Feminist Epistemology Essay Example for Free

Feminist Epistemology Essay Abstract In this paper I analyze the potential of Allison Jaggar’s suggestion that emotions in general, and outlaw emotions in particular, be incorporated into feminist epistemology. Jaggar advocates a standpoint theory of emotions, and suggests that the emotions of the oppressed in particular are helpful rather than inimical to acquiring knowledge. I argue that although there are some potential problems with Jaggar’s approach, these problems are common to standpoint theories and can be addressed by applying the solutions offered by other feminist theorists. One common criticism made by feminist epistemologists[i] is the critique of traditional epistemology’s notions of objectivity and neutrality. As Naomi Scheman puts it, in traditional epistemology â€Å"[t]hose who are taken to be in the best position to know are those who are believed to be objective, distanced, dispassionate, independent, and nonemotionally rational† (3-4). [ii] According to Allison Jaggar, the result of this conception of the knower in modern epistemology is a sharp distinction between reason and emotion where reason is privileged because emotions are viewed as involuntary responses that distort our rational observations of the world, which in turn distort the knowledge we can gain from these observations (1992). She further argues that this distinction contributes to the denial of women’s epistemic authority since women are associated with emotions and men with reason, and so men became the standard by which epistemic authority is judged. This is just one of many concerns feminist epistemologists share. However, there are many dissimilarities between feminists as to how to deal with the problems in traditional epistemology. [iii] One approach that I will focus on in this paper is feminist standpoint theory, particularly the standpoint theory offered by Jaggar in â€Å"Love and Knowledge: Emotions in Feminist Epistemology. † What Jaggar aims to accomplish in her paper is to â€Å"begin bridging the gap [between emotion and knowledge] through the suggestion that emotions may be helpful and even necessary rather than inimical to the construction of knowledge† (1992, 146). The bridge she wants to build includes a methodology for identifying biases of the dominant group that leads to false appraisals of the world. This methodology relies on the notion that perspective can be altered by the way one is situated in the world, particularly how one’s situatedness can affect one’s emotional perspective and response. I will explain the concept of emotional perspective and response in a moment, but I want to first note that the type of emotions she thinks are important to feminist epistemologists are outlaw emotions—which are emotional responses that do not follow or support the values and norms we have been taught to accept. Because outlaw emotions are usually a negative response to norms and values, they can help us identify which biases are causing errors in our methods of seeking knowledge. The point that Jaggar wants to make clear is that impartiality in our epistemic methods is impossible, therefore, we should give up on the notion of impartiality and work towards identifying biases that will better guide our epistemic endeavors. There is much debate between feminists over the potential of feminist standpoint epistemologies, yet, I think that Jaggar’s methodology warrants some consideration. [iv] However, because she offers just a sketch of how emotions might be incorporated into epistemology, there are some aspects of her theory that are problematic. The first problem is that standpoint theories seem to neglect the differing experiences of particular individuals within groups by trying to speak about the experiences of these groups in general. The second problem is that Jaggar needs to address how to distinguish which outlaw emotions could potentially further feminist interests from the other emotions, outlaw or otherwise. The general aim of this paper, then, is to initiate an investigation into whether Jaggar’s proposal will be a fruitful endeavor for feminist epistemologists. The more specific aim of this paper is to point out some of the potential problems that arise from her theory, as a feminist theory, and to offer some potential solutions for these problems, some of which are solutions that feminists have previously used to answer similar problems in other feminist theories. 1. Jaggar’s View Jaggar argues that theories that make the distinction between reason and emotion as it pertains to knowledge are mistaken in that they falsely assume emotions are involuntary responses that can be separated from reason. Jaggar contends that most emotions are socially constructed, intentional, and can influence our perceptions of the world. For example, when someone feels anger at a slight from a friend, this anger arises not as an involuntary response, but rather there is a judgment being made about the way friends ought to behave and the response of anger is the appropriate emotion that corresponds with one’s expectations being disappointed. We form beliefs about what constitutes a slight by a friend at the same time as we learn what our society values as appropriate friendship behavior and appropriate responses to different experiences—say affection as a response to respect from one’s friends and anger to disrespect. The idea that emotions are constructed suggests that socialization influences our appraisals of the world and the judgments we make are often emotional responses to observations that reflect the norms and values of our society. For example, when someone tells a joke the expected response is for a person to be amused. However, my being amused by a joke presupposes a number of social conditions. For instance, when we hear something like ‘a priest, a rabbi, and a duck walk into a bar’ we immediately feel an anticipatory amusement, since we recognize this as a joke formula. [v] If I do not recognize this formula then my lack of understanding could cause me to not share the same social experience as the other people who are hearing the same joke. Second, in order to find the joke amusing I must not only understand the language in which the joke