Territory: Braveheart the 1995 film by Mel Gibson. Focus: William Wallace: I *am* William Wallace! And I see a whole army of my countrymen, here in defiance of tyranny. You’ve come to fight as free men… and free men you are. What will you do with that freedom? Will you fight? Concept: Freedom / Free will. What I will do in this project: I intend to look at the concept of freedom and free will. In the film Braveheart we see William Wallace lead the Scottish people in an uprising against the rule of King Edward I. Edward took over Scotland when the Scottish king died without an heir giving Scottish lands to English lords: such behaviour led to an uprising in Scotland as lower class took on the English armies in a bid for freedom. Freedom is so important people will give their lives for it. I explore the Kantian notion of the transcendental self, he believed that our purpose was to be rational with intrinsic value because of our ability to reason. This ability to reason sets us apart from all other creatures. This ability to reason is only possible if we are autonomous, because how can we make rational decisions unless we have free will. I will then counterbalance this view with reference to Karl Marx. Marx believes our nature is shaped by a social structure that rests upon an economic base. This means we are therefore determined by economics, freedom is restricted by the means of production, and we can only have any semblance of freedom if we can afford freedom.
Category: Abstracts
Object/Territory: I chose to study the sport of mountaineering with reference to the historical development and change in attitude towards it. I essentially wanted to provide a philosophical explanation behind the reason people take part in such a high risk sport.
Philosophers and Concepts: Immanuel Kant and Burke- The Theory of the Sublime Jean- Paul Sartre- Existential Freedom and Authentic Existence. Vertigo Theory. Martin Heidegger- Dasein, Being-towards-death.
By using the above philosophical concepts I intend to explain what makes mountaineering so appealing to the human mind and how these attitudes have changed over the course of time. I will take into account the history of the sport and the changing attitudes that have resulted in the change from a leisure activity to one that seeks a deeper, more satisfying thrill factor concerning human endurance. Ultimately I want to demonstrate that mountaineering provides fundamental experiences that are vital to the human condition and to our sense of self-understanding.
In my project, I will use Beckett’s work, including novels, short prose, drama and critical essays, to explore and challenge the work of Heidegger. I will explore Heidegger’s philosophy, in terms of his views on the way people exist in the world, their perspectives and the nature of truth and knowledge, with a particular focus on his ideas about art. I will use the style, mediums and characters of Beckett to explore how valid these ideas are for the modern world, particularly after the atrocities of the Second World War. I will focus particularly on Heidegger’s condemnation of art in the modern world, exploring its validity. I hope to show that Heidegger’s ideas, though often persuasive and enlightening, are inapplicable to a modern world in which subjects and communities are simply not the coherent and well-integrated wholes he hoped for. Following Beckett, I will explore the precarious, impotent, tragic and confused nature of existence, resolvable, perhaps, in death.
Karl Marx: Here, fashion is nothing but ideological apparatus utilised by the capitalist system in order to manipulate the working class. I have linked these ideas with the collapse of the designer brand ‘Thomas Burberry’ whereby the infamous pattern was adopted by the lower class ‘chav’ and a decline in stature equated with a decline in sales. Deleuze and Guattari: I have drawn on the notion of ‘minor politics’ and art as a ‘becoming’. In a more positive sense, the punk sensation of designer Vivienne Westwood has, as an art form, generated a revolutionary community culture. There exists an issue that fashion is a trivial subject. I intend to challenge this misconception and show how this phenomenon can directly affect our society. I have further deconstructed the ideas of these thinkers and introduced the work of Hans-georg Gadamer, as offering an alternative approach and a distinction between fashion and taste.
