Category: Stage 2

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2017 Abstracts Stage 2

The Shift Of Equality and Power for Men and Women, within the United Kingdom overtime.

Object:
The difference in equality and power between men and women.

Territory:
Early 20th century to modern day.

Concepts:
Thomas Hobbes- Leviathan
Jeremy Bentham- Utilitarianism
Simone de Beauvoir – The Second Sex

The object of this project is to produce an accurate analysis and an understanding of the shift of equality and power for men and women in the UK, showing how the status of a woman and a man has changed overtime from the early 1900s to modern day. It will focus on Thomas Hobbes’ theory on power being the deepest drive, thus this will explore why men are deemed to have the most power in society. Jeremey Bentham’s theory on Utilitarianism gives the statement ‘The greatest good of the greatest number’ therefore this will focus on those who are in the majority do actions that are in their favour. Also a look at Simone De Beauvoir’s analysis on the ‘Second Sex’ will suggest how civilisation has constructed the woman. Consequently this project will offer possible reasons as to why the status between men and women have been so different overtime.

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2017 Abstracts Stage 2

Rachmaninoff: Nationalism and “Russianness”

Territory: Russian Late-Romantic Music
Object: Rachmaninoff’s Prelude in C-Sharp Minor
Method: Interpretative and Axiological
Aim: I will be using Frolova-Walker’s musicology and Adorno’s musical philsophy to dissect Rachmaninoff’s Prelude and discuss whether it can be understood as a piece of Russian nationalist music.

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2017 Abstracts Stage 2

An Investigation into the Meat Industry and its Impact on the Environment

Territory: Environmental Ethics
Object: The impact of the Meat Industry on the Environment

Philosophers/Key Thinkers:
James Lovelock; Mary Midgley; Arne Naess; Anthony Weston; Jonathan Safran Foer

The aim of this project is to discover the impact the meat industry has on the environment and to question whether vegetarianism could help minimise Global Warming. To do this, the Hermeneutic and historical approaches will be used.

Throughout this project two main questions will be explored: What is the main contributor to our carbon footprint? and Is environmentalism justified?

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2017 Abstracts Stage 2

The Rise of artificial intelligence and it’s implications for the constitution of personhood

My Territory: The territory of my essay is artificial intelligence; I will be looking at the progress it has made in the past decade, as well as the controversy it has sparked as a result.

My Object: My object is Sophia, a humanoid robot created in 2017 by Hanson Robotics Limited.

My Concepts: The main concepts I will be using in my project are: Human being, Personhood, Personal Identity, Persistence, Self-Ownership and Recognition

Philosophical Thinkers: The first philosopher I will be using to look at my territory is John Locke. I will be using his Essay on Human Understanding II, concentrating on his views on Personal identity. The second is Frederich Hegel; I will be looking at his Phenomenology of Spirit, particularly the sections on his theory of Recognition.

Main objective: I want to see if we would ever consider granting artificial intelligence the same rights as humans; to do so, I will be trying to find the necessary and sufficient conditions of personhood, and applying them.

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2017 Abstracts Stage 2

What can Louise Bourgeois tell us about art criticism?’: a meta-critique of philosophico-psychoanalytic readings of the artist.

Object: The art criticism of works in Louise Bourgeois’ Cells series
Territory: Contemporary art criticism
Concepts: Subjectivity, intention, Freudian psychoanalysis, the artist and their relation to works of art, authority of criticism
Philosophy: Nietzsche, Foucault, Wimsatt and Beardsley, Bal.

In my project, the work of Louise Bourgeois in her Cells series is utilised as a case study to explore wider issues in art criticism and how works of art are interpreted in relation to the artist. An examination of the reception of Louise Bourgeois’ work shows largely the same approach in psychoanalysing Louise Bourgeois and relating this back to her work and perceived intended meaning. Conversely, the position in the project argues that such a reading of her work, as well as that of other artists and authors, carries problems related to the importance of artistic intention, the public sphere of a work of art compared to the private sphere of the artist, as well as to what extent such readings are not only valid, but in the case of Louise Bourgeois count as genuine criticism rather than uncritically accepting her own statements.

Philosophy from the course included use of material from modules PHI2002 and PHI2006.

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2017 Abstracts Stage 2

Free Internet Pornography and The Under Eighteens

An investigation into how ideologies within Ancient Greek philosophy may pre-empt the impact of negative influences within free online pornography on the large number of under eighteens who regularly consume it.

