My project explores the question of authentic existence as part of the music industry. I have chosen to examine the figure of Taylor Swift under the lens of Sartrean existentialism. I will situate Swift’s existence within a framework of Sartre’s existential thought which regards the meaning of the human condition as that which lies in its freedoms. Examining Swift’s own productions, such as her lyrics and her documentaries, will allow me to assess the extent to which she can be said to live authentically through the Sartrean belief that we create our own existence. The nature of the music industry can be thought of as paradoxical – the creativity of music in opposition to the regulations of industry. However, my project will demonstrate how this reflects Sartre’s own understanding of the human condition as existing in a state of nothingness between its facticity and its transcendence. By establishing my understanding of Sartre’s existentialism, through the three principles of being, the Other and bad faith I will be able to apply the figure of Taylor Swift to assess to what extent one can live an authentic existence as part of the music industry.
Category: Stage 3
The fragmentation of the modern workforce means that trade unions now face the challenge of making themselves appear both relevant and useful to people’s working lives. Increasingly precarious and service based jobs mean that people no longer identify with their work as strongly as they once did, and increasingly isolated jobs make it hard to connect with other workers both mentally and physically.
Industrial action is only possible through mass organisation and, the aged concept of what the unions represent, who and what they are fighting for is an increasing problem for the unions and the people they claim to defend. Engaging workers in their defensive aims against unfair working practices and low wages whilst funding this action through membership maintenance is a constant battle for the Trade unions.
This project seeks to address the issue of inciting action amongst an increasingly tolerant workforce resigned to mistreatment as a standard, due to the problems of late stage capitalism. It will make use of Gramsci’s Marxism in exploring the historicization of the trade union movement, and to provide a springboard for potential actions which could reinstate the trade unions into every workers mind as their first line of defence for fair and fulfilling working practices.
The stage of the modern workforce will be set by Virno’s postmodern neomarxist thought, in describing the fragmentary nature of our industries and working identities. To fight for a cause, a person must first identify with it, and be given sufficient evidence that the fight is worth their increasingly diminished time and effort.
The current wave of strike action along with the governments minimum service levels bill has brought the trade unions back into the national consciousness providing an opportune period to reinstate themselves in workers minds as the defensive institutions they claim to be. The minimum service levels bill will be used as an object to orientate the discussion, in its blatant attack on the right to strike for all of the UK workforce while using the fragmented nature of work to its advantage.
Reconceptualising Pathological Demand Avoidance as a neurodivergent phenomena using the Philosophy of Deleuze and Guattari.
On the 22nd of January, 1973, the United States Supreme Court passed a landmark ruling in the form of Roe v. Wade. Roe v. Wade has correctly been characterised as a fundamental decision, particularly in regards to the ‘right to privacy’ and, on a larger scale, women’s rights as a whole. Brought to the Supreme Court by Norma McCorvery (‘Jane Roe’) and her lawyers in protest against Texas’ abortion laws, Roe v. Wade argued that the current Texan abortion laws were unconstitutional; Texan law, at that time, stated that all abortion was illegal with an exception for actions deemed necessary to save a potential mother’s life. Described by legal journalists such as Linda Greenhouse as a form of judicial activism, the 1973 ruling resulted in not only a new configuration for abortion in the States’ legal field but within its social and political spheres, too. Post Roe v. Wade, these laws alongside many others throughout the country were struck down and replaced with newer and more progressive federal rulings; the ruling given in the 2022 court case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organisation was a complete systematic undoing of this earlier progression towards women’s rights. The decision overturned Roe v. Wade and began a political and cultural deconstruction of respect for women and their autonomy within the United States, upon which many women have begun opting out of heterosexual relationships as a form of self-preservation. This project will seek to examine the effects of overturning such a monumental legal decision, particularly in its applications within the modern feminist movement and the more radical forms of feminism that preceded it. Have the reactions of women in the face of this supposed ‘backwards’ ruling been justified? Is the decision to withdraw compliance and activity within heterosexual relationships personal, political, or a form of more active protest? Drawing on a range of feminist viewpoints and historically relevant events, this project will use the 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade as a basis for its examination of female reaction and, more ultimately, its examination of women’s duty to heterosexuality.
Cryptocurrencies have experienced rapid growth in terms of their usage and adoption, showing that they have the potential to change how th economic world functions. Through the use of various ethical theories, these being utilitarianism with reference to Bentham and Singer, Deontology and Kantian ethics and Social Contract Theory looking at the ideas of Locke and Rawls. This paper intends to evaluate whether cryptocurrencies can be justified through an examination of their effect on micro and macroeconomics, by applying the ethical theories and reaching a conclusion through them.
