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2004 Abstracts Stage 3

Becoming-‘self’

At the end of the nineteenth century Nietzsche was already pointing to dynamic becomings and complexity in the ontology of the human being. For him we are not entities with a transcendent being but an immanent field of forces that are always bound up in different processes. In the past century, advances in computing, mathematics and science have made it possible to study complex and dynamic systems that were dismissed as anomalies under linear models. Bodies are no longer studied in isolation but in dynamic systems that can alter their states, sometimes creating new and surprising features. We move away from singular objects to the study of quasi-objects and folds that can only be considered within their given system. The CApitalist system resembles this state of constant flux and change. There is a constant flow of abstract value and the persistence deterritorialization and reterritorialization of labour power. Within capitalism nothing exists outside of the system and decodings are brought back within a capitalist axiom. Philosophers such as Deleuze and Guattari, Serres, Simondon and DeLanda have taken theories of catastrophe, chaos and folds and reterritorialized them on to the social to explore human activity and phenomena. What emerges is biotechnics; the human is bound up in what DeLanda calls”nonorganic life”. I wish to examine Nietzsche’s process of becoming alongside recent theories of flux, chaos and complexity in the context of our state of “self” within capitalist structures to explore the processes that contribute to our stabilising of the “self” and to determine whether, on an ontological and immanent level, we are continually becoming a different self.

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2004 Abstracts Stage 3

Does Art Contain Universal Concerns that are Applicable to our Existence?

It was Marcel Duchamp who invented the notion ‘art can be anything.’ By looking at the influences through a time shift starting from the Renaissance through to contemporary times examine exactly how true this revolutionary statement is or whether it is a matter of shock value that the Artist of today wants to put across, whereby the skill in drawing and painting has undoubtedly been lost. My aim is to explore the notion ‘art can be anything’ through three different time periods Renaissance, Baroque and Contemporary. The first will be the Renaissance (the early fifteenth century) which focuses on the issues of function and purpose of art. A major criticism with the youth of contemporary art today is the lack of knowledge towards the primitive foundations of art. This knowledge has been replaced with abstract ideas and theories about what art should and should not be. I used various influential names in my introduction to sketch an overall outline to the subject of art. Plato emphasises the ‘capacity of art to perfect nature, to correct in the mind of man the deficiencies of nature.’1 Wollheim and Panofsky said that only humans make art whereas Sir Philip Sidney said ‘The artist often creates things such as never were in nature.’ As a result, given the differing attitudes towards this particular subject the point is made that art is a matter of personal opinion. Using the theory of Utilitarianism I tried to use a system where the individual could categorise high and low art. It was Mill who said that a higher pleasure was one that stimulated the mind. Was it then possible to use this Utilitarian system within art? The higher pleasures of the mind are without doubt more desirable and valuable than those of lower pleasure of the body. Taking this approach the appearance or aesthetic value of a modern piece of art becomes worthless and what becomes important are the effects on the viewer. Utilitarianism is a teleological theory where the consequences are important. In some cases within modern art i.e. conceptualism, the effect can be sublime. Looking at the intention of the artist using Kant’s system of ‘means ends reasoning’ I wanted to look at what makes the moral motive a ‘pure’ motive. This is a disinterested one and it is solely based on the fact that we are motivated to act on the moral law by the moral law itself and not by some self-interested end. The idea of universality is used by Kant to support a theory of moral reasoning. Thus, we are to ask whether our maxim is one we can expect all rational agents to adopt in relatively similar circumstances. Using this Kantian system, the intentions of modern day artists like David Blaine and Damien Hurst were closely examined. I stated that it was the intention of Damien Hurst to shock his audience rather than to please. Consequently, Hurst’s works like the ‘shark’ was viewed as aesthetically poor but led to fame and fortune due to him gaining recognition by the public eye. However, is unlike Caravaggio (from the Baroque era) who had similar intentions in depicting truth within reality and whose skill and technique is certainly not limited. The key difference between the two artists (Caravaggio and Hirst) is not the obvious answer of ‘time’. Instead, it is how Hirst seems to have a good sense of the media and understands how that mindset works, which results in his intention being primarily concerned with a self-interested end. I argued that due to the influence of time and the drastic changes in fashion and philosophical thinking that have taken place since the early 15th century, it is time that dictates what art is considered acceptable and where art is going. The shock value of some artists today has lead to skill being undermined because they are reacting to a demand from society. Consequently, I believe that art can be anything, but that it has become a response to commodification and the need to make money as opposed to conveying personal expression. I feel that Kant’s philosophy of morality is key to my argument because it deals with the reasoning of the validity of art and the intentions of artists in order to determine whether their motivation is pure.