In my project I shall explore whether Humanism would set out a better form of morality for the world. I shall examine this with reference to Pico Della Mirandola, who founded renaissance Humanism and who firmly believed that Humanism and Religion could live side by side, and Bertrand Russell, whose philosophy emphasises the importance of scientific empiricism. Humanism is a branch of ethical philosophy that aims to emphasise the importance of human beings being able to determine their own ends. Humanisms rejects the need for belief in religion, and prescribes the worth and dignity of all human beings. Humanists believe that beliefs come from our values, which are determined by our life experience. This life experience can be drawn upon and used to create morals that bring about the dignity of human being’s, and the use of empirical investigation to discover facts about the world around us. I will explore whether religion is to blame for religious hatred and wars. For my case study, I shall examine the religious war in Palestine, between the Palestinians and The Israelis, for occupation of the ‘Holy Land’. I shall explore whether this is a ‘just’ war and whether Humanists would call accuse this war of being unfounded and unjust. Furthermore I shall investigate how Humanism defines spirituality and morality without religious doctrine and whether following Humanism can be spiritual rewarding. I shall also explore: • The History Of Humanism • Life without God • Life without Religion • The Problem of Religion • Morality and ethics of Humanism
Do events in society affect artists in such a way that it is clearly reflected in their work, or is their work completely individual? In my project I look at the Abstract Expressionist movement, in particular Jackson Pollock. My main focus is the effect WW2 had on Artists in America and how Abstract Expressionism emerged as a result of it. I look into the government funding behind the movement and the postwar mood of society. Jackson Pollock is an interesting focus point because not only was he an alcoholic who suffered from depression but his art works, particularly his drip‐paintings, were extremely emotional and well documented. I centre my attention on the drip‐painting era because they demonstrate his connection with his art, his technique was controversial and the result seemed thoughtless and chaotic to some critics. To establish what is to be considered aesthetically pleasing, I will be looking at Kant, this covers how we perceive things as human beings and how our desires and preferences affect what we consider to be beautiful. To explore this idea I am going to focus on Kant’s concept of beauty, where he believes what we perceive as beauty, can be nothing other than subjective because it is the individual’s taste. In essence my project analyses art aesthetically, from both the artist and the people’s point of view. The influences surrounding artists at the time shows how art can be an inevitable result of mass emotion and therefore its popularity does not relate to how aesthetically pleasing it is.
Territory: Nursing. Object: The role of the nurse. Concepts: Informed Consent, Paternalism, Autonomy Change: The role of the nurse over time. Thinkers: Kant, Mill, O’Neill, Foucault, Gadamer. Questions I am going to Consider: Does the paternalistic role doctors and other medical professionals used to take have any ethical basis? Is the more recent move towards advocacy and partnership more ethical? Should informed consent be compulsory in every situation? Which is more important: autonomy or welfare? Sources: Mill, J.S., On Liberty, 1903, London: Longmans, Green and Co.; Gadamer, H-G., Truth and Method, 1975, London: Continuum; Gillon, R., Philosophical Medical Ethics, 1985, Chichester: Wiley; Fairbairn, G. and S. (ed.), Ethical Issues in Caring, 1988, Aldershot: Gower Publishing Company Ltd.
Inspired by the 1980’s setting of Alan Moore’s epic superhero tale, Watchmen, we consider reason and its practical application for the purposes of generating an ideal society. How ideal do we find such a setting? Has utopia been achieved? And if not, what hinders such progress? We centre on Kant’s philosophy which considers the realisation of Utopic conditions via applied rational thought, contrasted to Hobbes who considers the nature of man before rational application. Furthermore, if utopia is desirable, what would be the means to achieve such? To consider such we turn to the Utilitarian actions of Ozymandias!
The films ‘Pierot le Fou’ and ‘La Chinoise’, directed by Jean-Luc Godard, can be said to demonstrate ideas and principles associated with the situationists. These include the society of the spectacle, commodification, and an overall idea of spontaneity. The society of the spectacle is an idea that was developed by Guy Debord, the leader of the situationist movement. It means that our modern society (post-Second World War) governs the lives of its constituents. One can no longer live freely and directly, but is lived through by the mass media. This ties in with the idea of commodification, whereby everything we know has a monetary value set upon it. We cannot help but view everything in this way, and we constantly desire these commodities. The ideas of Guy Debord have origins in the ideas of Hegel and Marx. Firstly, Hegel’s idea of Mind had a particular impact on Debord, as it did on Marx. Hegel claimed our individual minds are connected to the universal Mind. His ‘Phenomenology of Mind’ traces the Mind from a state of consciousness (but unaware of its universal nature) to self-consciousness, or self-awareness. Similarly, when we come into the world, we have consciousness but not self-consciousness. We are given ideality for our consciousness to find meaning; we must “realise this ideality” in order to reach self consciousness (Hegel 1979).
