Territory: I chose to consider the use of nanotechnology and drugs when applied to living organisms, more specifically humans, to increase the average life time and explore the ethical implications that may be associated with it. Aim: I intend to explore the socio‐economic effects of a society in which all individuals or a select group have an extended life span, from anything between an additional 50 years of life up to, theoretically, several hundred or even thousands! At the end of my study I intend to consider if such technology can be applied, if it should be applied and in what capacity. Concepts: I shall be considering the philosophical dilemmas presented by specialist scholars in the field of my study as well as deliberating issues I have considered myself. To help me consider these issues I shall apply the philosophies of Mill’s Utilitarianism and Nietzschean thought to see if either, both or neither can agree on specific aspects of the study.
Category: Abstracts
This project began with Bill Drummond’s poster, Notice. For Drummond, the digitization and instant access to music through the internet has rendered recorded music a dead art form. To try and understand Drummond’s perception, I have chosen to examine three moments where technology had altered musical production and dissemination: – (1) The birth of notation. (2) The advent of file-sharing software such as Napster. (3) The rise of house music and ecstasy culture where DJs perform using recorded music. Throughout, I have used Deleuze and Guatarri’s A Thousand Plateaus as a conceptual tool-kit. Drawing on their notion of the rhizome, faciality, the refrain, becoming-imperceptible and micro-politics I have attempted to understand both these three movements and develop an approach to music itself. In order to cast some light on Drummond’s perception of recorded music as a single, irrelevant genre, I have turned to Adorno’s conception of the culture industry. Through Derrida’s Dissemination, I have attempted to show that the dichotomy between recording and performance cannot be sustained and that the musical experience returns the listener to the play of differance.
Object: I chose to examine the concept of war and terror and if it is really possible to fight in order to restore peace. The main focus of my project lay in the idea that war will only spawn more hatred, and so creating a war with the objective of bringing peace to a society is an impossibility. In conjunction with this I attempted to look at the reasons why people agree to war, and the freedom of British citizens when they agree to join the Army. Territory: When I originally decided upon a territory I chose the ‘War on Terror’, namely the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Upon further investigation it became clear to me that these were two separate wars with different focuses and motivations, and so I shifted the focus of my project solely to the war in Iraq, and the reasons for and against this war. I also looked at the concept of the British Army and the reasons behind why soldiers are deployed to fight in what was not a British fight to begin with. The Philosophy behind my project: Gadamer and Death: One of the concepts that became most clear to me was that of the idea of the repression of death. Gadamer notes that society’s perception of death had changed, and I examined if this affected the decision of those joining the Army. Kant, Freedom and Duty: I also looked at the idea of whether the innate sense of duty that we possess, according to Kant, affects the decisions we make in everyday life, such as joining the Army. I also discussed how much freedom we actually have, when, if you join the Army, you have to sign up for a minimum period of time, and you can be forcibly deployed to fight in wars you might not believe in.
Do we still live in a society that is dominated by issues of class? • If so why do certain sectors of society refuse to discuss it and others believe that it no longer exists? • Why do we force social issues, in the desperate hope not to show a class divide? Aim: These were some of the questions I wanted to try and tackle this year. With the ever increasing topic of class being raised, I decided to question Newcastle students on their perspectives. Whether they felt that Universities were a key part of society’s social engineering, or whether they believed that there was a social divide at the University. Philosophers: Focusing on the work of Karl Marx and Theodor Adorno to illustrate the concept of capitalism, and whether we still live in a bourgeoisie and proletariat state.
My project is an investigation into responsibility. In modern times more and more people are getting reduced prison sentences due to diminished responsibility. This inspired me to look into the autonomy of the Subject. This investigation charts its way through the history of the subject, starting with the wholly autonomous subject as proposed in John Rawls theory of justice, justice as fairness. This theory relies on respect for others, freedom and equality and most importantly an autonomous self. The first person to challenge this idea concerning the self was Sigmund Freud when he proposes that the mind was in fact split in three parts, the id, ego and the super‐ego, which all have different effects on our actions and choices. With this theory in mind I look into scientific evidence to back up Freud and show how illness such as schizophrenia and narcissistic personality disorder affect the mind and the Subject. Finally I look at the theories of Keith Ansell Pearson in his book Viroid Life in which he questions the autonomy of the Subject altogether. He produces a theory of the cyborg and the hybrid self and proposes that the rapid rise in technology has created a more deterministic reality and halted the autonomy of man.