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2004 Abstracts Stage 3

The Book and the ‘I’

A study of the book:- its history, form, market, authors and its changing place in and of society. For centuries people have recorded important events and thoughts for their own personal reasons or for posterity. The format and availability of books have helped to shape the way knowledge has been received and perceived. However, in recent times the place of the written word as the primary source of information has been challenged as a consequence of technological advances. The role of the author has changed through time, from a position of anonymity, to one where the presence of the author had a significant impact on the work and so on to now where the reader is a significant impetus for what is produced Books afford a certain status, particularly hardbacks, despite the fact that technology has meant that books can be produced as quickly as carefully prepared magazine articles. Technology has also resulted in a rise in Internet sources and an increasing numbers of television channels needing information to transmit. We are bombarded with information and this makes it gradually more difficult to discern which facts are important or even true. Territory The changing modern society: – increasingly consumer driven, mediated by technology or the media, confusions of reality, the loss of meaning and the increasing sense of transience. Looking at current book sales and bestseller statistics in the UK, including the BBC big read winner’s list. Objectives To offer some insights into the future of books and their place and influence in society Sources Internet sources e.g. www.bookmarketing.co.uk, www.publishers.org.uk. The works of Michel Foucault and Jean Baudrillard.

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2004 Abstracts Stage 3

The Surpassing of the Shattered Attitude

This philosophy project will evaluate the notion of science, technology and capitalism as an abstract organising mechanism. It will attempt to show the turn in philosophy in ways to redeem the primacy of bodily life and creativity and its influence on the order of things. Abstract: Topic and Key Concepts Capitalism is conceived by production and efficiency. Bataille and Deleuze and Guattari show that one is compelled to participate as a producer in society via the economic infrastructure, and as a consumer via cultural mediation. In essence the human condition is confined by an ‘abstract order’, being that of capitalism. The project will evaluate the shift in consciousness, perception and communication. It will assess the ability to understand and absorb the impact of technological and other changes, how basic human ‘drives’ are related, for example, to a well-functioning economic system, to a balance of conversation and change, and to the production of functionally useful patterns of society. . An evaluation on the various means and manifestations denying such abstract representative systems in society: – Through Transgressions – Drugs. Stimulants and Dampeners – Idleness – Counter-Institutions – Revolution – Terrorism It will evaluate political, economic and media examples of representative systems evaluating the ways in which technology has been imagined and theorised during recent history exploring its impact on the producing and consuming individual. It will assess the propagation of ‘events’ and will assess the manifestations of the rejection of functionally useful patterns of society, i.e. the intensification of the working day. Sources: Heidegger: ‘On the Question Concerning Technology’, Deleuze and Guattari’s: ‘Anti Oedipus’, Bataille: The Accursed Share, Baudrillard Jean: The Mirror of Production and Simulations, Beck U: Reflexive Modernisation

