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.
Category: Stage 2
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.
• 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: 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.
Although the idea of technology has been with mankind ever since the first tool was invented, the term has never achieved such a glorified status to which it was elevated in the twentieth century, a term and an aspect of science which will now take on an even more awe-inspiring tone in the twenty-first century; but now, eight years after the dawn of a new millennium, a millennium which was born into war, one cannot help to ask the question of whether the advent of new, more powerful technologies is actually beneficial to the progress of mankind, technologies which yes, could help many people, but also, if misused, bring about the premature end of our race. My project aims at discussing the repercussions of the prospective new sciences in our society, sciences which promise to change every aspect of life as we know it, and at asking the question of whether we are indeed ready for such power. I begin my discussion with a look at these new technologies, weighing the good aspects of them against the bad. Afterwards, in a slight departure from the technological basis of this project, I analyze the current state of society as I see it and discuss the problems which we must face before we even think about implementing new technologies; This part of the discussion will be aided by the philosophy of the situationists, specifically that of Guy Debord, regarding the society of the spectacle. After this analysis, I merge back into the theme of technology, and seek to examine the relationship between it and the spectacle before I address the views of technological determinism in relation to both Hegel’s and Nietzsche’s philosophy of history. Finally, I shall draw my conclusions regarding how ready we are as a race, a conclusion fully based on the discussions I have endeavored in to that point.
SHOULD WE AS ADULTS STILL FIND MERIT IN THE MORAL LESSONS FOUND IN FAIRY TALES? KANT: The rise of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tales also coincided with the rise of Kantian thought, which taught us of the autonomous self. Anderson had switched the audience of fairy tales from both adults and children to just children. At the same time, Immanuel Kant was writing to argue for the autonomy of rational agents. The co-incision of the two shows a relationship that I shall investigate as it seems to be more than a coincidence that the two coincide. HAPPILY EVER AFTER? We have seen that the ethical value of fairy tales can either be embraced or dismissed depending upon which theory of morality you decide to follow, however is there anything else fairy tales can teach us? One of the most valuable things that fairy tales in their original form gave their audience was hope. MACINTYRE: One person in particular who would not agree with Kant’s opinion is Alisdair MacIntyre. MacIntyre’s theory of ethics and morality focuses on what is virtuous. ‘Virtue ethics’ is a type of moral philosophy that centres around a person’s character rather than rules or consequences. MacIntyre felt that the language and concepts of modern ethical theory are inappropriate as modern ethics are fragmented from so many different traditions or theories. A fairy tale is a piece of fiction that usually features characters found in folklore such as witches, trolls, fairies, and ogres. The phrase is also used as an adjective to describe something blessed with unusual happiness, for example, a fairy tale ending or fairy tale romance. But because not all fairy tales, especially in their original translation, necessarily end happily, it has also come to be used to refer to any far-fetched story, which may or may not include actual fairies. It is also worth noting that originally, fairy tales were told for the entertainment of adults as well as children.
Objectives – ● To consider how eastern and western cultures view the concept of nature, and consider how this affects their interaction with the natural world, and what impact it has on their scientific progression. ● I have tackled this by considering the philosophies of the conflicting cultures, as well as looking at their scientific achievements and general treatment of nature and the surrounding world. Concepts in the east – ● Their history, and how it may have led to philosophical development rather than scientific. ● Taoism – one of the prominent philosophies of China, that puts a huge emphasis on respecting nature. I looked specifically at the writings of Lao Tzu And Chuang Tzu. ● Other cultural factors that may have led to the lack of any ‘laws of nature’ being formed, such as the nature of their language. Concepts in the west – ● Scientific revolution, which included people such as Galileo, Newton and Descartes, and led to the dominance of religion being replaced by scientific logic and reasoning. ● Western philosophy, which became more logical and science based after the revolution. I have used Hobbes and Mill as two examples. Conclusions – ● I considered how much of eastern culture can be observed in the west, and how well its differing concepts, such as its preference of inaction over ambition, can find a place in the hectic western world. ● I also contemplated which culture had the right attitude towards nature, and how much the conflicting nations could or should learn from each other.
The aim of this project was to investigate the changes within schools over the last forty years and evaluate them within Mill’s utilitarian theory. I found that the education system has become controlled by central government, who use schools as a training ground to promote future economic growth.This could then be evaluated within the Situationist philosophy of the commodification of society. I found that schools are a means of keeping students as the Proletariat class in order to function an ever growing economy for the Bourgeois. The morality of this needs to be considered in terms of what we deem the human function to be. If we accept our society as it is, in its commodified state then we must assume under Mill’s theory that the changes are ethical. For Mill something is ethical if it promotes the greatest amount of happiness throughout society. In a commodified society we seek to maximise economic productivity in order to for further development and hence making society more commodified, and so the changes would be ethical under Mill’s theory. If however we feel we should teach for education’s own sake and for long term societal values then the changes would have to be rejected as unethical.