Territory: My project this year is a follow on from my project last year and so my territory has remained the same. My territory is society itself, but particularly the problems of society and the two possible futures for society those being either; the civilised state of nature where everyone is out to get everyone in order to increase their standing in society, this is seen in things such as the culture of legal action. The other scenario is a totalitarian state where the government take absolute control to prevent a collapse in the civilised state of nature or full anarchy, but it can also be seen happening through such things as political correctness and the nanny culture. Aim: My aim for my project is to find a way to prevent these two scenarios from occurring but also to find a way to tackle some of today’s societies problems. I plan to do this by looking for the root of the problem and then tackle the problem from the root up. I believe that the root is society’s obsession with liberty and equality with liberty being the more problematic of the two. To tackle the problem I shall be using theories from Social Contract thinkers such as Hobbes and Hegel to thinkers such as Levinas and their view on meaning. Overall I want to try and make a system where there is liberty and equality, but it is not an obsession rather a balance between liberty, equality, order and meaning to ensure a society where we can grow as moral human beings with the most pleasant life possible without having to resort to extremes to do so.
Overall aim- to prove that humans do have a distinct nature which sets us apart as individuals and that we are more than living organisms that respond to social needs. • To prove this I am using my experience of America – to study how I adapted to a new culture to see whether I totally adapted or whether there is part of me that remained the same. • We cannot deny our want and need to adapt to environments and cultures but humans still have an innate nature that defines us as individuals and remains the same all our life. • Our human nature is responsible for HOW we respond to cultures and our upbringing. We are not born a blank slate. PHILOSOPHY. • I liken my ideas to Descartes and his idea of dualism where the mind and body are distinct from each other. • Mencius believed that there are 4 positions of human nature that we are born with but develop throughout our life, o 1. Mind of commiseration o 2. Mind of shame o 3. Mind of respect o 4. Mind of right/wrong • Lao Tzu believed that we should strive to be an ‘uncarved block.’ So we should go back to the basis of our human nature and we should not be affected by anything external to ourselves. • I am using these two philosophers to suggest unlike them I do not believe we are wholly independent from society and I think that Lao Tzu’s ‘uncarved block’ is unrealistic. We could never deny the influences that our society/upbringing has on us. • But like them I believe we have an innate human nature which is responsible for how we respond to our surroundings and is individual to each person.
Main Aim: In this project I aim to explore the changes in Russian politics and ideology from the Tsarist autocracy through to the information revolution that ultimately brought to an end the oppressive Communist regime affected by Josef Stalin. With respect to these changes I will look at how important the concept of the autonomy of the individual is in maintaining an ethical and moral way of life and how the autonomy and subsequent freedom of the individual was affected throughout these socio‐political changes. The use of Solzhenitsyn’s ‘Cancer Ward’ is particularly useful firstly because of the personal nature of his experience; he was arrested and put into forced labour for eight years before being confined to internal exile following criticism of Stalin in a personal letter. With regards to this, the semi‐autobiographical nature of the book allows a fictional insight into the workings of the Soviet State post Stalin with the authenticity of personal experience. Secondly, it provides a detailed insight into how the government treated individuals but also of how individuals treated each other while under the morally dubious Stalinist state. Philosophy: Kant – A major contributor to contemporary ethical thought the works of Kant had a significant effect on how the individual was thought of to be able to work out and make their own ethical decisions. It will be important to see how the autonomy of the individual changes under the communist and totalitarian Stalinist state. Marx/Hegel – the concepts of alienation and the abolition of private property from these two thinkers created the original structure around which Lenin’s communism would be built. Their thoughts on both subjects will require explanation. Sartre – His post war work meant his name became synonymous with existentialism, the absolute freedom with which we make our decisions contrasted harshly with the reality of Russia during the mid 20th Century where people often declined to make the correct ethical choice, or were altered to act in a way unbefitting a moral human being. His later writings reflect a more measured approach to the effects of one’s situation and I will explore his subsequent change in direction. Personal Considerations: This project has allowed me to explore an area of personal interest (Russian literature) combined with the aspects of philosophy I find most interesting. I have also been able to understand the link between society and philosophy more thoroughly and regarding this the importance that the individual plays in how he treats his fellow man, no matter how powerful or oppressive the government is.
