The author Terrell Carver assesses the Marx’s social theory in his book (Marx’s Social Theory). This is a fascinating account of Terrell Carver about Marx’s social theory. Writer discusses the influence of Marx on almost every discipline of knowledge from aesthetics to theology, including anthropology, geography, jurisprudence, and history, almost all branches of philosophy, political science and psychology.…
The author begins with highlighting the advantages of virtuous life and moves on to practices that can transform impulsive and destructive emotions into calm abiding one. Gradually, the book introduce more challenging and sustained meditation practises. These meditation practises will lead the reader to the most profound and deepest insights of buddhist practice.These practices help us to work on our weaknesses rather than focusing on what other people see and how they act.Through this book, one is able to start a shift from the way he thinks to the way he interacts. It guides a person to open new pathways in seeing the world and all creation as something unique yet…
One of the most prominent aspects of transcendentalism in Dead Poet Society is non-conformity. In “Self-reliance” by Ralph Waldo Emerson, whom is a transcendentalist author, he converses about conformity. According to Emerson, conformity takes away a person's individualism. This quote from Emerson’s “Self Reliance” explains his thoughts on conformity, “Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members…. The virtue in most request is conformity. Self-reliance is its aversion. It loves not realities and creators, but names and customs” (Emerson Self-Reliance). This quote reveals that according to Emerson, conforming is the worst thing about society because it takes…
In the two essays “Self Reliance” and “Civil Disobedience, written Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau respectively, the two 19th century transcendentalists speak about what it means to be an individual and how society can be changed for the better. While both authors stress the need for nonconformity and individuality, the essays differ on the details.…
The opinion that self and society are detached from one another is not a new one; in fact, it is an opinion that has been expounded on in the essay “Nature” by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Emerson shares McCandless’s reverence for the transformative power of nature. He discusses in great detail how the presence of nature can transform people into a purer, more enlightened…
Relying on one’s self, perceived through the eyes of Ralph Waldo Emerson, is seemingly the only way to show a man’s true genius and goodness to society. Transcendentalism, continually associated with Emerson and his essay “Self-reliance”, announces how the belief in one’s self and one’s ideals pushes away society’s conformity nature, and creates new ideas and questions. Throughout Emerson’s essay, he preaches for society to break away from traditional values, maintain open-minds, and embrace change without unnecessary contradiction. Emerson discusses all of these aspects by metaphorically comparing man’s freedom to understandable objects/situations, alluding to religion, and analyzing the relationship between man’s mind and nature.…
Kamo no Chomei is a Japanese Buddhist who wrote a memoir An Account of My Hermitage. Written in 1212, Chomei accounts his experience from detaching himself from loss and society by simplifying his life and living in a ten-by-ten-foot cabin. There, he protects himself from loss and prevailing from misery. “Zen Stories” from Sand and Pebbles are a compilation of wisdom stories written by Muju, a Zen priest. Written in the thirteenth century, these Buddhist wisdom stories are told in wacky, humorous, and startling ways.…
“There were no longer any questions of wealth, of social distinction and importance, only people condemned to the same fate – still unknown.” This quote really marks me because it shows that when people are in a state of panic or uncertainty, they forget about the conventions of society, of any prejudices they once held and live together.…
Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim, Max Weber and Georg Simmel are the dominant classical voices when studying or analyzing the rise of civilization from a more cooperative, collective feudal social order to a modern capitalistic society. All four of these sociological philosophers contributed to the contemporary understanding of the nature of society and social change. Each of them eventually surmised that economic conditions directly influenced the relationship between individuals and their fellows, and individuals and their world. Although they had differences in their viewpoints, they were acutely concerned with the evolving market society and its effect on human interaction. Marx developed his concept of “alienation”, Durkheim expressed thoughts on social solidarity, Weber and Simmel emphasized how the emergence of capitalism affected the way people think, making the rational calculation of means and ends more ubiquitous and placing significant importance on rationalism and disenchantment. The outcome for the modern citizen was not naturally grounded in humanitarianism…
Throughout this essay we will try to use concepts that explain this breakdown of thoughts and every day actions. We will explain in detail why we chose this situation and what relation our situation has to the study of sociation. We are describing and explaining our situation using course concepts. We will show how these concepts help identify certain parts of our situation clearly and more scrupulously.…