is told, but also the content of the joke. I must share the same appraisal of the world in order to actually be amused by the punch line. Third, emotional responses are neither automatic nor passive in the sense that we have no control over them. I may be amused and laugh at a joke of this type. However, I may not laugh if I find the joke to be in bad taste even though not laughing when amusement is anticipated often creates moments of social tension and discomfort. The important thing to note here is that in both cases whether or not I am amused can be a deliberate conscious decision. From this example, we can see why Jaggar suggests that, â€Å"every emotion presupposes an evaluation of some aspect of the environment while, and conversely, every evaluation or appraisal of the situation implies that those who share the evaluation will share, ceteris paribus, a predictable emotional response to the situation† (1992, 153). Just as I would have to share a similar appraisal of the world in order to understand the punch line of a joke, I am also influenced by those preconceived notions to think the joke is funny. At the very least, I am conditioned to some extent to recognize a joke when I hear one and laugh when I think laughter is the expected response. Jaggar thinks it is important to recognize that emotions play a role in how we seek knowledge, given that if we maintain the distinction between emotion and reason in epistemology, then this distinction will influence whom we think are good epistemic agents: namely, dispassionate investigators who can keep their emotions from interfering with their observations. Ironically, because the notion of a dispassionate investigator is considered the ideal, we are biased in our assessment of who is a good investigator and who is not. Note that Jaggar is not saying we are not being impartial enough in our assessment of investigators; rather she is saying our bias in favour of the dispassionate is inhibiting because emotion is an essential part of knowledge. Moreover, the distinction between emotion and reason is problematic, as Jaggar points out, because â€Å"reason has been associated with members of dominant political, social, and cultural groups and emotion with members of subordinate groups†, like â€Å"people of color†¦and women† (1992, 157). The result of the false distinction between emotion and reason is that it produces a myth about investigators that functions in a circular pattern where the myth reinforces the oppression of those who are perceived as emotional, while the oppression reinforces the myth that it is bad to be emotional. In order to give a full account of what it means to be a good investigator, then, we should acknowledge how emotions function to produce passionate investigators who are reliable observers. The first point Jaggar thinks a full account should include is that in many ways emotions are socially constructed in a way that reflects the norms and values of our society, and that this emotional construction influences our evaluations and observations of the world. The second aspect of the social construction of our emotional constitution she wants to point out is that our emotional construction is not complete in the sense that there are people who do not always respond to or evaluate particular situations in a manner that reflects social norms and values. Jaggar calls these unconventional emotional responses and evaluations â€Å"outlaw† emotions, and states that they are usually experienced by â€Å"subordinated individuals who pay a disproportionately high price for maintaining the status quo† (1992, 160). However, when the distinction between emotion and reason is maintained biases against emotional responses in general and unconventional emotional responses in particular, are disregarded. For example, a woman may feel anger or fear when a sexist joke is made, but when she tries to voice her opinion she is told either that she did not understand the joke or that she has no sense of humour. Thus, when the distinction is maintained it makes it difficult, if not impossible, to realize that the joke is not funny because it is based on a negative stereotype. That is to say, it is not acknowledge that the stereotype and the expected emotional response is dictated by the current norms and values. Furthermore, because a woman, who may already be identified as a bad observer, is pointing out that there may be a mistake in our way of thinking, her response is disregarded as emotional and unreliable, and the oppressive norms and values go unquestioned. 2. Jaggar’s Methodology and Potential Problems The benefit of ridding ourselves of epistemologies that do not acknowledge the role of emotions, both conventional and unconventional, is that we can begin to recognize which norms and values are causing harmful biases and negative stereotypes. Furthermore, Jaggar claims that feminist outlaw emotions—which are outlaw emotions that â€Å"incorporate feminist perceptions and values†Ã¢â‚¬â€are particularly useful in feminist epistemology because they â€Å"can help in developing alternatives to prevailing reality by motivating new investigations†¦Feminist emotions provide a political motivation for investigation and so help determine the selection of problems as well as the method by which they are investigated† (1992, 161). Although Jaggar meant to offer a rough sketch of some of the changes that need to be made to our epistemic theories and practices, I think there are  some potential problems that need to be addressed. For one, I think she needs to say more about how we should determine which emotions will lead to fruitful norms and values, and which emotions we should reject. To her credit, it seems that Jaggar recognizes this is a question that needs to be addressed given that she tries to give reasons for why â€Å"certain alternative perceptions of the world, perceptions informed by outlaw emotions, are to be preferred to perceptions informed by conventional norms† (1992, 161). She claims the reason women’s outlaw emotions should be given consideration is because women are not members of the group that conventional beliefs about emotions privilege. Given that women experience the consequences of not being privileged, they are not as likely