Is there a transcendental taxonomy of sexuality? Are we being exposed to a sexual ideology? Will heterosexuality, homosexuality and bisexuality satisfy the variety of sexual orientations which exist? These are the questions which I wish to answer in my study of erotic attraction and sexuality. Throughout time differing sexualities and sexual traditions have surfaced. I want to discover why these paradigms exist, and whether sexuality is a wholly social construct. Included in the differing epochs of sexuality are the Mesopotamian obsession with fertility; the Ancient Indian tradition of linking sexuality with spiritual fulfilment; the Greco-Roman belief in sexual status and the activity and passivity of agents; the great repression of the Middle Ages, leading on to a great enlightenment erotic liberation; and finally, the problems of sexually transmitted infections, specifically HIV and AIDS. The philosophical concepts which I will be using are the Neo-Marxist concept of reification, as explained by Adorno, and the Foucauldian notion of disciplinary power. When reading both Adorno and Foucault, it becomes apparent that both are distrustful of apparent truths, particularly those which have descended from capitalist society. Both see the progress of science as something which presumes particular values, and which can be used as a form of knowledge domination. Is sexuality included in this discourse, or is sexuality a metaphysical truth?
In this project I hope to discuss the problem of evil – namely how God can exist as evil does. By examining the Holocaust in regards to this I hope to be able to shed some new light on this infamous example of evil and suffering beyond comprehension. Did the German people knowingly allow the Holocaust to happen and if so what were the reasons behind this? By reading Rudolf Hoess’ autobiography I hope to be able to discover whether following orders removes all moral responsibility. Ultimately, could it happen again?
My territory is addiction; I chose addiction as it is a contemporary issue of concern today! I have examined most areas of addiction, such as; Drug/ alcohol abuse, gambling, sex and eating disorders. Essentially it is not about what addiction one has; rather why one is addicted in the first place. Thus, I have explored contemporary answers. The two concepts of Philosophy I have chosen are that of Mill and Bataille.
Bataille is related to my topic of addiction because he blames Society!!! Due to the Rise of Capitalism All time is spent on useful means leaving no time for useless expenditure…addiction is a way of escaping this monotonous regimented lifestyle!!!
The methodology: The method I have used throughout my project is the hermeneutic interpretive, as I attained all my information from books and the internet.
Mill is associated with my territory because his philosophy is based on Hedonism: Addiction is based on pleasure and addicts do it to release pain. This is also following Mill’s principle of Utilitarianism. Also, I have explored Mill’s work on education; his basic doctrine related to addiction would be that a good education from a young age would prevent behaviours like addiction occurring. He distinguishes higher and lower pleasures, higher pleasures being things such as; theatre and literature. Thus an alternative for addiction, for Mill, could be through art.
This project will look at the Sorrows of Young Werther in Conjunction with an example of emotionally hardcore internet blogging in order to establish the significance of emotional intensity seen today in youth groups. The sorrows of young Werther depicts a fictional 18th century character that holds many similarities to the type of life many modern youths aspire too. Primarily this project is concerned with exploring the emotionally hardcore movement that is taking place, and how this will affect future social change. Werther channelled his emotional intensity through art and literature, using it as a way of expressing his anguish. The emotionally hardcore individual uses art and music as a form of expression, and literature as a way to ‘blog’ this way of life, through means of fictional and factual storytelling, and also poetry. Using concepts of alienation, aesthetics, romanticism and existentialism, this project will analysis the emotionally hardcore individual, society’s objections and the emotionally hardcore movement as a whole. In historical format this project will look at how the sorrows of young Werther symbolises an apparent social theme of alienation from the masses. Secondary to the above, the thoughts of Schiller will be examined with reference to romanticism as a whole. This hopefully will shed light on the importance of emotion, passion and Romance within. Hopefully this project will look at the emotionally hardcore movement in a way that has never been undertaken before, therefore examining a section of social progression that is personal and individual to me.
