at some of the social and critical philosophy of Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer to highlight how this might be problematic and the potential implications it holds for society as a whole.
The aim of this project is to determine if an approach which is based on trading off negative and positive liberty assess properly whether the lockdown was just or not? Within this project both positive and negative liberty will be measured within each theory. Comparing them whereby the positive sense protects life versus the negative sense in which our liberties are restricted. Both a Utilitarian and Hobbes social contract theory shall lean towards a more epistemologically positive approach to this. Through trying to give objective truths to measure the positive and negative liberties at play. While Badiou and Deleuze’s theory on the event shall offer a sceptical epistemological approach. They give a differing answer from a ‘simplistic’ objective approach. Finally, through Foucault and his biopolitics, we are able to highlight perhaps another force which is in play; power. Where in fact our pursuit for reintroduction of liberty is a paradox which was subsequently never there in the first place.
‘The End of History? Really?’ A Philosophical Investigation into Francis Fukuyamas work the End of history and the Last Man. With Reference to Hegel and Oswald Spengler
The Object of my study is whether Francis Fukuyama’s famous work ‘The end of History and the Last Man’ and the predictions made in it hold true today since the book was published in 1992. My dissertation therefore is centred around the Philosophy of History and which interpretations are the most accurate for describing the way in which history is manifests itself. The other two philosophers I shall look out is Georg Hegel and his dialectical approach to history and Oswald Spengler with his cyclical approach to History. I decided to do my dissertation on this as I believe we live in a very polarising time I was intrigued find out the significance of it on the historical timeline by investigating various view points written on it
Fukuyama in his book makes the bold statement that we have reached the end of history and what he meant by this is specifically is the end of ideology as Western Liberal Democratic traditions have reigned victorious for 100 years and have survived many potential coups by Communism and Fascism alike. Fukuyama states that humanity has reached a harmonisation with liberal democracy and their aren’t any contradictions in human life which cant be solved through its mechanism of government
Fukuyama’s conclusion is based on Nineteenth Century German Philosopher Georg work on the philosophy of History building on his dialectical process as the driving force of history. The ‘dialectical’ process sees that humanity reaching a final state after the Spirit in history which is in a state of conflict, producing a constant thesis and antithesis, finally resolving itself. Fukuyama believed that liberal democracy was the final synthesis from the thesis and antithesis conflict. Through out this section examine how much Fukuyama agreed with Hegel and where he veers off and goes in his own direction. I then Investigate whether liberal democracy still reigns supreme, I observe the fact that it is indeed still the primary mode of government in the western world however faith in it is faltering. This is highlighted by a Politico Survey which demonstrated Millennial’s are the most disillusioned generation ‘living memory’ in regards to faith in democracy.
Once examining Fukuyama, I go back into looking at Hegel in more detail, evaluating the circumstance that potentially humanity hasn’t reached a final ultimate synthesis yet as Fukuyama believes we have rather we are still in a state of dialectic. I look more deeply into Hegel’s idea of History being a manifestation spirit. The purpose of this is to help understand whether we are still in a state of dialectical process or not.
In my dissertation I move on to my final philosopher who looked at history in a completely different lens to Fukuyama and Hegel, German Philosopher Oswald Spengler. Oswald Spengler was one of the most famous and influential philosophers of the 1920’s, Times magazine famously said ‘When Spengler Speaks the whole world listens’. Spengler gained fame for his seminal Work ‘The Decline of the West’ which he considered to be a Copernican moment in the study of philosophy for history. Unlike the other two who viewed history as linear reaching a final point, he viewed history as the rise and fall of self contained cultures, their life span could be split into the 4 seasons. Spring being the rise of the culture, summer being the Apex, Autumn being stagnation and winter being the demise. According to Spengler the west had entered the Winter period and is in a state of decline which leads to it falling into a era of Ceasers aka dictators. This is at odds with Fukuyama’s belief that liberal democracy has won the ideological battle, hence why I included it in my dissertation. I go on to test the validity of Spengler’s prediction analysing the trump presidency as a possible example as well as using
The object of study for my stage three project is track and trace. In late 2019 the COVID-19 pandemic was reported as an unusual virus. At the beginning of 2020, the virus, now identified as a novel coronavirus began to spread throughout the entire world. Aside from a lockdown and a vaccine that had to be developed, the UK government invested heavily into a contact tracing system called track and trace. The aim of this system would be to trace who had come into contact with those that had testing positive for the virus so they could isolate and quarantine. Despite being heavily funded, track and trace has only a “marginal impact on transition of the virus”. This essay will be investing track and trace and what affected the way it was organised. By understanding it with reference to Deleuzian and Guattarian thought, it will be considered why track and trace was organised the way it was with a historical approaching using quantitative data and then why this meant track and trace was unsuccessful using an axiological approach. The territory in which the object will be considered is from political responses to catastrophes and centralisation.