Marx, and other Young Hegelians, converted Hegel’s universal and transcendental Mind to ‘Universal Mind’, meaning the collective of all human minds. Now the story of Mind becomes “path to human liberation” (Singer 1980). Marx also used Hegel’s critique of religion as alienation. The ideas of Feuerbach and his grounding of Hegel’s ideas also intrigued Marx. Feuerbach inverted Hegel’s philosophy, making the finite world the origin of philosophy, but keeping the idea of religion as a cause of alienation. Marx then applied the same inversion to Hegel’s political philosophy. In his publication ‘On the Jewish Question’ he states that it is not the fault of the Jews if they covet money, but of society. Society should be changed in order to eradicate such suffering. We now see the shift from religion to society and money as the chief causes of alienation. This had great impact on Debord and his idea of commodification. He claimed that only by living authentically, by taking one’s life back from the spectacle can one break the fetters of commodification and the alienation caused by money. These ideas are portrayed in Godard’s films, particularly Pierot le Fou, as Pierot and Marianne reject all material possessions such as clothing, cars and money, all things the spectacle seems to tell us we need on a regular basis. There is also spontaneity in the films, as the script does not flow as it would in a typically modern film, but changes between subjects and contexts, often making little sense at all. This is to awaken the audience to the idea that they do not have to adhere to conventions. By contrast, modern films such as ‘American Beauty’, directed by Sam Mendes, does adhere to such conventions, as it is a film that attempts to portray situationist ideas, but fails. It seems the ideas themselves have been made fashionable and swallowed by the spectacle.
For my stage three project I have decided to explore the industrialisation of death in our current society. My examination begins with a look at the gradual change in the perception of death, from the classical age to the modern day. By taking a genealogical approach to this historical change I am able to identify the specific reasons for these changes and reflect upon what significance these changes have on the perceived meaning of death. Beginning with the role in which death played in the Classical Age, I examined how death was once understood as a harsh reality of life to which everyone was made aware through events such as the bubonic plague and the limitations in medical knowledge. After which I explored the gradual development of anatomical pathology in the modern age and the effect that demography, pathology and sociology had and currently have on how death is now approached. In particular I looked at the importance that has been placed on defining death in terms of its physiological cause and the implication that this definition has on each of the specific areas of study I have mentioned. By understanding the changes that have occurred between these two points of history, I highlight the key issues that are involved in the industrialisation of death and what exactly this means in relation to our individual approach to death and our common understanding.
Following this I introduced the philosophical theory of Martin Heidegger and his explanation of death in relation to his phenomenological task to uncover true meaning in ‘Being and Time’. By setting out a brief explanation of how Heidegger attempts to understand the meaning of being in general through human experience, I examine the significance that death has in making possible the discovery of true meaning. From this I moved onto Heidegger’s later work, ‘The Question Concerning Technology’ and his thought on the role of technology in the pursuit of understanding being and the distinction he makes between authentic and inauthentic perception. It is at this point where I applied the issues I raised, in the study of my concept, to Heideggerian theory and translate what effect the industrialisation of death has had on the authenticity of understanding the true meaning of death in the modern day. In conclusion I offered a personal insight to my opinion on the impact that contemporary society has had on our perceived meaning of death and what significance this has to our eventual confrontation with death.