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2003 Abstracts Stage 3

The Fleeting Focus and the Phantom of Power

Subject: Post-Humanism and Post-Industrial Society in Occidental North East England from the mid twentieth century to the early twenty-first. Source: Part One – The Post-Human Condition by R. Pepperell Part Two – Liberating Technology by J. Graves Secondary support material Out of Control by R. Kelly The Inhuman by J. F. Lyotard Man and technology by B. Adkins Objectives: Part One – To show the theoretical and through example, empirical, paradigm shift from a ‘human-centred’ universe to a ‘Post-Human’ one. Part Two – To show the theoretical and through example, empirical, paradigm shift from an industrial society to a ‘Post-Industrial’ one. Method: Assumptions; 1. The Post-Human condition is the impact of high-technology on art, creativity, philosophy and what it is to be human. The argument is made that the changes going on in science, culture and technology are so profound as to wipe away hundreds of years of beliefs and to show that we are moving away from a ‘human-centred’ universe to a ‘Post-Human’ one, hence the universe’s shifting focus away from man (i.e. the fleeting focus.) 2. The rise of technology indicates the potential to expand and automate production. In a society where work is the central activity it is important to look at the implications of the shifting away from the paradigm that the Industrial Revolution and Age was and is. Our maintenance of power of manufacturing and of even intellectual superiority is becoming increasingly illusionary in our scientific society, as technology is responsible for the ‘inhuman’ wielding and controlling more and more, hence the apparition is that of human dominance (i.e. the phantom of power).

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2003 Abstracts Stage 3

The Journals of Kurt Cobain in Relation to Kafka’s Diaries

The title of my Stage 3 project asks the question ‘Is It Ethically Acceptable That The Journals of Kurt Cobain Have Been Made Accessible To The Public?’ Objectives: 1. To determine whether one can justify the posthumous publication of the Nirvana singers’ extremely personal journals when it will become abundantly clear that the publication would have been against his will. 2. To compare and contrast Cobain to Franz Kafka in terms of both having had their diaries published posthumously against their will. To compare the similarities in their personalities and writings. 3. To argue against Max Brod, friend of Kafka and publisher of his diaries, who, owing much to the Kantian tradition, would say that one does not own one’s own thoughts, therefore endorsing such publications. Change: In terms of viewing specific changes, I will investigate into how the views of reading somebody’s personal thoughts may have changed in the seventy years between their deaths (Kafka- 1924, Cobain- 1994), or indeed the publications of their diaries by those close to them (Max Brod- 1958, Courtney Love, Cobain’s widow- 2002). I will ask if the changing nature of the diary and the celebrity could justify the publications. Sources: Primary sources will of course be the published diaries of Cobain and Kafka themselves, with additional material in the form of commentaries on the diaries, and biographies on the subject (one written by Brod himself). Expectations: I expect to discover that by the end of the project I will have found no explanation or excuse that will justify the publication of Cobain’s diaries, or even Kafka’s by arguing for the authenticity of the individual as we may find within the work of Heidegger and Nietzsche.

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2003 Abstracts Stage 3

Nowhere to Run – Trapped in the American Dream?

The Dream. . . .‘Do I have to change my name? Will it get me far? Should I lose some weight? Am I gonna be a star? I’m just living out the American dream and I realized that nothing is what it seems. . .’ These lyrics are taken from Madonna’s recent song ‘American Life’ highlight our society’ pre-occupation with achieving the ‘American dream.’ The car, the house, the family, the job and the respect of friends all constitute our life’s aspirations, what we value and most of all what we fear that we not achieve. In my project I have explored the following objectives and idea of the American dream, highlighting it through Arthur Miller’s play Death of a Salesman, and Louis Begley’s novel About Schmidt and using the lyrics from Madonna’s song American Life. OBJECTIVES: ~ What constitutes the American Dream and how, or if, it has altered over time. ~The relation of its concept to the philosophies of Sartre, such as fear, freedom, emotions and existence ~How these concepts are related to the main character’s in Death of a Salesman and About Schmidt ~Whether we have a choice in our quest to achieve it or whether we have become ‘trapped’ by its rules. ~To what extent do we have any freedom and how this aspiration affects our existence ~Is the American Dream really the most satisfactory state to be in? The humiliation that Willy experiences as a result of not quite achieving this dream drives him to take his own life. With arguments over the importance of attaining the American dream aside, this single incident demonstrates the power and influence of it over today’s society. The question is, are we trapped, is there really ‘nowhere to run’ or is it up to us to change our values?