to adhere to these norms without question. Hence, they are better able to articulate the negative aspects of their experiences because they do not fear that this questioning of norms will threaten their privileged status. The problem with this response is that it does not seem to fully answer the question, because some outlaw emotions will not provide reliable guides to identifying biases, and so the difficulty will be distinguishing which emotions are reliable from those that are not. In order to give a more robust argument for why we should give special consideration to the emotions of oppressed people she needs to first address the fact that the â€Å"oppressed† do not share one perspective. As pointed out by Marilyn Frye, one problem with making claims about the standpoint of women’s emotional perspectives is that such claims seem to presuppose there are universal types of emotions—outlaw or otherwise—that are consistent throughout the emotions experienced by women. Frye notes that this is a mistake often made by feminists given that it is common for epistemological theories to espouse that â€Å"all knowers are essentially alike, that is, are essentially like oneself: one thinks that one speaks not just as oneself, but as a human being† (35). What happens in feminist theorizing as a response to this attitude is feminists become convinced they need to speak as â€Å"Women† in order to be taken seriously. As Frye points out, feminists often face the difficult task of trying to articulate â€Å"the circumstances, experience and perception of those who are historically, materially, culturally constructed by or through the concept women. But the differences among women across cultures, locales and generations make it clear that although all female humans may live lives shaped by the concepts of Woman, they are not all shaped by the same concept of Woman† (36). [vi] The point I want to stress from this passage is that not all women will experience the same emotions in the same contexts because we are formed by different concepts of â€Å"Woman† even though women in general face oppression in one form or another. In response to the problem of women’s differing experiences, Frye suggests feminists approach epistemology with a different methodology. That is, a methodology that will allow women to give meaning to their own experiences even though they are not experiences that are shared by all women. Part of this project entails that feminists give up the notion of a universal women’s experience. Another part is that they listen to many different women’s experiences and look for patterns of similarity. Frye suggests this methodology will result in the following: The experiences of each woman and of the women collectively generate a new web of meaning. Our process has been one of discovering, recognizing, and creating patterns—patterns within which experience made a new kind of sense, or in instances, for the first time made any sense at all. Instead of bringing a phase of enquiry to closure by summing up what is known, as other ways of generalizing do, pattern recognition/constructions opens fields of meaning and generates new interpretive possibilities. Instead of drawing conclusions from observations, it generates observations. (39) I think this methodology will be helpful in pointing out the outlaw emotions that can offer guidance as to which of our norms and values are questionable, and opens a dialogue over potential ways to change them. The methodology Frye advocates can be further developed if we consider potential ways in which women can express their experiences such that patterns can be recognized. One approach that I find particularly convincing is offered by Morwenna Griffiths. Griffiths suggests that feminist epistemologists can employ autobiographical accounts of women’s experiences as a means of articulating the differences between women’s experiences. Like Frye, Griffiths also notes that there is no one experience common to all women. However, Griffiths further claims that, â€Å"[i]ndividuals are not entirely of one group or another. On the contrary, individuals are fragments of an uncertain number of groups† (62). The conclusion she draws from this point is that it is an oversimplification to limit the types of knowledge humans can acquire into categories like women’s knowledge. One person can experience oppression from the perspective of more than one position. To name a few, one may experience oppressions from the perspectives of a particular race, class, gender, or sexual orientation, and intersections of these. For example, the oppression experienced by a native woman is not the same as that experienced by a native man or that experienced by a white woman. Hence, Griffiths suggests that one’s positions in the world at different times can contribute to her understanding of the world, which in turn will influence the knowledge she can acquire about the world. Noting the different positions from which an individual can have experiences and acquire knowledge is important because it suggests that there can be similarities between the positions we occupy and the individual experiences we have. This potential to have similar experiences of the world further suggests that similarities in experience make it the case that we are not completely denied access to other people’s understanding of the world. The reason Griffiths thinks autobiographical accounts are a crucial feature of feminist epistemology is because the way in which individuals come to find similarities in experiences is through language. To further clarify her point, she argues that, language has a considerable power to determine what we see and do, but this power is not absolute. We also create new language, by working on the languages in which we live. Individual experience can be used in creation knowledge in combinations with the experiences of others. Groups can develop languages of their own if they share particular psychosocial, social and linguistic experiences. Thus women in society, for instance, who share particular positions within it can develop a way of talking about this. (66) In short, Griffiths suggests that language is key to feminist epistemology because it points out how women with different experiences can nonetheless come to some consensuses on the oppressions they experience and the knowledge developed from these experiences. 