The aim in engaging with the material I have chosen it two fold. Firstly, I intended to further my understanding of pornography within my society and not only that but to further expand upon my own understanding of the philosophies proposed by Plato and Aristotle. Secondly, I intended to better my ability in applying philosophical concepts and attempting to find solutions to real world issues.

The object of this project is free online pornography and the messages and attitudes that are resembled within in. The issues raised by pornography is the masculine ideology portrayed in the videos that the younger consumers are likely to adopt themselves. I will be looking for solutions to this problem within Plato’s idea of a good education and Aristotle’s idea of virtue.

I will make direct references to Plato’s The Republic, Aristotle’s The Nicomachean Ethics, and finally, Robert Jenson’s Getting Off: pornography and the end of masculinity.

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2017 Abstracts Stage 2

The Status Quo Problem: the issues with status quo bias and how to solve them

The Status Quo Problem: the issues with status quo bias and how to solve them

What is the status quo problem?
We have a status quo bias which inhibits beneficial social progress whilst undermining valid status quo values, due to its invalid nature as a justification. The problem is further complicated by the fact that the bias can, at times, serve a rational purpose as a heuristic method to ensure risk aversion and the preservation of existing things of value.

Evidence of Status Quo Bias
We can see a range of evidence which demonstrates the existence of status quo bias. In the project we discuss experiments which establish this, but as a succinct example one only needs to look at Coca Cola, which changed its recipe in 1985 based upon the new recipe performing better in blind tests, only to face a severe public backlash.

Rationality of Status Quo Bias
The fact that the bias can, at times, have a rational purpose only complicates, rather than solves, the issue. In the project we use Hobbesian logic to support the importance of risk aversion, as well as the work of Jacob M. Nebel who provides a conservative defence of status quo bias on the basis of protecting existing things of value.

The Dangers of Status Quo Bias
This bias prevents us from changing our values and policies based upon what is most beneficial or most right. We can see this when faced with our lack of response to Peter Singer’s ethical argument in “Famine, Affluence and Morality”. By relying upon a bias to uphold a system of values, one can also eventually undermine this system leading to a counter status quo bias which can be equally damaging.

Solution to the Status Quo Problem
The project proposes a combination of Bostrom and Ord’s Reversal Test and a revised application of John Rawl’s Veil of Ignorance as a means by which to identify and eliminate a status quo bias, and to provide a new heuristic method to assist decision making.

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2017 Abstracts Stage 2

The Lust for Power in Shakespeare’s Rome: Altruism vs. Egoism

Julius Caesar can be seen as both a tragic hero, or a deservedly vanquished tyrant; or perhaps even somewhere in between the two. The purpose of this title is to discover, using the theories of egoism and altruism from Hobbes and Smith respectively, where the characters of the Shakespeare production lie. The play is notorious for having ambiguous characters in terms of their actions: however, by using these philosophical theories, it becomes possible to clear the muddy waters and find some truth to the play. Does Caesar act like the power-crazed egoist tyrant he was murdered for being? Or was he simply rising in power as a result of the people’s adoration for his altruistic actions?

Not only Caesar’s intentions were ambiguous, the likes of Cassius, Antony and Brutus all show evidence of being both selfish and selfless – so who, if anyone, can be considered a hero in this play, and who is or are, the true villains? Throughout this essay I will be trying to deduce these answers, to work out whether Caesar was killed righteously, or as a result of clever deception and envy of his power, whether the senators of Rome acted for the good of their people, or to try and increase their own power to ensure their happiness and quality of life is never threatened.

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2017 Abstracts Stage 2

Finding Peace in a Frantic World: A Critique of Mindfulness using David Foster Wallace’s talk ‘This is Water’

Project Aims
To argue Foster Wallace’s popular talk This is Water highlights Mindfulness as an ideology.

How?
Foster Wallace highlights how Mindfulness key aspect of its thought believes in a Kantian autonomous/individualistic/ a-historical subject transcendental subject.

Implicates argument within the social context – Mindfulness is an antidote to stressful neo-liberal conditions

Economically and ideologically productive system of thought – 3.72 trillion dollar industry

Ideologically repressive – It blames you for your mental health problems!

Could Mindfulness be self destructive?

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2017 Abstracts Stage 2

Has the experience pregnancy and childbirth been affected by becoming a consumersim market?

Object and territory: How has the growing trend of consumerism affected the way in which women experience pregnancy and labour comparing the experiences from the fifties to the experiences had now.

Sources: Sigmund Freud, Thomas Hobbes, Georg W.F. Hegel and Immanuel Kant have been used to give explanations of the way in which the experiences change in relation to doctors and product manufactures use immoral means for personal gain.