This project explores patriotism and nationalism and whether it is beneficial to a society, with a specific interest in Britain. The object I use to begin to talk about patriotism is the novel Journey to the End of the Night by French author Louis-Ferdinand Céline which is based on his experiences during the First World War. He is very anti-patriotic, viewing patriotism as meaningless and not something worth supporting. I look at the similarities and differences between patriotism and nationalism, then explore both concepts philosophically mainly using the works of Friedrich Nietzsche, Simon Keller, and Stephen Nathanson. I then look at the history of patriotism in Britain from during the World Wars and after, understanding the role of the right-wing, mass media, and the effects it has had on the left and working classes. Following this I turn to the modern day, reviewing data collected on support of patriotism in Britain, how it less common amongst the youth, and how a growing dissatisfaction for the government shapes this. I come to the conclusion that people would want the ability to be patriotic, to be proud of the country to which they belong, but how patriots act needs change.
Education became commodified through the introduction of university fees in UK higher education. This commodification means that Newcastle University is implicitly entangled with the economic values of society. Under investigation within this project was the question of diversity in UK higher education institutions. The case study used to ground this investigation was data collected from core modules on Newcastle University’s Undergraduate Philosophy degree. The questions were categorised into five categories, ‘Understanding’, ‘Comparative’, ‘Contemporary/Applied’, ‘Diverse’, and ‘Other’. After analysing and evaluating this quantified data, Althusser’s concepts of reproduction and interpellation were analysed. This Althusserian framework provides an understanding of the role of essay questions in the reproduction of the current intellectual philosophical tradition. The Foucauldian notion of normalisation and historical examples were utilised to substantiate the claim. Whilst a good framework, Althusser’s theory is overwhelmingly unoptimistic. By engaging with bell hooks, the investigation was able to draw out some possible solutions. A framework for alteration was established based on hook’s focus on communication and work by Elbow. In an inverted hierarchical sense, change can start in the university institutions themselves. By implementing more inclusive attitudes in the academy, prejudice, and bias are deconstructed, this would lead to a critique and deconstruction of privilege and diversification of the philosophical intellectual tradition.
This essay explores the evolution of leadership through a comparison of Homeric poems and Royal Marines Commando Ethos. Applying Foucault’s theories, the analysis delves into the power dynamics, discipline, and techniques of governance employed in these two contexts. By examining the similarities and differences, the essay aims to reveal insights into how leadership has evolved over time and how it continues to shape our society today using Foucault’s analysis of language.
My project paper is a discussion of the theoretical framework of antiwork politics with a specific emphasis on antiwork’s conception of production and its relation to work. The object of the paper is the reddit forum group r/antiwork and the territory is work and production. I found antiwork’s theoretical framework through Kathi Weeks’ The Problem with Work. In this text, the concept of production as a central topic in the critique of work is discussed. From there, through an analysis of the Introduction to Marx’s Grundrisse, I established the traditional conceptualisation of production. Then, I looked at the problem of productivism, antiwork’s primary critical point, through Baudrillard’s critique in The Mirror of Production. Finally, I introduced Deleuze and Guattari’s concept of production, found in Anti-Oedipus, as an alternative way to conduct antiwork critique. This project was a chance for me to philosophically investigate an area of everyday life that is widely discussed but contains many inconspicuous elements.
The project explores how nihilism is an inevitability that emerges out of Schopenahuer’s pessimistic worldview and Nietzsche’s death of God. The project makes the case that by examining the night sky’s historical significance to humankind, we can affirm our lives through its wonder. More specifically, we can affirm our lives and all existence through the night sky’s primordial wonder, which corresponds to Nietzsche’s abandonment of Wagner’s tragic music drama in The Birth of Tragedy.
This essay explores the themes of alienation and identity within Kafka’s collected works. The study examines the suffering of his characters psychologically through R. D. Laing and Debord and metaphysically through Schopenhauer and Buddhism. The essay focuses on texts such as “Metamorphosis”, “The Castle” and shorter works such as “A Country Doctor” and “The Judgement”. Overall, it intends to use literary and philosophical analysis to interpret Kafka’s understanding of the human condition.
This project aims to illuminate how monogamy creates a romantic ideal in which individuals involved rely on one partner to fulfil endless needs. In order to satisfy these demands, a partner has responsibilities such as; being the greatest lover, the best parent, the trusted confidant, the emotional companion and the intellectual equal. Such expectations from a partner facilitates a restriction on their freedom. Hence, this romantic ideal creates a paradox where we have never been more reliant on our partner’s loyalty but have also never been more prone to stray since we live in a time where we feel entitled to pursue our desire because this is the culture where we deserve to be happy and utilise our freedom to the fullest. An act of infidelity is rooted in a need for an emotional connection, freedom, autonomy and a wish to reclaim lost aspects of oneself. Whereas, in polyamorous relationships “lovers guard their own and their partner’s autonomy, which is understood as the freedom to feel differently tomorrow” (Grahle 2002, 24).