3. Conclusion I think that if we incorporate Griffiths’ and Frye’s approach on Jaggar’s theory what we will find is a more tenable response to questions about which outlaw emotions can be regarded as being particular to women: namely, patterns of outlaw emotions that feminists have recognized through the expression of different women’s autobiographical accounts. And once we can start pointing out the commonalities between the different perspectives that arise from the standpoint of different women, we can begin show that there is something about women’s reality that makes it the case that they are experiencing the world differently than men. I have not even scratched the surface with respect to giving a detailed explanation of exactly how Jaggar thinks a fully functional theory of outlaw emotions might look. However, I am assuming that once theorists start admitting that emotion is an integral part of epistemology the intricate details of how to identify fruitful outlaw emotions will be worked out. For instance, we might be able to start identifying patterns of emotions that could be considered outlaw emotions and which norms and values that they are a response to. And this recognition will further our abilities to start questioning the norms and values that guide our epistemic practices. I think this is the sort of thing Jaggar had in mind when she states that the benefit of bridging the gap between emotion and knowledge is that our emotions, when properly accessed, â€Å"may contribute to the development of knowledge, so the growth of knowledge may contribute to the development of appropriate emotions† (1992,163). The development of this project may be slow and arduous, but given the problems that exist in traditional epistemology I think Jaggar’s project seems worthy of consideration as a potential contributor to a solution. NOTES [i] For the purposes of this paper I will equate feminist epistemologists with feminists philosophers of science given that there are many overlapping interests between the two. [ii] For similar arguments, particularly with respect to how positivism had contributed to the notion of the ideal objective knower, see Jaggar (1992) and (1983), especially pp. 355-358; Code (1993). [iii] As noted by Louise Antony, â€Å"For discussions of epistemological frameworks available to feminists, see Sandra Harding, The Science Question in Feminism, (Ithaca, N. Y. : Cornell University Press, 1986), especially pp. 24-29; Mary Hawkesworth, â€Å"Feminist Epistemology: A Survey of the Field,† Women and Politics 7 (1987): 112-124; and Hilary Rose, â€Å"Hand, Brain, and Heart: A feminist Epistemology for the Natural Sciences,† Signs 9, 11 (1983): 73-90. † (Antony 2002, Note 3). [iv] For discussion of Feminist Standpoint Theory, see Bar On (1993); Harding (1993); Longino (1993). For a more general analysis of essentialism in feminist theorizing, see Spelman (1988). [v] Thanks to Elizabeth Brake for clarifying the distinction between the emotion of amusement and the behavior of laughter, as well as supplying me with an example of amusement anticipation. [vi] Jaggar does mention that she is speaking â€Å"very generally of people and their emotions, as though everyone experienced similar emotions and dealt with them in similar ways† (Jaggar 1992, 157). And she further notes that â€Å"it is an axiom of feminist theory†¦that all generalizations about ‘people’ are suspect† (Jaggar 1992, 157). So she does, at the very least, seem to recognize that she may fall prey to Frye’s criticism. However, she goes on to argue that making generalizations about the emotionality of women is part of how the epistemic authority of men is perpetuated, and she does not address the issue of how she should deal with the problem as it applies to standpoint theory. I find this particularly odd given that in another work she claims that part of the project of feminist ethics entails that feminists be sensitive to the fact that all women are not similarly situated in such a way that universal claims can be made about them even though there are commonalities between women’s situatedness at times. (Jaggar 1991). So, although I am uncertain as to why she does not deal with problems that might arise from this issue as it applies to standpoint theory, I gather that she would welcome rather than reject feminist theories that could aid her in avoiding this problem as it would apply to feminist epistemology. BIBLIOGRAPHY Alcoff, Linda, and Elizabeth Potter. 1993. Feminist epistemologies. New York: Routledge. Antony, Louise. 2002. Quine as a feminist: the radical import of naturalized epistemology. In A mind of one’s own 2nd edition, ed. Louise M. Antony and Charlotte E. Witt. Colorado: Westview Press. Bar On, Bat-Ami. 1993. Marginality and epistemic privilege. In Feminist epistemologies. See Alcoff and Potter 1993. Code, Lorraine. 1993. Taking subjectivity into account. In Feminist epistemologies. See Alcoff and Potter 1993. Frye, Marilyn. 1996. The possibility of feminist theory. In Women, knowledge and reality 2nd edition. ed. Ann Garry and Marilyn Pearsall. New York: Routledge. Griffiths, Morwenna. 1995. Feminisms and the self. New York: Routledge. Harding, Sandra. 1993. Rethinking standpoint epistemology: â€Å"what is strong objectivity†?. In Feminist epistemologies. See Alcoff and Potter 1993. Jaggar, Alison M. 1992. Love and knowledge: emotions in feminist epistemology. In Gender/body/knowledge. ed. Alison M. Jaggar and Susan R. Bordo. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press. . 1991. Feminist ethics: projects, problems, prospects. In Feminist ethics. ed. Claudia Card. Kansas: University Press of Kansas. . 1983. Feminist politics and human nature. New Jersey: Rowman Allanheld Publishers. Longino, Helen E. 1993. Subjects, power and knowledge: description and prescription in feminist philosophies of science. In Feminist epistemologies. See Alcoff and Potter 1993. Scheman, Naomi. 1993. Engenderings: constructions of knowledge, authority, and privilege. New York: Routledge. Spelman, Elizabeth V. 1988. Inessential women: problems of exclusion in feminist thought Boston: Beacon Press.