Object – Popular music. • I shall study Schopenhauer in order to establish how ideas concerning music have changed over time. • For Schopenhauer music is a good, an end in itself. • Music is set aside from all the other art forms, it does not simply manifest the ideas of the will but is a direct expression of the will. • Music is the key to suspending will for a moment through an aesthetic break from everyday pain. Adorno. • Popular music is an instrument for another good instead of an end in itself. • The function of the culture industry is ultimately to organise leisure time in the same way as industrialisation has organised work time. • Customers of musical entertainment are themselves objects of the same mechanisms which determine the production of popular music. Their spare time serves only to reproduce their working capacity. • Work leads to mass culture and mass culture leads back to work. Popular music is standardized, and in order to conceal this standardization, the music industry engages in pseudo individualisation. Thus listeners are kept inline by making them forget that what they listen to is already pre digested. Problems with Adorno. Popular music has changed a lot since Adorno who was writing in 1941. Is it still as monolithic as he would have us believe? Does pseudo individualisation really explain things like the advent of rock and roll in 1956, the emergence of The Beatles in 1962 or punk rock in 1976? Popular music from Adorno onwards. Rock and roll as religion – a good in itself. Robert Pielke suggests that rock and roll is most properly understood as a religion that has created a transformation in culture. He compares the 6 characteristics of a religious experience presented by Rudolf Otto with feelings generated from listening to rock and roll or attending a concert. Charles Pressler and Derrida’s outline of ‘The Colossal’ The awe-inspiring concept that rock and roll presents is ‘the colossal’. The presentation of ‘the colossal’ is like an enabling energy that allows a new set of values to be taken onboard by the rock and roll audience.
Territory: Society both Historical and Contemporary with reference to the Initial Claim. Object/Philosophical Concepts: Freedom vs. Equality within the context of Historical Society and the Contemporary Change. My project is centred around the initial claim, “Discrimination may go but Prejudice will always be here”. I wanted to look at the social and cultural change in society where race is concerned, looking closely at the relationship between Freedom and Equality. The initial claim raised questions about society both with Civil Rights and Cultural Acceptance. Asking the question, even if we are Equal in the eyes of the law, are we Free from social prejudice? Historical Society: From Slavery to Civil Rights, what legal rights did black people have in a white society, when did it change and why did it take so long? Contemporary Change: To try and get an idea of race and multiculturalism in modern society, how it has changed society and cultural acceptance from different races. Sources: My original inspiration came from the Quote, which a line from a song by Audioweb called Policeman Skank which is based around racist views of police and unfair judgement in society due to race. I also watched the 2004 film Crash which I think captures an accurate view of race within contemporary American society but also illustrates my philosophical concept of Alienation within society. I also looked at key figures and periods in history which I feel outline the relationship between Freedom and Equality, like Slave Trading and Slavery, Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, Hitler, the Aryan Race and the 1936 Olympics and the Civil Rights Movements in 1950’s and 1960’s and Philosophical Concept: Based my research into contemporary society I wanted to look at a philosophical concept which not only brought together my concepts of Freedom vs. Equality, but also highlighted social constraints we face today. I think the concept of Alienation, in both Marxist theory and in Heideggerian thought, demonstrated not only how have we become alien to other races, but also to our own. I wanted to look closely at this concept as it is one I find particularly interesting and a concept I believe we can all relate to in society, whether it is to do with race or not.
Territory: I have chosen to explore the power and impact of electronic devices that act as mediators when we perceive the world. I will focus on the way in which the position of the ‘subject’ is continually shifting in this increasingly technological and mediated society. Questions that need addressing: I wish to discover the shift in the material condition of humanity and how communication systems and technology have changed the role of the individual within the world, and thus the way we live, learn and interact with each other. Questions that necessitate investigation include: what is knowledge and truth if all information is mediated through several networks? This will lead to a discussion of whether mediated knowledge in any way deflects from the final product or image, that is to say whether it makes digital information and knowledge less authentic or second rate in anyway. To open this territory up for philosophical investigation I am going to look at the notion of presence and absence and what it means to be present as a human being using the philosophers Heidegger and Derrida, and whether there are different levels of being, in relation to mediated reality as proposed by some thinkers. In addition, I am going to use the concepts of authenticity and simulation and apply them to media by looking at Baudrillard and Debord. Key thinkers and sources: The main sources of my research will lie within the philosophical thought of Jacques Derrida, Martin Heidegger and Jean Baudrillard. I will also be drawing upon the ideas of G. W. F. Hegel and the modern sociologist Mark Poster.
Why do we seemingly have unjust laws in our society? Alcohol and Tobacco have been proven to be extremely harmful and so why are they not illegal as well as other banned drugs? If it is due to the revenue generated by the sale of these products then surely we are being treated as means to an end, and this is morally wrong. Could Utilitarianism or Paternalism be the key to this answer? Are the laws consistent? No, in fact the laws are hypocritical and must be revised.
