In 2005 I spent four months teaching in India and fell in love with this beautiful and dynamic country. I spent the majority of my time living in a village in northern India and what shocked me the most was how such a spiritual country could hold such beliefs on class discrimination. I also noticed how the caste system was not so prevalent in the cities and by talking to people I met I found out that the caste system had a deep and complicated history. Therefore I have found this study on the caste system fascinating because I have managed to apply my research to my own experience of India. I have started this project by looking at possible origins of the caste system and then looking at how strict and rigid the caste system was in early India. The main change that I have focused on in is after WW11 and when Gandhi, who was a spiritual and political leader of India, bought India to independence. In the heart of the project I have shown how Gandhi liberated the strict caste system and how this has affected modern India. Finally I have compared Gandhi’s teachings to the philosophy of Nietzsche and his work “On the Genealogy of Morals,” which demonstrates how he believes that a caste system should be apparent in all societies.
Category: Abstracts
The Territory: Park Güell chosen after my visit to Barcelona. It has been declared a Heritage to Humanity by the Spanish Government and is a beautiful Park to experience first hand. However, it did not enjoy the success it was expected when first built as it was considered too far away from the central city of Barcelona. The Object: The most inspiring part of the Park was the undulating bench situated in the central recreational square, which Gaudi decorated with recycled tiles It is where many locals can meet one another and also holds markets for its citizens as well as tourists. Change: Capitalism has continued to grow for many years. Our almost obsession with buying commodities is further exploiting labourers and making millions for the bourgeoisie. It is no wonder then with capitalism and reification in factories that workers need to escape the alienation and objectification they come to experience through the idea of utopias— whether in nature, physically, or mentally, for some t is there only release from the stresses and strains they become accustomed to. Concept: Looking primarily at Marx; class divisions, exploitation of proletariat class by the bourgeoisie and the effect capitalism has on society as a whole (Communist Manifesto). Secondly, looking at Adorno; Thought a utopian moment could be found through creating true art – reification of workers in a factory, art reflecting the distortions of reality and makes us question our society (Aesthetic Theory). Lastly, looking at Habermas; Believed socialism and liberalism do not bring about solution to crisis of our times, problems in society stem from social and political structures of capitalism (Theory of Modernity).
Territory: Black Sabbath, their music shaped a new movement and style, the term ‘heavy metal’ came about to embody their music. Often overlooked and discarded Sabbath’s music would go on to be the forerunner and influence of many other great rock and metal artists. Concepts: My project aims to explore the territory of Black Sabbath and its relation, or non-relation, to the ideals and principles of Surrealism. I shall also be using the secondary concept of ressentiment in music using Nietzsche’s works on The Birth of Tragedy and use other musical styles to support my ideas. These shall be my two main concepts but I will also be using other philosophers that have interested me and have specific relevance to my project, for example Schopenhauer’s World as Will and Idea in which he discusses the role of music in society. My interest is to see if I can apply philosophies intended for their own times to a modern era of music.
My project will be based on the violence in films. During the course of my work I will be looking at three different films- “A Clockwork Orange” (written by Anthony Burgess and adapted to film by Stanley Kubrick), “The Football Factory” (written by John King and adapted to film by Nick Love) and the infamous “Fight Club” (written by Chuck Palahniuk and directed by David Fincher). Questions 1) Why do people take part in violent acts? 2) What do these acts represent? Are they pure needless violence or related to something, such as a sense of community, boredom or simply fulfilling a sensual need? 3) What can we take from the conclusions drawn? Can we somehow relate the violence in films to the violence we see in things like football hooliganism and the rise of violent sports? How does violence relate to my concepts? Concept 1: Religiosity. George Bataille and Emile Durkheim. The pair’s idea of religion as a unifying force means that they may feel that the characters in A Clockwork Orange are substituting conventional/organised religion for their own violence based religion. Concept 2: Alienation. Karl Marx. Alienation indicates the separation of things that genuinely belong together. In regards to humans, it refers to the alienation of people from features of “human nature”. People may argue that violence is part of the human nature, and so through the repression of this violent streak, we feel alienation.