Finding Ones Self in Jane Smiley’s Moo :: Jane Smiley Moo Essays

Finding One's Self in Jane Smiley’s Moo Finding one's self is not without turmoil. This does not pertain to only the young. It takes some people well into old age before they reach the level of ‘knowing’ who they are. An essential element of this maturation is turbulence. Periodic turbulence gives an individual the opportunity to rise above previous deficiencies of personality and provides levels of self-awareness. There are many ways that people face maturation, and many more ways in which they do or don’t face their ‘demons’. Let’s look at some of the characters in Jane Smiley’s novel, Moo. At Moo University there are plenty of examples of turmoil and growth process’. One of the ways that a person matures is through learning to accept themselves for who they are. Cecelia Sanchez is the assistant professor of foreign languages. An immigrant from Mexico, Cecelia is the first in her family to make something of herself, at least in her family’s eyes. She has done all the right things yet she feels dislocated from herself. On arriving at Moo University she experiences a feeling of displacement, as if she doesn’t belong. In her first weeks there "she would have picked a different source of dislocation." (Smiley, 16). Cecelia’s life turns upside down as she attaches herself to the chaotic world of Chairman X. She attempts to locate herself through him. She shops for "transformative items" (Smiley, 261) in an attempt to remake herself into something that Chairman X will want. It isn’t until Cecelia returns home to Los Angeles for the holidays that she feels "a fourth presence enter the room. It was her own sadness." (Smiley, 266). Cecelia tells Tim, "I come from a family who could have LIVED somewhere, but instead just ended up." (Smiley, 378). Cecelia has decided that she does not want to ‘end up’ somewhere. Her turmoil has led her to realize that she has a choice to ‘end up’ in a place of her choosing, not someone else’s. Other people find through turmoil that it is time to release the myths with which they have surrounded themselves. Chairman X and his lifelong companion, Beth, have made a life for themselves that does not fit into the myth they created many years before. They had never married because they originally believed that they must not "in order to subvert the capitalist tradition of marriage as a property relationship and the consequent intrusion of the corporation into private life.

Disadvantaged Status

Do you wish to be considered a disadvantaged applicant by any of your designated medical schools that may consider such factors (social, economic, or educational)? The initiative in creating change has always been an integral aspect of man. Equipped with their relative skills and competencies, they engage in various efforts to create opportunities that will improve their capabilities and cater to the service of individuals. Amidst the trials and difficulties in the process, hard work and determination remains to be a vital factor in attaining their desired objectives and purpose in life.With this mindset, I wish to present my intention to apply at this prestigious institution. I feel that I should be considered as a disadvantaged applicant because of the fact that I indeed have faced challenges that qualify me for such. At a very young age, I have always been financially challenged and this led to a number of difficulties as well. Not having enough money, I did not have access to cle an water or electricity. Since I was living in a devastated area, I had to walk in fear at night just to get clean water.From an educational standpoint, I could only read in candlelight at night under the covers for fear of being discovered. School was the highlight of my day. Though I had to walk about 10 to 15 miles to school every day, I still looked forward to being able to learn more and escape from the harsh realities of my life by learning about other places. I did not have the benefit of having my own textbook and would share with my more fortunate classes as we were crammed into tiny rooms since there were not enough teachers.Suffice it to say that this experience has not only prepared me for life but it has also taught me the value of a good education. I do not wish to be called disadvantaged because I feel that what I went through was not a disadvantage but more of an advantage since it prepared me for this moment. Coming to America became easier because while I had to wo rk and support myself while in school this was in stark contract from the perilous circumstances of my childhood.I have been working full time most of the time and go to school full time to support myself and my family in Ethiopia financially even though I had financial aid and student loan. I work hard every day because I want to be able to give my family the same opportunity that I had to have a good education and some day be able to live a good life. As such, I will never let my grades fall low, let alone be average. I will work hard to get the best grade for I am confident in myself because I have a strong academic background. I have consistently received the best grades in my high school years until today thanks to my work ethic.As for me, scholarship recipient means taking more responsibilities compare to other students and must be leading other students all the way. I will be the one who will serve role models for other students. That is why I believe that this scholarship is a crucial step for me. My success and my accomplishments here will herald the beginning of the fulfillment of my personal and professional goals. It is said that the one thing that nobody can ever take away from you is your education and that is the one thing that I plan to not only gain for myself but for others as well.While I personally believe that â€Å"there is no such thing as a free lunch† and that everything a person has in life must come from hard work and perseverance, I also believe in charity. I believe in helping others who do not have much in life. I believe in helping people regardless of their nation, race or creed. I believe in being a better person so I can best help myself and others around me. I believe that (Insert Name of University) is the best place for me to turn these beliefs into realities.