The question of how to live is an area of great contestation for humanity. Nietzsche, in disavowing morality of the Christian world, saw the higher kind of human, the Übermensch, as the only way to affirm ourselves, following the disbelief in God. Applying the concept of the Übermensch to other literary figures like Achebe’s Okonkwo and Camus’ Meursault, as well as looking at Han’s diagnosis of the contemporary times, I assess how well a guide Nietzsche’s Übermensch serves, both now and then.
Baruch de Spinoza was an important and influential philosopher, born into a Jewish community in Amsterdam. He was issued a herem however early on in his life, as the elders deemed his ideas to be heretical. This work looks at Spinoza’s philosophy not as a heresy, but instead as reminiscent of a more modern, secular Judaism.
Within this work, I will examine how several influential Jewish figures interacted with Spinoza’s thought. I aim to show that one can track the increasing secularisation of Judaism through time, through the change in reactions these figures had. These figures include the German philosopher Moses Mendelssohn, and Polish/American author Isaac Bashevis Singer.
I will mainly employ both an interpretive and a historical methodology. In terms of interpretive methodology, I will be analysing the written work of Spinoza, as well as the Jewish figures of focus, and several Jewish religious texts. In terms of historical methodology, I will take into account the historical context behind each Jewish figure, and Spinoza himself.
My aim through this text is to create a reading of how silence is used and understood by John Cage and British Quakerism, through the lens of Nietzschean moral philosophy – particularly that of Nietzsche’s ‘On the Genealogy of Morality’.
Traditional forms of political protest have failed us so a new process of resistance against oppressive systems is needed and this project presents that this is literature.
The aim of this project is to investigate who ought to have the authority to decide on the accessibility and use of data such as messages over social media – the state or the companies? Having the right to this level of authority will bring enormous influence politically, socially, and economically in our current society which is why it is a relevant and significant debate amongst modern ethicists
For my object I have chosen the story of humanity’s fall from grace found in the third chapter of Genesis. I will be investigating my object in the territories of theological anthropology and Psychoanalysis. In Saint Paul (1997), Alain Badiou notes a conceptual similarity between the apostle Paul’s description of sin as found in the book of Romans and the psychoanalytic concept of the substantive unconscious. The apostle laments; ‘I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate… so that it is no longer I who do it, but sin which dwells in me’ (Rom 7: 15-17). The subject or ‘I’ of the statement is decentred by ‘sin’ which now assumes the ‘seat of agency’ as kind of foreign object lodged in the heart of subjectivity (Badiou 1997, 79). ‘All kinds of covetousness’ (Rom 7:8) which once lay dead and inactive have become autonomous, occupying the place structurally appropriate to the living subject (who now lies in the place of the dead), giving rise to a new subjective configuration with respect to agency which can be called ‘sin’. With this structural understanding of sin, a topographic and economic picture of the Christian subject becomes possible, one subject to the demands and pressures of an impersonal primary process. However, it must be remembered that Badiou’s analysis concerns the book of Romans and not Genesis where the originality of the first sin would be at issue. A reading of sin as desire that is ‘revived’ and awoken into autonomy by the negative naming of the law (Badiou 1997, 80) lends itself easily enough to the story of Genesis where there is likewise a prohibition; ‘but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat.’ (Gen 2.17) However, a purely psychological reading of Genesis would neglect the metaphysical aspect of the first original sin, which for Saint Augustine is essential to a faithful interpretation of Genesis. Therefore Badiou’s insights, while helpful, must be built upon. I now turn to discuss my objectives in the investigation of my object.
On the back of Britain’s anti-racism movement, arguably civil disobedience is becoming an ever more prominent feature in the protester’s arsenal for raising awareness regarding their social and political agendas. Naturally the project concerns itself with understanding and assessing whether civil disobedience is a necessary attribute in bringing about governance and increasing the potential for change. The project will focus upon the subsequent acts of civil disobedience associated with the Black Lives Matter movement (‘BLM’); the vandalism and the tearing down of the Edward Colston statue (Bristol) and the vandalism of the Sir Winston Churchill statue (Westminster). However, the significance of the project’s enquiry lies within questioning the treatment of these statues and thus the nuances of the discussion are embedded within the statues themselves. These will be analysed through conceptual exploration of property, representation, and jurisprudence.
Whilst recognising that there are some points of comparison between the statues and their treatment, much of the project will target their differences and aim to reach an understanding through wider analysis of civil disobedience itself. Arguably, culminating in an analysis of Colston’s role within the Bristol community versus the role of Churchill within the national community. Consequently, the project will recognise that it is not a simple task of addressing whether the man set in stone was ‘bad’ or ‘good,’ but much rather a more complex exploration of memorialisation and representation.
The aim of this project is to explore the unresolved issues within the prison system that do not necessarily get thought about every day. My project will discuss those issues such as race, women’s sexual assault, gangs and inhumanity within supermax institutions.
The key philosophers will include Michele Foucault, Angela Y.Davis and Lisa Guenther.