The aim of this project is to understand UK hip-hop as a form of cultural expression through a comparison with British folk-revival. Both can be understood as rejections of modernity. Central concepts for discussion will be: tradition and community individuality and novelty, modernism and postmodernism. For an understanding of folk-revival and tradition, I will examine Alasdair MacIntyre’s After Virtue. MacIntyre’s conception of tradition and virtue ethics will be compared with Nietzsche and the ethics of postmodernism or late capitalism.
Object: Islam in the West. Concepts: Liberalism, Pluralism, Postmodernism. Thinkers: Bell, Vattimo, Habermas. Main Objective: This project will critically examine the normative relationship between Islam and the West in order to explore the metaphysical divide which purports to propel the two world-views into a so-called “clash of civilisations”. Intended Knowledge Outcomes:By engaging in this project, I intend to accomplish four objectives: Firstly, I seek to research the recent emergence of Islam in the West as a produce of post-colonial migration. Secondly, I aim to become acquainted with the motivations for its growing influence among the “disenchanted” Muslim communities within the West. As a third objective, I plan to use the thought of Daniel Bell, Gianni Vattimo, and Jurgen Habermas to investigate the arguments for and against liberalism, pluralism, and postmodernism. Finally, I wish to demonstrate the connection between the philosophical debate over postmodernism and the contemporary debate on Islam and its place within the Western liberal model.
Territory: I have chosen to consider the individual through the concept of identity within contemporary society in order to ascertain whether it has truly been ‘lost.’ I also want to consider through this that if it has been lost, what has caused this, and is this necessarily a bad thing? What does it mean to be individual today? Areas of Investigation: I will explore the relationship between the individual and society by looking at the evolution of the individual and what it has meant to be individual. Change: I will compare my territory to the Elizabethan period in the 1600s, as the affect religion and the monarchy had on the individual and on shaping identity compared to nowadays will provide an interesting point of difference. I will also explore why this has changed, and the effects of this change. Philosophical Ideas and Concepts: I will use the work of both Adorno and Levinas to explore my territory within the concept of identity. Adorno focused upon critiquing the concept of identity thinking by exploring it through the way individuals and objects can be subsumed under cover concepts. I will use this to explore what enables this to occur and what in fact happens when people are subsumed, such that it will provide information about what constitutes the individual, and how it could be lost. I will specifically look at his work regarding the Holocaust, where people were subsumed under the concepts of vermin or as merely scientific tools I will also consider Levinas’ work in regards to the Other in order to explore my territory in opposition to Adorno’s ideas. Levinas’ Other will demonstrate the importance of defining the individual in relation to society through the Other. Conclusions: I seek to show that identity can be both fixed and fluid such is the nature of society, our modern identity and our relationship to it.
After experiencing a dream so real to me I could not believe I was dreaming I have come to question what I believe to be real around me. In this project I have investigated the present and past key concepts, thoughts and theories behind dreaming and lucid dreaming, it became clear to me quickly much of my thoughts are that of a skeptic I quite literally began to doubt everything around me. Descartes is famous for his dream argument so his meditations are a key feature within my project as he has influenced the works of Freud who also came up with some key theories to dreaming and why we dream. I introduce the idea of the Truman show and the matrix as recent examples of people’s thoughts about reality, technology today allows for these science fiction films to be made and they are made in such a way where you sit back and think well why not? Why can’t that be real? What is the point to all of this? My intentions were to evaluate whether or not the “truth” is worth pursuing…or is ignorance quite literally bliss? Are dreams an escape to a realm that is perhaps more real to us than the life we consider to be real while we are awake, or is it quite literally what you see is what you get. Do we create our own realities and if we do then does this mean millions of different realities exist as we can never know for sure we all perceive things in exactly the same way as the person next to us.
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.
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?