The Media And Its Effects On Society - 815 Words

When a person thinks of the word â€Å"criminal† they will probably say it is a corrupt, unintelligent individual that has committed a horrible crime. According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, the word â€Å"criminal† is defined as â€Å"any person involved in illegal activity†. They are often portrayed in novels and movies as horrible and sometimes even inhumane creatures, but being labeled as a criminal could mean the individual has done a crime that was ethically wrong also. Once a person is labeled as a criminal they often face an onslaught of unfair and sometimes unjust prejudice. In addition to being looked down upon, people tend to disregard the accused’s moral stature and their personal dignity. Long ago people thought criminals were awful beings, but today people have less of a harsh definition of criminals. In some ways people today idolize the way criminals act and what they do. The media portrays criminals to be a certain way and that allows society to somehow admire criminals more. In the past criminals faced harsh punishments that would be unspeakable in today’s judicial system. History points to thieves getting their hands chopped off if they were accused of stealing and even beheaded depending on what crime they were accused of. â€Å"Roman and Greek law stated that only slaves were allowed to be tortured, eventually the laws changed and free men were tortured and imprisoned for committing crimes† (Nash). During the Middle Ages, women were often drowned forShow MoreRelatedMedia And Its Effects On Society976 Words   |  4 PagesIn today’s society if one were to walk down a populated sidewalk, it would seem merely impossible to spot a sole not twiddling away on their phone. With an entire world unfolding at their fingertips, we witness a society that has become addicted to media. Used as a powerful source of knowledge and entertainment, media plays an enormous role in the development of human life and gender distinction. Through the use of media, guidelines consisting of generated ideas and ways of living, affect both menRead MoreThe Media And Its Effect On The Society957 Words   |  4 Pageshis loyalty (Vaughn, 2013). The media emphasizes that the rising intensity of the rivalry is the main factor that is resulting in the increase of gang activities, but the lack of questioning by the media on the possible causal factors that lead to the crime limits the understanding of the motives. The media misplaces confidence in the judgments of the SPD, by only questioning for details of the specific shooting and not the factors that may have caused it. The media simply accepting the SPD s claimRead MoreMedia And Its Effects On Society1709 Words   |  7 PagesViolence is much more socially acceptable in today’s society than it was hundreds of years ago, which is mostly caused by technological advances. As technology expanded, so did our generation’s tendency for violence. With all the breakthroughs in social interaction using technology, the media has become a large contributor to society. Coinciding with the first amendment to free speech, the media is a very valuable and powerful tool in spreading information when used for important purposes. HoweverRead MoreMedia And Its Effects On Society1236 Words   |  5 Pageswithout the average American engaging in some form of technology laced with advertisements, whether it be a minute long video prefacing a Yout ube video or a thirty second long Pandora audio commercial. A common theme emerges throughout these forms of media, the subordination of women. TV shows, video games, movies, and songs frequently portray women as objects, dehumanizing them by showing them as being subservient to men, or showing them as adhering to stereotypical behavior. On one hand, some argueRead MoreThe Media And Its Effect On Society1211 Words   |  5 PagesThe media plays a huge role in molding the public mind. The public has a collective thought process of the world and the media is always there to shape up that perception of the world. The Running Man takes place in a dystopian future where the masses are fully controlled by the Government and people are oblivious to their surroundings like a herd of sheep, steered any way the Network desires. The media is the largest outlet for propaganda and there are no competitors to the Network for they haveRead MoreMedia and Its Effects on Society1437 Words   |  6 PagesMedia and its Effects on Society Media plays a crucial role in our life nowadays. It serves as a bridge that connects people to the world, leading to a global exchange of information and knowledge. Media also offers platform for people to voice their thoughts on political and social issues, providing room for different perspectives. Unquestionably, media affects our life in nearly every ways. With a turn of a magazine page, a tune on a radio, or a flip of a TV channel, media somewhat plays a partRead MoreThe Media And Its Effect On Society1622 Words   |  7 Pageslife, or in people society, such as politicians or well-known actresses. Though they re still icons of our day, many people in our technological and media influenced days look toward television, film, books and other forms of arts. However, representation is not always fair nor is it proper when it comes to certain groups of human society. Many people who struggle with discrimination in their daily life, struggle with finding proper and real representatio n in our mainstream media. Minority representationRead MoreThe