Territory • Autism and Asperger Syndrome • Personal Interest in Autism – work at charity for autistic children • Interested to look at specific traits of autism, and link it to philosophical ethical theory • Autism as a social disorder and developmental disability, and a lifelong, cross cultural disability • Difficulty relating to people and thus a difficulty with empathy – impaired theory of mind • Triad of impairments – difficulty with social imagination, interaction and communication • Routines and special interests • Theory of Mind – ability to think that other people have different thoughts/feelings to you – can imagine how people feel in particular situation. E.g. If someone’s mother has died, though you may not be sad yourself, can understand how they will be feeling • ASD = impaired theory of mind – not instinct to think/act in a particular way • So, if we cannot put ourselves in someone else’s position, can we be held responsible for acting “badly”? • People with ASD often have other accompanying disorders, e.g. Attention deficit disorder and depression • Impaired theory of mind means people with ASD will have a lack of awareness for the outcome of an action. Philosophical Concepts • Hobbes – ideas of self, preservation, and that one is free to do something if we can do it if we so will. Idea of pleasure as the only good, and so the only thing that people do for its own sake – We always act on our strongest desire for self-preservation – we act in the right for ourselves – more lenient of autistic behaviours? • Mill – Consequentialist tradition that an action is right or wrong depending on consequences – An action is good if it benefits the most people possible – acting in an apparently socially unacceptable way is not excusable as it will cause more harm to people than good • Kant – We should do the right thing for the right reasons – idea of duty – looks at INTUITIONISM and a voice of conscience • Hegel’s Theory of action – Similar to Kant – sees morality to be autonomous as to be moral is to deny a law which applies equally to everyone rather than just to oneself • Foucault – Look at in terms of a change throughout history – Very specific that ASD is NOT a mental disorder, but a developmental disability • In the past people who acted in such a way would not have been understood in the same way that they are now, and so could have been excluded from society/treated badly – E.g. hospital General in Paris • Rise in scientific knowledge (Kant), people now understand more and so people are hopefully less likely to be excluded for being “different”. Aims and Objectives • I have a great personal interest in autism and have worked with autistic children for the last four years • People with autism are often misunderstood, and so I think it is important for awareness of the disorder to be raised and that is the aim of this project, as well as looking at whether or not people who are unaware that what they are doing is wrong, can be held responsible for their actions.
Territory/object: Marriage/Thai Brides. Concepts: contract, marriage, freedom/autonomy, love. Thinkers/texts: Kant’s Metaphysics of Morals, Hegel’s Philosophy of Right. Change/contrast: contrast between Thai Bride marriages/modern day British marriages. Contrast object with arranged marriages and love marriages. Main objective: My project is driven by the intuition that our normal Western understanding of marriage as the lifetime union of two loved ones, (under a public formal contract), is questionably going to become a thing of the past. Here, we must take into consideration factors such as: -the world interacting on an unprecedented technological advances,(Internet access, accessibility to cheap travel, etc) and, -more importantly, the resulting impact of influential views from different cultures upon each other. I will be investigating what marriage is in today’s world/in the past, and whether much has really changed. I also ask the question as to whether modern Britain has time for love? Intended knowledge outcomes: By engaging in this project, I intend to: 1. learn about the historical origins of marriage; 2. be acquainted with the standard descriptions of an authentic marriage and the justifications of these; 3. be able to define the central concepts of marriage and property; 4. demonstrate the connection between my key texts and everyday understandings of a phenomenon (here, marriage).
In this project I am using the novel Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton as my territory and focus on the character of John Hammond and his desire to recreate an extinct species. I will explore the ethical implications involving scientific knowledge in a postmodern world. I am going to look at Jurassic Park and show that once Hammond starts creating dinosaurs it becomes a social labour. Once this happens without ethical restraints chaos can ensue. I will begin with an overview of the story, I will then explain how the story shows that an independent enquiry becomes a social labour when Hammond’s team start creating dinosaurs, and as a result their actions affect other people. Once I have shown this the need for an ethical theory to restrict social, (in this case of Hammond’s recreation of dinosaurs) will become clear. I will consider whether two different ethical theories would have allowed Jurassic Park. The ethical theories I will consider applying will be Mill’s Utilitarianism and Kant’s Hypothetical and Categorical Imperatives. The reason I have chosen to explore these is because one is teleological and the other is deontological. I will compare and contrast the opposing theories and evaluate whether either can provide a good model for making ethical decisions with reference to social labour. I will then add a brief summary of what I have discussed.