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2003 Abstracts Stage 3

Our Fairytale World of ‘Beauty’…

Beauty: There has been a pre-occupation with our society as far back as we can remember, yet we still cannot define it, due to its changing character. The fairy tale promises that we are raised on promise security, a prince Charming and that we will live ‘happily ever after’ if we attain beauty. In this project I will be investigating and forming my own concepts on the following: ~ The role of beauty in our Western selected traditional fairy tales and how they reflect our societies attitude towards it and their role in creating these conceptions. ~What constitutes a ‘beautiful’ woman in our society and how this has altered over time, is it just a fashion? ~The phenomenon of the beauty pageant and what it means to be ‘beautiful in our society. ~The desperation associated with achieving this ‘beauty’ and what happens when it goes ‘wrong.’ I will highlight these objectives using the concepts of Plotinus and the Enneads, where he looks at beauty, the soul and what constitutes beauty. I will also use some of the concepts of Kant aesthetics on ‘natural’ beauty, the purpose of beauty and the judgements of taste.

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2003 Abstracts Stage 3

Thinking Machines and Mechanical Thinkers

CONCEPTS/KEY WORDS: Thinking Machines: Philosophical implications of artificial intelligence, machines emulating human behaviour, Turing Test, notions of behaviourism, dualism and materialism, free will and determinism, strong and weak AI and intelligence. Mechanical Thinkers Affect of rise of technology on human behaviour. Dehumanising effect of treating people as machines in the work place. Modern emphasis on productivity, efficiency, and systematisation. Leisure time. Importance of play, playing at work, modern day work practices. OBJECTIVES 1. To investigate the philosophical implications of Artificial Intelligence, looking at factors that are taken into consideration outside the mathematical workings of a thinking machine such as notions of intelligence, behaviourism and free will. 2. To understand the philosopher Martin Heidegger’s opinion of the effect of technology on the world and on humans as a whole in his essay The Question Concerning Technology. 3. To look at a more modern interpretation of the effects of technology by way of Donald Norman, an expert on the human-side of technology, and his book The Invisible Computer. 4. To look at ways to combat the feeling of dehumanisation in using technology, particularly in the workplace, by investigating modern day work practices that incorporate work and play. SOURCES: Gottfried Leibniz, Alan Turing, Rene Descartes, Aaron Sloman, Donald Norman, Martin Heidegger, Herbert Marcuse, Institute for Play. PROJECT TERRITORY/FIELD OF EXPLORATION: I will use two companies that have adopted unconventional work practices in order to preserve the well being of their employees, producing a healthier environment which promotes quality of work rather than quantity. I will use an advertising agency called St. Lukes in London and a number of companies in the US who have adopted ingenious ways of improving their working environments. CHANGE The changes I will show are through the developments in the idea of a thinking machine, the change in the rise of technology and the way in which it affects our lives today. The difference in thought between Martin Heidegger and Donald Norman. THE GAP BETWEEN HUMANS AND THINGS Obvious separation of mind and matter is involved, the implications of modelling a machine on the brain, the difficulty for humans to work with machines that do not function as humans do, the separation between the individual and society when progress, and society with it, no longer facilitate individuality. My project tries to bridge the gap between humans and computers by trying to establish a healthier attitude towards them, especially in the workplace.