In order to make this invested, this essay will attempt to give a broad description of Deleuze and Guattari’s concepts of state form thought and nomad form thought and the rhizomatic, and then discussing whether it is relevant into track and trace. State form and nomad form thought is the outlining how the state has power not only explicitly through laws but also by giving itself a rational justification for its framework. By considering the war machine, an entity that exists outside the state, Deleuze and Guattari develop nomad thought in order to offer an alternative to state thought, which is used to critique how the UK state organised track and trace. The rhizome is Deleuze and Guattari’s description metaphysics where the world operates as a rhizome, meaning it is fundamentally decentralised. This will be used to critique the fact track and trace was centralised. Deleuze and Guattari’s A Thousand Plateaus is used primary to develop these concepts and understood with reference Eugene Holland’s A Thousand Plateaus: a reader. Moreover, the essay uses information from the BBC and The Guardian to understand how track and trace worked and how successful it was. By considering this information, it will be investigated whether Deleuze and Guattari’s concepts are relevant to track and trace, considering how neoliberal policy affected how track and trace was organised, how sources advocated for centralisation in facing the COVID-19 pandemic, and finally whether Deleuze and Guattari’s concepts are relevant.
Progressively foregrounded precisely in its lack of coming to presence is the operation by which an individual’s human or non-human, inhuman, status is delineated. It is thus that the margin of delineation by which the propriety of a human being’s humanity is decided becomes questionable and prompts further reflection. Receiving its impetus from Martin Heidegger’s Letter on ‘Humanism’, the following essay shall take the ‘human’ as galvanized in the thought of Marcus Tullius Cicero as its object, foremost reflecting on the human is discursively constituted in the complementary texts De Republica and De Legibus. This essay thus contends that Cicero’s thought constitutes the exemplary object of the critique Heidegger’s letter poses, and as such provides an essential foil to Heidegger’s proposal as to how the notion of νόμος (nomos) should be uptaken in light of the truth of being.
What can the Philosophy of Zizek tell us about desire and ideology in current culture?
This essay shows key features of Zizek’s philosophy which show how desire influences ideology and how this can be illustrated through examining current culture.
I have used the examples of the musical Hamilton and The Extinction Rebellion protests.
Hamilton is a beautiful piece of culture to analyse using Zizek’s philosophy because it expresses powerful ideologies through music.
Extinction Rebellion is a wonderful organization that is trying to save the world. Zizek’s philosophy when applied to the reaction to XR is excellent in illustrating the powerful nature of ideology.
Ideology is a powerful and irrational force in the world, and nobody realises they are being duped by it, this is what my essay aims to argue.
Exploring Zizek’s philosophy through these pieces of current culture has given me a much greater understanding of the world around me.
Zizek is clearly an influential philosopher and his philosophy has interested me for a while now and it was a joy to learn about his work. His conception of ideology I believe is groundbreaking, I aimed to show this in my essay and I believe I have succeeded.
Tarot reading has gained a notable amount of popularity in recent years, but this does not align with the increasingly rational, post-metaphysical society of the West. Perhaps this new age scientific rationalism has proven too harsh for humanity, and there are calls to return to a more spiritual path. The individualistic nature of Tarot reading is much more appealing than the previous demands of traditional religion that once dominated society. Tarot reading may also be used as a therapeutic tool that can reveal unconscious desires for the future that have been repressed by the psyche, and through an act of projection onto the Tarot cards, we can reveal these true desires that are usually hidden from the surface.
The concepts that I will use to explore this question are Mele’s self-deception, Freud’s psychoanalysis, Jungian archetypes, Semetsky’s therapeutic hypothesis and the rationality of logical positivists.
Contemporary treatment of specific crimes (miscarriages of justice) reveals that early forms of vendetta are still present in our supposedly rational society, which may therefore result in the destabilisation of hierarchical power relations. The project uses the subsequent cases; the Birmingham Six (1974-75), the Guildford Four (1975), and the Maguire Seven (1976), to highlight how such a system of our judiciary systems’ necessity to our society can fail. The project uses MacIntyre’s philosophy, regarding narrative alongside Poyser’s academics, to suggest that through improved case narratives due to media involvement, the judiciary system is provided with the opportunity to resurrect their mistakes and in doing so improve the structural innerworkings of society. Further philosophical analysis of the media’s narrative regarding MacIntyre perhaps reveals how the victims are condemned due to how they have been treated by the judiciary system and the miscarriage of justice that they been involved. In thinking about one’s selfhood in terms of narrative, it is possible to review how the victim’s lives are changed for the worse due to their mistreatment. Moreover, use of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right feasibly aids the removal of historical discordancy around the concept of justice, which in doing so provides a clearer understanding of how violence in the form of terror and vendetta still become pertinent issues for our society. Hence, the project sets itself to reviewing the claim that contemporary treatment of specific crimes in the form of miscarriages of justice may in fact provoke the destabilisation of hierarchical powers such as our judiciary system due to the presence of repeated acts of violence in the form of terror and vendetta.