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: I decided to begin my research with one of my favourite bands the ‘Gorillaz’. The Gorillaz is a project created by Damon Albarn, who composed the music, but created a cartoon-like band to represent it for him. The band exists between the boundaries of the real world and the imagination of Albarn. Whilst researching the band, I was amazed to discover how many different artists, musicians and producers worked on the albums. The cartoon front for the band meant that all the artists and contributors could work on the album without having to be acknowledged for it. The animated characters take responsibility of looking and acting like the greatest rock band on earth, whilst the real musicians can contribute the music without the pressure of the commercial image which accompanies it. Concept I decided to focus on the notion of society as a spectacle as written about by Guy Debord. The main reason for this is because I agree with Debord’s notion that we live our everyday lives through a spectacle of society. I think in some ways the Gorillaz create their own spectacle of society as they reflect flaws in society through themselves. Examples of this are the ruining effect that big record companies have on music, and the harsh reality of the supposed glamour of being a star. Questions To what extent do the Gorillaz reflect Debord’s notion of the spectacle? Is it possible to escape the reign of the spectacle through art and music? Does the spectacle of a capitalist society fuel our sense of isolation and loss of creativity?
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
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 • 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.
One of my main sources links Fight Club with an article by Omar Lizardo named ‘Fight Club, or the Cultural Contradictions of Late Capitalism’, which I found in the Journal for Cultural Research. I chose this because it places quite an original perspective in that it is a reaction to arguments that tend to emphasize Fight Clubs relevance for the study of contemporary representations of gender and masculinity. Lizardo argues ‘that Fight Club can be seen as an attempt to deal with the evacuation and exhaustion of the original form of value-rationality from the realm of production in service work. Basically it contemplates whether class-consciousness in the modern capitalist state has left man with a sense of lost virility, and whether or not Fight Club is a reaction to this. I have chosen to link this with Thomas Hobbes’ ‘Leviathan’ which talks of the state of nature and how man gave up his freedom and violent, barbaric ways to conform to civil society under social contract. Sigmund Freud served more as a psychoanalyst and sociologist than a philosopher in this project as I used his work ‘Civilization and its Discontents’ to analyse the possible reasons for the narrator’s breakdown. Many of Freud’s ideas already appear quite blatant and self explanatory in the film, however Freud covers much more material that is not evident at all. I chose to use the film ‘Zeitgeist’ by Peter Joseph as I felt this would be both very interesting material and also would place a very original comparative to Fight Club. I was in complete awe, shock and amazement when I first watched this extremely powerful and scary film and am very passionate about spreading the word about it. It will prove highly relevant to some of the material in Fight Club, and is something that I feel everyone should know about.
Object: Blues music in the pre and post-war period. The reason I chose to study blues music is because its roots are firmly entrenched in the folk tradition. Subsequently the music is expressive in form and often reflects the current social climate. I studied music recorded by folklorist Alan Lomax and recording artists such as Son House, Muddy Waters and Robert Johnson and considered a series of documentary films directed by Martin Scorsese. Change: Blues music progressed from a form of musical expression contained within rural African-American communities to an international phenomenon which saw the likes of the Rolling Stones, Cream, John Mayall and The Kinks re-recording earlier blues songs with greater commercial success. I believe that this change can be attributed to the structural constructs put in place by the dominant modes of production that recognised a potential market and exploited it for capital gains. Concepts: Primarily the Situationist Internationale’s critique of contemporary capitalist society, analysing the idea that modern life has receded into a spectacular representation which is dominated by the commodity form. Accompanying this idea is the notion that spectacular society is capable of co-opting popular movements which question the status-quo into its own reinforcement. In order to provide a link between the Situationist Internationale and the change which blues music underwent during the pre and post-war period I drew upon commentaries by Richard Middleton and Richard Peterson both of whom analyse the role of the recording industry in fabricating authenticity and exploiting a musical market for capital gain.
I will explore the life and work of Philip K. Dick, best known for writing Science Fiction, by closely examining a number of his novels, as well as a selection of his non-fictional, philosophical, theological and literary writings, coupled with information obtained from biographies and interviews with the man himself. The main themes permeating his life and work which I will explore are the nature of reality, the psyche and humanity, especially in relation to contemporary capitalist society. Of particular interest will be his exploration of the concepts of sanity, considering his views on schizophrenia and paranoia, and his treatment of ideas about selfhood, identity and subjectivity. I will explore these areas in terms of the philosophy of Gilles Deleuze, both alone and in collaboration with Felix Guattari. I will pay particular attention to the concepts of schizoanalysis, rhizomatics, territorialization, lines of flight, nomadology, becomings, machines and difference. My aim, rather than to reach a definitive conclusion, is simply to explore the vast and complex works of both men, using each to shed light on the other, and to pose questions, rather than propose answers, which will have a profound effect on the way we view the world.