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2003 Abstracts Stage 3

The Mind, the Word and the World

Aims · To resolve the problem of Consciousness and reconcile the mind/brain dichotomy via a new conception of language. Objectives · To provide an account of how the brain works. · To disabuse the notion of mental processes. · To show how a different way of looking at language can explain the problem of the mind. · To show that higher consciousness is a product of language. Sources · The field of Neuroscience – Gerald Edelman, Susan Greenfield. · Ludwig Wittgenstein, Gilbert Ryle, Derek Bickerton. Michael Polanyi, Alfred Korzybski · The Field of Psycholinguistics – Susan Curtiss Background After developing a new conception of knowledge and language I wanted to find out if it could be applied to the highly debated topic of consciousness to yield some result

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2003 Abstracts Stage 3

The Oppression of Female Athletes

Concepts:- To examine the way in which female athletes are systematically discriminated against in the following areas:- 1) Media 2) Sexuality 3) Race 4) Disability 5) Gender – Masculinity/Femininity 6) Coaching and Administrative positions Sources:- Newspapers, The History of Sexuality – M. Foucault Sporting Females – J. Hargreaves Women, Sport and Culture – S. Birrell & C.L.Cole Sport & Postmodern Times – Ed by G.Rail Tattoo, Torture, Mutilation & Adornment – A.Bolin Project Territory:- The world of sport – and in particular female sports. The Change:- Unfortunately my research has shown that there has not been a major change as of yet. There have been numerous improvements in the treatment of female athletes, but there is still an enormous way to go before they are treated on a par with their male counterparts.

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2003 Abstracts Stage 3

Identity, Capitalism and the Art Gallery

The transition from the beginning of the twentieth century to the latter stages marked a change in thinking that can be reflected through the change in function of the art gallery. Taking the period that is known as High Modernity (roughly from 1900 to 1968) and exploring its defining artist, Picasso, and the philosopher that was instrumental in shaping the thought, Hegel, it can be seen that the Musée Picasso in Paris shows all of these characteristics. A full exploration of the themes of identity and capitalism will be used as the ‘signs’ that mean a historical account can be formed. Around 1968 many changes in thinking and society occurred which provoked a paradigm shift. The Pompidou Centre in Paris showed evidence of these changes in its retrospective of Roland Barthes. The philosopher Foucault gave a differing historical account than Hegel’s which looks to the networks of thought and how they interact, this also reflects the exhibition in that it is no longer a straightforward chronology but is instead an understanding of the overall, the particular and how they interact.

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2003 Abstracts Stage 3

Metaphysics of Physics – or the Dreams Stuff is Made of

OBJECTIVES. To answer: Is there reality or only appearance? What is it about Physics that makes everything else “stamp collecting”? Why do both nature and physics become explicable with maths? How do observers see things? Would we recognise a Theory of Everything? Did Quantum Mechanics kill cause? TEXTS. B. Russell: The Relation of Sense- Data to Physics; Kant: Critique of Pure Reason; M. Lange: Locality, Fields, Energy and Mass; T.Kuhn: The Structure of Scientific Revolutions; G. Berkeley: Treatise Concerning Principles of Human Knowledge; K. Popper: The Logic of Scientific Discovery Key Words. Theory, reason,experiment, cause and effect, measurement.

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2003 Abstracts Stage 3

Philosophy and the Real World

Contribution to the book of change: Aim To show there is a link between philosophical theory and popular American culture in an attempt to bridge the gap between humans and things around them Concepts/ Key words Existentialism and ideas from philosophers such as Sartre and Camus. Popular American culture namely The Simpson’s Objectives To illustrate that the following picture although stereotypically American with busy highways and mega capitalism does not represent popular American culture. To see if there is a link between the heroes of Sartre, Camus and Nieztsche and some of the Simpson’s characters To determine whether Homer is the authentic individual that Sartre and Camus dreamed of? Or is Bart the übermensch that Nietzsche depicted who could rise above Christian morality and create a new moral code? Project Territory The Simpson’s TV show Sources Jean Paul Sartre, Albert Camus, Friedrich Nieztsche, Mark Conrad……….