Media And Its Effect On Society1812 Words   |  8 Pagesthe use of technology has increased, and expanded. Mass media plays a vital role in society. Mass media can be defined as any means of communication, to an extremely large group of people. Technological advancements have been extremely beneficial for prior generations, the generation we now live in, and will be for the future generations to come. Such as, providing news for the world to hear, entertainment, and much more. Some examples of media would be television, films, newspapers, and the InternetRead MoreMedia And Its Effect On Society Essay1892 Words   |  8 Pagesentertainment media have had a positive effect on society? Name Institution An evaluation of the last half decade shows that media and its influence on communities and society at large has expanded significantly with advancement of technology. It is apparent that in the world today, media has an influential role in the daily life of an individual. From the time that a person wakes up to the time they go to bed, they are surrounded in a world that has been developed by media. Initially thereRead MoreEffects Of The Media On Society2469 Words   |  10 PagesChapter 3: Effects of the Media Though war contributed to changes in society, the media was the driving factor behind changes including the fixation with beauty among women. Magazines had the ability to perpetuate the already emerging ideals. The idea of self-improvement became a very popular topic in the 1920s seen across all women’s magazines, contributing to the progression from the middle class women to the New Woman. This â€Å"New Woman† was one of beauty and fun with â€Å"admiration and lasting

Animal Testing Should Not Be Banned - 2133 Words

Everybody also can not deny that humans have tried a lot of ways to improve the life’s environment for laboratory animals in order to repay and respect what laboratory animals have done for humans. For example, humans put the efforts to build the wild environment in the lab room and maintain the breed for them. Or humans just use the animals who have a short reproduction. In addition, humans also attempt to find the method which can replace animal testing. According to Hunts in Forests of Borneo Aims to Track down Natural Drugs, Philip Shenon demonstrated that not only laboratory animal but also the plants can use for experiments, but also the plants can do it too. The tree Calophyllum Lanigerum has been shown to destroy HIV without destroying the health cells in the laboratory tests(Shenon). Nevertheless, these methods which seem to replace animal testing are too new and too less. Therefore, animal testing have created the damage in animals, but it could not compare to what a nimals test has done for humans. Although humans can not save animals’ rights by banning animal testing, humans try reduce the pain for animals when we apply the anesthetics in animal dissection, â€Å"Mice were anesthetized with isoflurane and exposed to it intermittently during the grafting procedure†(Ahn). Humans piecemeal understand the feeling of laboratory animals, so humans will never stop finding a new method in order to create the benefit for animals and good effect for animal testing. After aShow MoreRelatedShould Animal Testing Be Banned?844 Words   |  3 PagesShould animal testing be banned? Nowadays, a lot of animals has been tested on a range of experiments over the world. You could be supporting animal teasing cruelty without knowing it. Have you ever check if there’s animal testing on the cosmetics before you buy it? Today, a lot of cosmetics has been testing on helpless animals and there are about 1.4 million animals die each year from animal testing ( CatalanoJ, 1994). Most of the experiments that are completed in the laboratories are very cruelRead MoreAnimal Testing Should Be Banned880 Words   |  4 Pagesdepending on animals testing. Therefore, if people talk about laboratories, they should remember animal experiments. Those animals have the right to live, according to people who dislike the idea of doing testing on animals; the other opinion, supports the idea of animal testing as the important part of the source of what has reached medicine of the results and solutions for diseases prevalent in every time and place. Each year huge numbers of animals a re sacrificed for the science all these animals, whetherRead MoreAnimal Testing Should Be Banned776 Words   |  4 PagesAnimal Testing Should be Banned  ¨Over 100 million animals are burned, crippled, poisioned and abused in US labs every year ¨ ( ¨11 Facts About Animal Testing ¨). Imagine if that was someones animal getting tortured in labs just to test things such as beauty products and perfume. Animal testing was first suggested when,  ¨Charles Darwin evolutionary theory in the mid 1850s also served to suggest that animals could serve as effective models to facilitate biological understanding in humans ¨ (Murnaghan)Read MoreAnimal Testing Should Not Be Banned940 Words   |  4 Pages1). Over 100 million animals are burned, crippled, poisoned, and abused in US labs every year. 2). 