This idea was originally suggested by Oscar Lewis in his study of poor people in Mexico. Lewis argued that poor people in a class-stratified and high individualistic society were likely to develop a set of cultural values that trapped them in their poverty. It is important to stress the ideas of class and individualism, for Lewis is not arguing that these people are necessary deficient, he believes they are caught in a society that really does put barriers in their paths – but that the poor themselves help ensure that they are trapped by developing a set of values that prevent them from breaking out of poverty. These cultural values include a sense of fatalism and acceptance of their poverty, an inability to think long term and a desire for immediate enjoyment.…
Society is flawed. There are critical imbalances in it that cause much of humanity to suffer. In, the most interesting work from this past half-semester, The Communist Manifesto, Karl Marx is reacting to this fact by describing his vision of a perfectly balanced society, a communist society. Simply put, a communist society is one where all property is held in common. No one person has more than the other, but rather everyone shares in the fruits of their labors. Marx is writing of this society because, he believes it to be the best form of society possible. He states that communism creates the correct balance between the needs of the individual and the needs of society. And furthermore thinks that sometimes violence is necessary to reach the state of communism. This paper will reflect upon these two topics: the relationship of the individual and society, and the issue of violence, as each is portrayed in the manifesto.…
Community and identity are highly epazied when Lenina says, "Everyone works for everyone else. We can't do without any one. Even Epsilons"(Huxley 91). No matter who you are, no matter what class you are everyone is working together and everyone benefits from this phrase. The social castes move from the Alphas, the most talented and beautiful people in society, to the Epsilons and Gammas, the world's less talented and smart. The most important meaning in that phrase is “Stability” because only through stability can happiness be maintained and all unpleasant feelings and emotions can be deleted. Without stability in this society there will be no community, identity, and happiness. Each person’s conditioning causes him to feel as if they are all part of one a social system. This phrase is later pointed out that this system sincerely benefits those who rule and run it, not those who are part of it. For example, in the text Brave New World it states, "The more stitches the less riches"(51). The phrase is set so deeply go into the awareness of everyone that they take it’s meaning to be reality. In this case, the phrase sparks consumer behavior, if people fix their own clothes than rather buying it the companies are not going to make money. Resulting in much less cash within the economic system of society. Creating consumption is one of the leader responsibilities of government because…
Alienation, a concept that became widely known during the 19th and 20th century has been looked at extensively by a number of leading theorists. Theorists such as Georg Hegel first used the idea of alienation as a philosophic idea, but his work was later grasped upon by theorists known as Ludwig Feuerbach and more importantly Karl Marx. The world till now has been witness to a change in different social structures and forms in which society operates. We as human beings must ask, what purpose do we serve within society? What means do we have to sustain an effective or prosperous way of living? Marx believed we have been through different economic stages and ownership of the things we need to live, beginning with the times of the ancient to feudalism (land granted from the crown) to now where we have arrived at capitalism (private ownership). He saw this as historical stages of development where each stage has the characteristics of a system of production and division of labour, forms of property ownership and a system of class relations (Morrison,K.1995:40). This brought forward Marx’s idea of historical materialism which centred on how to interpret the history of mankind and the development of one stage of society to the next. In turn it looks for reasons for changes in human society and how humans together produced the necessary requirements to live. In relation to historical materialism there was another idea of dialectal materialism. This was a term used by Marx to study natural phenomena, the evolution of society and human thought itself as a process of development which rests upon motion and contradiction (Clapp,R: Acc 10/11/2012). Marx further explains historical and dialectical materialism which will be looked at further in the essay. By understanding how humans produce the necessities to live (historical materialism) and how a way of reasoning helps us to see the growth…
Vladimir Lenin, a Russian political theorist, said, “For our attitude towards this phenomenon to be a politically conscious one, it must be realized that no natural science and no materialism can hold its own in the struggle against the onslaught of [. . .] ideas and restoration [. . .]” (Lenin). Lenin is talking about how it takes more than materialism to keep the lower class oppressed. The first thing the upper class in the World State does is creates classes in order to make people lose their sense of individuality. The Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning describes the reason they do this to Mr. Foster on the subject of Bernard. The director states that the life of a “mere individual” is insignificant over the life of the society (Huxley 148). This paraphrase clearly states it is society that is really important, not the individual; therefore individualism must be taken away. Secondly, they get their workers ensnared in their work with no extra time. Mond is speaking to some Alphas when he stated, “Now-such is progress- the old men work, the old men copulate, the old men have no time, no leisure from pleasure, not a moment to sit down and think [. . .]” (Huxley 55). Giving the lower class no time to sit down and think makes their realization of oppression incomprehensible. Lastly, the World State literally takes away individualism! John is grieving over his mother…