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2003 Abstracts Stage 3

The Silent Voice

Sources: Newspaper Articles ‘The Economist’ Philosopher’s Books Literature Books and Productions Art Books Visit to the Ecuadorian Prison Visit to the Newcastle Law Courts Project Territory: Michel Foucault’s Theory on Technologies of Power Key Concepts: Technologies of Power Power over the Individual Human Beings made into Docile Bodies Human Rights Vs Homeland Security (Protection) Punishments and Prisons The Big Brother Resistance against Power Materialism Vs Spiritualism Freedom and Search for the Individual Self Objectives: Foucault had predicted the dominance of technology over our lives and the failure of prisons correctly. The connection between knowledge and power is found everywhere and at anytime. The search for individuality and meaning by the modern man The different ways in which power is presented Progression does not necessarily mean success, for example, the prison system The Change: People’s lives depend on the type of power and knowledge present. Materialism through science and technology, overtook the spiritual and meaningful side of a man’s life The centrality of life is no longer on man, but capitalism and progression. The Book of Change: Our lives are dominated by what surrounds us, such as the knowledge and power present. There is no one time more important than the other.

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2003 Abstracts Stage 3

Redeeming Mozart: a philosophical exploration of “Amadeus”

The investigation is based on Peter Shaffer’s screenplay Amadeus, an elaborate story of the relationship between the legendary musician Wolfgang Mozart and his contemporary counterpart Antonio Salieri. Critics have interpreted the film in various ways, however its philosophical content had been left untouched. The project’s first concern is the identification of two philosophical trends within the characters of the play – Mozart being aligned to the baroque and Salieri portraying notions of traditional philosophy. The interaction of the characters in the plot in this context raises new philosophical issues such as creativity, genius, autonomy and the concept of God and also displays the philosophical influence over mans interaction with his surroundings. This discussion takes place alongside Walter Benjamin’s similar interpretation of Trauerspiel, The Origin of German Tragic Drama. The project’s second concern lies not in the content of the film but in its creation and subsequent afterlife. Shaffer constructed the play on fragments of truth regarding the real Mozart, which he then exaggerated and developed into a fictional story. This process of destruction and reconstruction is investigated in relation to Walter Benjamin’s theory of the mortification of art in which art is constantly reinterpreted to produce new meaning. Benjamin argues that through the creation of new meaning the original object is redeemed. It is the final concern of the project to investigate this theory and explore to what extent Mozart has been redeemed by Amadeus. The result is a project that not only investigates the baroque concepts of afterlife, mortification and redemption but also illustrates these notions in its method of exploration.

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2002 Abstracts Stage 3

Baroque and ‘the Wasp Factory’

‘The Wasp Factory’ – Written in 1984 by Ian Banks – Tells the story of Frank aged 16 – The murders: · Aged 6 kills his cousin Blyth by poisoning him · Aged 8 kills his brother Paul with a bomb · Aged 11 kills his cousin Esmerelda with a kite – Eric his older brother is on the run from a mental hospital The ruin – Represented by the rusting old bomb on the beach, causes the death of Paul – Is a baroque symbol due to the melancholy contemplation of ruin and death The Labyrinth – Represented by the wasp factory that gives the book its title – Popular baroque image as it represents uncertainty, riddle and melancholy The inevitable arrival of catastrophe – The arrival of Eric, a destructive force represents the arrival of catastrophe – His progress is fragmented and there is an increasing awareness of catastrophe, which causes insecurity The androgynous other – Frank represents the androgynous other. Totally unaware of his gender or sexuality he is a baroque image – Women are regarded as the weaker sex and Frank agrees with the baroque notion that humans are weak due to their sexuality