This project is an investigation into the discourse of advertising in our contemporary late capitalist society. This study shall attempt to assess the role advertising plays in manipulation of the masses and its relation to mass media in capitalist society. My aim is to assess whether advertising is a central tool of deception in the commodity driven culture of capitalism Advertising has changed dramatically since the time of the industrial revolution. The division of labour and the beginning of mass production due to the industrialisation that has created far more of a ‘need’ to advertise and stay one step ahead of competitors. This I would stipulate is due to the onslaught of late capitalism, globalisation and commodity infatuation of the consumer. Ongoing advancement in technology has created an environment in modern society by which there are more and more means of mass broadcasting. The industrial revolution was the catalyst for this. The use of advertising has metamorphosed from a simple presentation of information on a product to the public in a manner to inform of use and content of a product; to an ambience creating, aesthetic tool merged with mass media creating a barrage on the senses. Branding and heritage of brand has outplayed use, image out mustering purpose The end product of Advertising’s growth through the mass media is its immanence in society, and its ability to shape the ideas and behaviour, as well as formation of self of the individual.
The nature of this discussion does not lend itself to a specific object on which to focus, the subject is simply too vast. However, the central topic of this discussion is the question concerning the possibility of existence or extinction of authenticity in a highly consumerist culture. The topic led me to discuss many subsequent questions: Heidegger’s temple, in which ‘world’ becomes manifest. Can this relate to contemporary song? Can life affirming, world reflecting, active truth be found in a contemporary song? Is it possible to be both a ‘mainstream’ and an authentic artist? Can art and artist ever really validate or justify their influence on social change and politics, does it exist at all or, does surrealism and artistic social/political/philosophical commentary fall inevitably back into consumerism? If we conclude that ‘symbolic authenticity’ (the representation in art of underlying popular, time and culture specific ‘feeling’ and opinion) is compromised by capitalism and consumerism, are the feelings and opinions themselves compromised? The main areas of focus as outlined above are discussed with reference to Martin Heidegger, Theodor Adorno, Sigmund Freud and Andre Breton.
I wish to show through this project how it is in imagination, that we discover the truth about reality. This process of discovery happens in the earliest stages of childhood through a child’s awareness of the physical objects around them and what these mean. This awareness of reality later develops to a state of ‘play’. It is in the free state of play that a child first explores their ability for creation. The link between imagination and reality shifts from childhood to adulthood. What I wish to explore is the nature of this link and ask whether it ceases in childhood or whether it continues by later revealing itself in other forms of creative arts. I will explore whether creation in any art form can reveal truth about our own reality and further still even shape it? Can creative play in childhood reveal truth about our being in the world?
Territory: Disability. Object: The treatment of disabled people. Concepts: Equality, Dependence. Change: Treatment of disabled people over time. Thinkers: Singer, MacIntyre. Questions I am going to consider: • The idea of ‘normality’, and whether a disabled person can constitute a ‘normal person’. • The idea of inclusion and whether disabled people can be considered to be included as normal members of our society. • Both of these things, normality and inclusion, relate to the concept of equality. Are disabled people equals to people without disabilities? • Is the language used in reference to disabled people appropriate or could it be improved upon? • How much does independence matter to a disabled person? Should they have greater independence despite their limitations? Sources: • ‘The Disability Reader’, edited by Tom Shakespeare, 1998, Continuum • ‘The Diving Bell and the Butterfly’, Jean-Dominique Bauby, 2008, Harper Perennial • ‘Practical Ethics’, Peter Singer, 1993, Cambridge University Press • ‘Rational Dependent Animals, Alasdair MacIntyre, 1999, Gerald Duckworth and Co. Ltd.