Project outline: Comparing the differences in experiences of women in the fifties to the present day is crucial in my exploration of the way in which consumerism has affected pregnancy. The difference in the product market today is colossal and this essay aims to explore the impact on the parent child relationship. Immanuel Kant’s formula of Humanity provides a moral guide to compare the way in which some doctors and companies are using pregnancy as a means to the end of monetary gain.

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2017 Abstracts Stage 2

The Art of Online Dating: A Heideggerian Account of Online Dating as Poiesis

Online dating is a major social phenomenon which is radically changing the ways in which we interact with each other.
How does online dating affect the ability to reveal one’s self authentically, and to develop authentic relationships with others?
Might there be a way of understanding online dating as a route to truth, and thus as being an artistic phenomenon?

Main Concepts:

Enframing:
Online dating and modern technology

Being-towards-death:
Authenticity and the internet

Being-with:
Authenticity and romantic relationships

Poiesis:
Online dating, art, and truth

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2017 Abstracts Stage 2

Student Suicide: A philosophical investigation into whether attitudes towards ‘Suicide’ have changed over time?

Aims:
My project will examine whether contemporary society’s attitude towards ‘Suicide’ have changed over time?
Are we living in the past?
Are we scared to talk about mental health?

Territory/Object:
My territory is ‘Student suicide’
My object is the BBC Three documentary ‘Student Suicide: Real Stories’.
The documentary looks at how three students took their lives at University; but from the perspective of their loved ones.
Many students do not tell anyone, as they feel “ashamed”.

Philosophers:
This project will focus on the philosophical concepts; Suicide and Morality.
Durkheim’s On Suicide investigates whether social factors affect suicide rates.
Hume’s essay ‘Of Suicide’ illustrates his views against the traditional viewpoint of suicide.
Kant’s The Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals dictates his views against suicide.

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2017 Abstracts Stage 2

Societies that permit conscientious objection are morally superior to those which will not

Claim: Countries which permit conscientious objection are morally superior to those which do not

Aim: to establish if the needs of the of the state should ever outweigh citizens rights

Case Study: I will examine the case of Desmond Doss, a conscientious objector in the second world war, and apply him to the philosophies of Kant, Hegel, Rawls and Lukes.

Philosophers: Kant, Hegel, Rawls, Lukes

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2017 Abstracts Stage 2

A Post-Modern Pilgrimage: Can any type of travel be meaningful in the same way pilgrimage is?

Is there any way in which non-religious forms of travel can be as meaningful as religion? My project aims to investigate concepts such as pleasure, disappearance, purpose and perspectivism to form a discourse for how we can talk of a post-modern pilgrimage.

Pilgrimage is an important part of any religion. Those with religious beliefs seek to connect with other’s who are similar to oneself and God, to help reinforce their sense of self and their place in the universe.

Baudrillard believes disappearance is symbolic as well as physical. The absence from our normal life is crucial for personal development, as our mind needs a break to recuperate.

Sartre believes ‘existence precedes essence,’ meaning that we are not born with a purpose. Instead, we are to decide our own purpose and our own meaning for life. This can be found through travelling. We move away from the everyday life and the familiarity and we experience new objects and many unfamiliar and difficult challenges, we learn more about ourselves and so we reflect on our own meaning of life.

Mill discusses the quality of pleasures in his views of utilitarianism. The highest pleasures are the most valuable, those which exercise the mind.
When travelling, we may feel curious to learn more about the country we are in. Gaining knowledge of the world through experiencing this country’s culture directly, satisfies the human mind, as the understanding of the world can shape our ideas of the world.

All three philosophers can apply to De Botton’s views on perspectivism, which is that we begin to look at the world in a different way, by focusing and appreciating the small things. This brings in all concepts of pleasure, absence and purpose, which is demonstrated throughout this project.

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2017 Abstracts Stage 2

Manchester VS Ataturk

With the internet and social media reforming the realm of reporting news, those that have routinely ignored developing nations are demanded to atone for biased newscasts, thus the project intends to bridge this gap and to further interrogate to what extent there exists a journalistic void, seeking out the cause and how to resolve it.

Methodology: The project concerns two cities, both of which had experienced an act of terror in connection to the Islamic State (IS). This project deploys qualitative research in the discourse of an interpretive methodological approach.

Objects:

Manchester – The first object of terror befell on the 22nd of May 2017, in Manchester’s Arena. The incident occurred at an Ariana Grande concert.
Istanbul – The second object denoting an act of terror was the automatic weapons fired and suicide bombings that occurred in Istanbul’s Ataturk airport, on the 28th of June 2016.