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2002 Abstracts Stage 3

The Fortunes of a Little Tick

Background · I have a biological background and a deep interest in nature. · Throughout my degree I have looked at Darwinian evolution, in the past I have compared Darwin with Nietzsche Ethology · Ethology is looking at the behaviour of an organism within its environment. · Writers such as Deleuze have applied ethology to philosophy. Sources · Incorporations: Guattari’s essay ‘Regimes, Pathways, Subjects’ Deleuze’s work ‘Ethology: Spinoza and Us’ Key Points · Both writers provide alternatives to the positivistic study of nature, evolution and science · They teach us that we should look at the world around us from where we are. · Most importantly it must be realised the animal being studied is never separable from its relations with the world · Ethology is fragmented, · The rise of powerful technologies leads us to a point in history where progress is irreversible Examples 1. Little Hans · As a child little Hans maintains his innocence and can look at the world like an ethologist. · In his eyes the Plough horse is more similar to an ox than to a race horse. 2. The tick. · We should look at the tick by the capacities it is capable of. The tick responds to three things in three ways: 1.Light, 2. Olfactive, 3.Thermal · The tick, like every living creature has an Umwelt. Conclusions · We are loosing track of sustainable development. History is becoming irreversible. Maybe ethology can help? · Deleuze succeeds in presenting us with an alternative way of looking at the world. Instead of the positivistic categorising we must look at the world from where we are. · Guattari suggests we must think about sustainability; we can’t stay where we are now, otherwise we will destroy our planet.

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2002 Abstracts Stage 3

Image and Reality: Blurred?

What? Discovering if our scientific and technological advances have caused our society to blur the distinctions between Image and Reality. Have our images, and signs become our reality or has our reality turned into an image? How? 1. By looking at the way our world is represented in art and using art and like concepts to get a view of the world. 2. By looking at advertising and mass media and discovering what part they play in this blurring it there is one. Who? Jean Baudrillard The Ecstasy of Communication. Simulacra and Simulation. Danto Philosophizing Art. De Thierry Kant after Duchamp. Walter Benjamin The Work of Art in the age of mechanical Reproduction. When? The 20th Century specifically after 1960 Where? University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne Fine Art Department, students. Why? Am interested to find out where we are today in our ways of interpreting the world around us and I feel that the image and reality issues are particularly influential in our lives.

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2002 Abstracts Stage 3

Human Knowledge and Power

‘Among all the mutations that have affected the knowledge of things and their order, the knowledge of identities, differences, characters, equivalences, words . . . only one, that which began a century and a half ago and is now perhaps drawing to a close, has made it possible to for the figure of man to appear . . . It was the effect of a change in the fundamental arrangements of knowledge. As the archaeology of our thought easily shows, man is an invention of recent date. And one perhaps nearing its end,’ (Foucault, 1966, p422). ‘Power and knowledge directly imply one another . . . there is no power relation without the correlative constitution of a field of knowledge, nor any knowledge that does not presuppose and constitute at the same time power relations,’ (Foucault, 1977, p27). Titles: 1) Is it possible for knowledge to exist independently from changes occurring throughout the history of humans? 2) Is it possible to have a shared system of knowledge, such as education, without the autonomy of the individual being destroyed? Concepts: By studying the ways of thought before and after the rise of science it is clear to see how much the ‘knowledge’ of the world has actually changed throughout time; ideas previously held to be true, and upon which many based their beliefs about reality, were disproved with new perspectives of gaining truth. If knowledge is continuously changing then how is it ever possible to say that anyone knows anything? If this is not possible then what is the aim of education, to bring autonomy or control? Objectives: · To show how theories about knowledge have changed throughout time, with particular reference to Foucault’s idea that knowledge is dependent upon the system of thought in a period of time. · To question whether knowledge exists merely as persisting human self-delusion; humans need to feel that they are able to understand the world otherwise there is no possibility of controlling it. · To apply these ideas to the educational system, questioning whether its aim is to encourage autonomous thinking within individuals, or whether it is merely a means of encouraging a stable society through control of what the individual is able to ‘know’ about the world. · To apply Foucault’s idea of ‘power/knowledge’ to ‘Life After George,’ a play illustrating the idea that humans, although enjoying the idea of being free, actually feel more autonomous in a society where their ideas and actions are placed under the control of others. Main Sources: Foucault, M, 1966, ‘The Order of Things – An Archaeology of the Human Sciences,’ Tavistock/Routledge, Guildford Foucault, M, 1977, ‘Discipline and Punish,’ Allen Lane, London Rayson, H, 2001, ‘Life After George,’ Nick Hern Books Limited, London