This project investigates the motivations behind different terrorist attacks. From what drives them to become involved in terrorism to the different positions that are open to them and finally the effectiveness of their role and the influence of society’s perception. I decided to title my project “The War on Terrorism”. By my title I do not mean the campaign that was initiated by America and joined by other countries throughout the world to ‘curb the spread of terrorism’. My project will discuss the reasons why this campaign will not work. This War on Terrorism was authorized by the United States Congress under the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists and was passed on the 18th of September 2001 after the attacks on America on 9/11. The object I plan to focus on is a scene from the film ‘The Kingdom’. The reason for this is because it is a film about terrorism, which I think compliments the objective I am trying to prove. The reason why I chose this is film is because at the start of the film when the terrorist bomb goes off in the housing compound, Agent Fleury whispers in one of his associate’s ears in comfort something we as the audience cannot hear. Then in one of the latest scenes when the leader of the terrorist group is shot and is dying he whispers to a young girl in comfort something that again we as the audience can’t hear. Then in the final scene each person reveals what was said to them. It was, “Don’t worry, we’ll kill them all.” This for me is very significant because it showed that even though the American agent was claiming to be bringing justice to the terrorists he was actually just looking to kill them all for killing his comrades. Both sides had the same objective, they both wanted to kill. How will this ever stop terrorism? My parallel territory was the Cold War as I believe no other event in history has affected world politics as the same way the Cold War did in the mid 1940’s till the early 1990’s. Terrorism has taken its place in modern day politics. The concepts I identified throughout my project were power, identity and the loss of identity. I believe America’s waging of war on terror was just an assertion of power and way in which to reinsert them as the main hegemonic power throughout the world. A philosophers whose work I have used is Ted Honderich, especially his work terrorism for Humanity which raises many difficult questions that are unavoidable at this moment in time as the war on terror rages. Questions related to the morality of terrorism and the use of political violence. In this work Honderich’s arguments for and against terrorism are directed towards the goal of the Principle of humanity. The questions which are raised throughout run along the lines of when is terrorism right, if ever? And when is it wrong? And what are the reasons for it being wrong? The main reason I chose this philosopher to focus on is because throughout this work he implores us to open our minds and explore political philosophy but he reminds us that even though we are opening our minds to see the bigger picture it does not mean we have to lose our convictions. Other philosophers I chose to look at are Castell and his work on resistance and identity, Habermas’s philosophy at the time of terror and Baudrillard and his fatalist theory,
Territory: Fast food industry. Objective: The aim of my project is to focus on how the fast food industry is taking over society and how the advertising within the media influences our decisions. I will illustrate how the fast food industry began and how it has developed into the global industry that we know today. How this industry has dominated the way that we see food as well as changing society into a fast pace society of convenience. As well as how our food choices are so heavily influenced by these corporations, that we are slowly becoming a nation killing ourselves through unhealthy food. Aim: I will be looking at chefs such as Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsey to understand how they are trying to change society’s eating habits and trying to help us not become such an unhealthy nation. The Philosopher that I will be using to aid my thought process will be Marx. I will focus on Marxist ideas on commodities and capitalism, as well as his theory of ideology. Focusing not just on Marx, but also on influential Marxists such as Fredric Jameson and Georg Lukac.
In this project I am looking to investigate the effects of capitalism on the music industry and more specifically the dominance of major record labels over independent. • One of the major influences for this project is the rise of television programmes such as the X Factor and Pop Idol and their effect on the world of music. These programmes seem to concentrate more on how much money they make rather than what the producers say they aim to do, which is to find musical talent. • By looking primarily in Marx and Fukuyama, I want to develop the idea of capitalism and the division of labour through Weber and Durkheim. • Finally I hope to bring both Music and Philosophy together by looking at Keith Negus and Simon Frith who have both looked at the idea of capitalism in music in an attempt to conclude once and for all whether or not capitalism truly has had a negative effect on the quality and production of music.
Territory: The territory I have considered in this project in order to understand the changing nature of identity is that of advertising in contemporary society. I have explored the history of advertising, the psychology of advertising and some advertising techniques that are used by companies to persuade. Concepts: The key concepts I have engaged with in this project are: – Loss of agency -Fragile nature of identity -Identity given by society -Identity in flux. Key questions I have engaged with are: -How is our identity formed in modern society? -How has it changed over time? -What are the influential factors on identity? -How do advertising agencies target individuals? -What methods do they use?