Territory: Four businesses operating in the UK retail sector of industry and their company websites. Areas of Investigation: • Company values and the role and functions of these in business. • The ‘relationship’ between business and its customers and how this is changing as a result of the internet. • Marketing and advertisement techniques and the possible effects they might have on consumers. • Crisis of legitimation and the poststructuralist interpretations of western society. Philosophical Thinkers Involved: Nietzsche’s ‘Will to Power’ exposes fundamental issues with values in retail business practises. As a result conceptions of power are considered in the forms expressed by Foucault and Thomas to see how this affects the position of the consumer. Baudrillard’s ideas of simulacra and simulation were then used to highlight possible reasons for company values in relation to how we perceive the real. Further exposition of the consumer relation to business was carried out through the work of Jean François Lyotard and Gianni Vattimo. Conclusions: Businesses values are not legitimate but instead the result of our interactions as consumers; our purchases can actually shape society making our relationship with business an active one instead of passive. The overall conception of business as a physical entity is misleading as it has no fixed point; businesses are sociological phenomenon that reflects the general will of society because they are governed by the pragmatics of economics and are fundamentally made from members of that society.
TERRITORY: THE DRUG WAR As the world’s largest exporter of Cocaine, accounting for around 80% of all Cocaine consumed in the USA, the impact on Colombian society has been profound affecting every aspect of society. Colombian drug trafficking up to the early 1990’s was run by 4 main Drug Cartels who controlled every aspect of society including infiltrating the government using ruthless methods to maintain dominance such as, murder, kidnap intimidation, bribery etc… OBJECT: FARC – EP This left wing Colombian Marxist-Leninist paramilitary group originated in the 1960’s and are fighting the government to make communist reforms. These guerrillas are located in the hard to reach jungles of Colombia and are one of the richest terror groups in the world due to their involvement with drug trafficking. Other methods of financing include kidnapping high profile figures for ransom and exchange of prisoners. Recent military attacks and the deaths of the two top leaders have put the future of the organisation in doubt. Has the revolt com to its end? PARALLEL: PARAMILITARIES IN N. IRELAND POST GOOD FRIDAY AGREEMENT After 30 years of civil unrest in N.I. paramilitaries position in society were effectively made redundant. Many of the organisations turned to criminal activities such as drugs, extortion, gun crime and racketeering. Many of the activities had previously used to fund the groups in their political ambitions but with ideology gone all that has been left is criminality. This is comparable to FARC where their adventure into drug trafficking has blurred their political ideology. CONCEPTS: REVOLUTION AND HISTORY USING MARX AND FUKUYAMA I will be exploring the territory and object using Marx and Fukuyama and their respective theories of history both influenced by Hegel. Using Marx I shall be asking whether or not communism is a redundant ideology in the 21st century due to the dramatic shift in the political climate in the past 100 years. Using Fukuyama’s ‘End of History and The Last Man’ I’ll be investigating whether in fact Liberal Democracy is the final frontier in political ideology as it has proven to be the most stable over since its genesis. Is this the final stage or is Revolution still possible in the 21st Century?
When we fall in love, we fall first for the physical appearance and then for the beauty that the other embodies. We fall in love with the ‘who’ that radiates through a face and a body. In that gaze we unite the flesh and spirit of the loved one and reveal them as an unrepeatable existence. Lovers perceive their fragility in the world, and so they entrust each other to corporeal language, and by exposing themselves to each other, seek an unrepeatable, whole and necessary existence (Cavarero: 2000). The amorous game creates a scene for the unification of body and mind, a place where the content of being can be released. In this unification you can feel as though you are part of the world soul, fragile in the external yet consumed by the fleeting power to appreciate ulterior forms; to know love and to know what it is to exist