Insomnia/Society of the Spectacle. The narrator suffers from insomnia, he describes this feeling as being ‘never really asleep and never really awake…everything is a copy of a copy of a copy.‘ This, Guy Debord says, is caused by a veil that has emerged between us and society, where nothing is real. We have moved from Being into Having. What we ARE is no longer important; what we HAVE is. The expanse of mass corporations has created a society controlled and driven by consumerism. People have forgotten their aims and goals and have become obsessed with material possessions. Masculinity has hit a crisis point as the dynamics of society life have changed, namely by the increasingly common absence of the father figure. These men are in search of validation as men, something which they will not find in the consumerist society. Men have become servants to large corporations and through fighting each other they are able to feel something real, and therefore are able to catch a glimpse of the reality they seek. This has caused identity to be something elusive and missing, due to the subduing effect of consumerism. Nietzsche’s Herd/Nihilists/Free Spirits analogy. Modern society has become what Nietzsche would describe as the Herd, a majority of people who are preoccupied with their own ‘game’ and the never-ending pursuit of owning better objects. The narrator undergoes a journey from Herd to Nihilist when he splits his personality, to Free Spirit when he kills Tyler in the final scene of the film.
RKCR/Y&R (territory) has placed itself as the leading strategy within advertisement and marketing. TV commercials give maximum consumer response by using techniques that have been developed over the past sixty years. But how does the advertiser compel it’s target market to buy/ support a product? By means of market research a creative team can generate ideas from on statistics based on consumer needs. A transition from scientific method to artistic creativity takes place, from idea to screen attention to detail allows a campaign to become the centre of a product launch. If a idea is successful the return can be impressive. The M&S food campaign (object) is a perfect example of the results that can be achieved when a campaign is successful. The way an individual processes the information from screen and associates this with a product is the importance of this study, how can the creative department develop a campaign that will mentally intrigue its audience? Can psychology or philosophical ideas give an insight into the thought processes behind advertisement? Kantian thought can help us understand how the advertiser connects to the consumer. Free play for Kant allows the categories of the mind to be influenced by outside concepts; Kant speaks of music and art. Just as a piece of fine art can spark the imagination, this is how in Kantian theory the advertiser reaches the consumer. The advertiser essentially uses imagination as a tool to ‘communicate’ the product to the consumer. Kant’s work influences the ideas and philosophical concepts that this project discusses concerning the mental faculties of the consumer. This project uses Hume’s work connects the consumer and the creative thinker within advertisement. Hume speaks of how ideas are copied from impressions, in short Hume argues that the human imagination, idea’s, cognitive attributes are all part of our physical being. Hume highly supports this project’s research on ’the creative idea’. This project is concerned with how the human mind perceives external influences, and also how the mind has the ability to use the imagination as a means to an end. This study has centred M&S food as its example rather than interest. What is most important is the research into human understanding and the different faculties that are involved between the consumer and a product. TV commercials have many different levels, messages, objectives and specifications, the importance is the TV COMMERCIALS ABILITY TO USE THE HUMAN MIND AS A MARKETING TOOL.
Territory: My initial study took place in Saint Walburga’s Catholic Primary School, in Saltaire, West Yorkshire. I spent time within the school and particular classrooms collating information and observing the interactions between students and teachers. Aims: I aim to consider the relationships between students and teachers within the education system. I will look at the notion of dependency within this relationship and consider whether the teacher and/or student are dependent on the other. Also key to my study is the question of freedom in education and whether either student or teacher holds the most freedom. I will look to the paradox of teaching and learning and how this need not prevent teaching or learning, provided that both teacher and student willingly risk a power relationship of mastery and dependence. Philosophers and Sources: The majority of my study uses Hegel’s lord and bondsman dialectic, as found within in his Phenomenology of Spirit. However I wish to undertake an exploration of the master/slave relation beyond the Phenomenology of Spirit through the ideas of Educational Theorist Nigel Tubbs.
Fight club a bizarre fantasy about the “repressed self”. The main character, (who throughout the film is not named and in the credits referred only to as narrator) a depressed business man, had a vision. He doesn’t like his work and gets no satisfaction from it so he tries different ways of passing time. He creates the perfect apartment but still he is not fulfilled. He has trouble sleeping and he feels in no way part of the surrounding world, he has become so desperate to fit in and to relate to others that he has started attending therapy sessions for people with terminal diseases and pretends that he is ill to just so he can have someone to talk to. One day on a plane he meets the man that he wishes he was the one who he has envisioned. He envisioned he was the street-wise hard man who loved to fight and who wasn’t afraid of anything and who was respected by all. And then the streetwise tough guy became real, at least he did in the mind of the business man. Hence the creation of Tyler. Tyler holds the materialistic world in contempt and he believes people learn everything they need to know through pain, misfortune and chaos. Tyler challenges the narrator to a fight and our narrator finds his much sought after release in the brawl. The two create a group named fight club and as more men join it one rule becomes apparent. ‘Do not talk about fight club.’ The philosophy I intend to explore is automatism and drifting. The whole thing with Freud where we all have subconscious desires and it is thought that if we continue to talk to non- stop after a while they come out and we actually say what we think deep down. Breton said we should do that with writing stuff down, just write anything and not think about it, free association, that’s automatism. And doing it when you’re walking around was what he called drifting. Also Sartre because he believed that men cannot rely on society to control them. Mankind is radically free and responsible. In every moment we choose ourselves, with no assurance that we have a continuing identity or power. We set up determinisms to ease our minds, but in the face of the finality of death, only through our present consciousness do we establish our own authentic existence.