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2017 Abstracts Stage 2

Can one be a wolf in sheep’s clothing?

Object/Territory: How should we understand the concept of ‘psychopathy’ in relation to political theory and how we should we ought to treat other individuals?

Sources: Thomas Hobbes, Adam Smith, Sigmund Freud and Georg Hegel provide powerful theories that can be applied to the idea of psychopathic individuals.

Project outline: The distinction of ‘criminal psychopath’ and ‘white-collar psychopath’ is crucial for my investigation because the contrast between the two opens up a kaleidoscope of questions about psychopathy. The violent explicit nature of criminal psychopaths and the charming and charismatic character of white-collar psychopaths highlight the disparity of individuals that can be considered psychopaths. Hobbes’ egotistical humanity and Smith’s doctrine of altruism provide interesting material to apply to the elusive behaviour of psychopaths.

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2017 Abstracts Stage 2

Melissa Walker’s Masks: The History of Soldier’s PTSD and its Societal Depiction

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder:
PTSD is associated with impairments in everyday attention and memory
PTSD is associated with enhanced acquisition of conditioned fears
(S. Taylor, 2017, p. 45)

Panic disorder, and alcohol and substance abuse frequently emerge in conjunction with PTSD and that is not isolated to treatment-seeking populations
(Wilson Friedman & Lindy, 2004, p. 237)

Priory Survey of 1,000 men:
77% said that they suffered from anxiety, stress or depression
40% said that they would only seek help if it got as bad as thoughts of suicide
(Priory Group, Survey: 2004)

I don’t think we are doing enough for our veterans. Their care should be a government priority, and it should not be left to charities like Help For Heroes to subsidise the cost.
(Gregg, 2015)

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2017 Abstracts Stage 2

Hooliganism Project

Object/Territory: Football hooliganism is organised violence between football supporters and this will be used as a case study to assess whether violence can ever be seen as justifiable.

Philosophy: Sigmund Freud provides a basis for why humans are so interested in violence through his Narcissism of Minor Differences and the Human Inclination for Aggression. This will be used to assess whether this violence is truly inevitable and thus immoral for Kant, or whether the life of a hooligan could possibly provide the affirmative life that Nietzsche preaches is needed.

Outline: If violence is inevitable then it is surely justifiable. However why must this manifest as football hooliganism? And even if violence is taken as inevitable, does this make its morally permissible. Using the contemporary studies in football hooliganism to assess the physical cost, and combining this with the idealisation that hooliganism has, will create an answer to whether this activity is morally acceptable. If the modern conception fails, can a future one succeed?

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2017 Abstracts Stage 2

The failures of cosmopolitanism and international intervention in genocide

In this project I investigate why the present institutions and discourse of cosmopolitics frustrate rather than facilitate peace and resolution.

Through improperly structuring reasoning and creating subjectivity, the current cosmopolitic fails to provide the required conditions for the prevention of and intervention in genocide.

Through an examination of Kant’s cosmopolitanism and current cosmopolitical theories, demonstrated with the use of 3 case studies of Rwanda, Kosovo, and Myanmar I intend to highlight the fundamental contradiction at the heart of cosmopolitanism. Systems are either too universal and empty, ignoring important cultural fabric, or too particular and local, resulting in inaction.

As a result of these failures, intervention becomes an expression of ideology, not humanitarian interest.

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2017 Abstracts Stage 2

Can We Own a Vibe? A Philosophical Inquiry into Our Understanding of Music Copyright.

This project aims to look at the concept of private property within the context of copyright. I will investigate current copyright law in the case of music and examples of copyright infringement. Through these cases, I will question the grounds on which they have been ruled guilty of copyright infringement. With Robin Thicke’s ‘Blurred Lines’ (2013) being ruled as infringing the copyright of Marvin Gaye’s ‘Got to Give It Up’ (1977) due to copying the vibe of this song. With the idea of a vibe having not been previously protected by copyright, this challenges our previous understanding of the copyright of music and what it means to own musical property.

I will also discuss the implications copyright has upon the possibility of creativity within the music industry. Copyright law is in place to protect the original creative works of an individual and therefore protecting creativity as a whole. Through questioning whether copyright helps of hinders creativity in music, I will discuss whether copyright does protect creativity as it sets out to do so.

My project aims to question how appropriate the concepts grounding our copyright of music are and call into question whether we need to revise our music copyright system.