92% of experimental drugs that are safe and effective in animals fail in human clinical trials. (DoSomething â€Å"11 Facts About Animal Testing†). There are currently no laws combating the testing of cosmetics on animals, but the practice is harmful and must be ended. As evidenced by the statistics above, millions of animals are tortured and murdered in the United States every year for virtually no reasonRead MoreShould Animal Testing Be Banned?1665 Words   |  7 PagesTesting Cosmetics on Animals Companies around the world use animals to test cosmetics. Animals, such as rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, rats, and mice, are used to test the effects of chemicals on the eyes and skin. While animal testing is not mandatory, many companies use it. About Cosmetics Animal Testing by the Humane Society International talks about the different options companies have that do not require the cruel use and eventual death of animals. The article also talks about the overallRead MoreAnimal Testing Should Not Be Banned1572 Words   |  7 PagesAnimal Testing Every year, over two hundred million innocent animals are injured or killed in scientific experiments across the world. Of those animals, between seventeen and twenty million are used in the United States alone. It is said that an animal dies in a laboratory every three seconds (Animal Testing 101). Those in favor of animal experimentation say they are taking animals’ lives to save humans. It is not necessary to subject animals to torturous conditions or painful experiments in theRead MoreAnimal Testing Should Not Be Banned1581 Words   |  7 PagesAnimal testing is being used by different organizations all over the world to prevent specific diseases, especially cancer. Americans see animal testing having a harmful effect but it is one of the main reasons why society has most cures for some illnesses. This topic is important because people need to know what goes on during animal testing and why it is very beneficial. Animal testing needs to be used to find all cures. Some ani mals such as chimps/ monkeys have 90% of the same DNA humans haveRead MoreAnimal Testing Should Not Be Banned1721 Words   |  7 Pages † Today, more animals are being used in experiments than ever before: around 100 million in the United States alone† (3). Animal testing is now an international issue, and it is becoming a major story. Currently, animals are often used in medical testing, make-up testing, and other consumer product testing. Animals used in such product testing are often abused and suffer from serious side-effects. Animal testing can be painful for the animals, testing results are usually not even useable forRead MoreAnimal Testing Should Be Banned1364 Words   |  6 Pagesbenefit. Using animals for these experimentations usually does not come to mind. Animals are often abused, suffer, and even die during laboratory testing for the benefits of people to make sure medications, household products, newest procedures, and cosmetics are safe and effective for human use. Humans have benefited from animal testing for years while these animals suffer consequences with no positive outcomes for themselves. Even if a product or procedure is deemed successful, these animals are frequentlyRead MoreAnimal Testing Should Be Banned Essay1632 Words   |  7 Pages Animal Testing Should Be Banned Throughout the decades, animals have been used in medical research to test the safety of cosmetics including makeup, hair products, soaps, perfume, and countless of other products. Animals have also been used to test antibiotics and other medicines to eliminate any potential risks that they could cause to humans. The number of animals worldwide that are used in laboratory experiments yearly exceeds 115 million animals. Unfortunately, only a small percentage of

Terrorism Essay - 526 Words

nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Why do people resort to such violent acts as bombing, assassinations, and hi-jacking? How do individuals and organizations justify these acts of terror? These acts can easily be labeled as terrorist actions. Terrorism is a growing international problem. In the recent years, new terrorist groups and organizations have been forming at an alarming rate. Governments have had little success in their attempts to resolve issues involving terrorism. One of the major problems in discussing terrorism is â€Å"establishing a generally accepted definition.† Terrorism can be described as, â€Å"the unlawful use of fear or force to achieve certain political, economical, or social aims.† By being so difficult to define, organizations†¦show more content†¦Acts of terrorism have been committed by individuals, or groups who seek national independence. â€Å"One such act was the assassination of the Arch Duke of France in 1914. The assassination had soug ht to win Bosnia form Austrian rule, but failed and led to the outbreak of World War I.† Modern Terrorism is similar to terrorism from the past. At the same time, many methods that are more violent are being used in the 21 century. Today, terrorism poses a threat to innocent people, and is a serious threat to democratic forms of government. †One of the characteristics of modern terrorists is their practice of taking hostages in order to force their demands upon a particular government.† If demands are not met, the hostages face the threat of death. Hi-jacking commercial airlines and holding their passengers and crews hostage has become a favored method among terrorists today. If one can remember correct, it was just recently that America faced its most devastating act of terrorism yet. Over 5000 innocent people were killed in the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. This was the worst terrorist attack ever carried out on U.S. soil and the consequences for those responsible have already begun. What was once only talked about in fantasy novels, shocked the American public. This new form of Hi-jacking revealed that even the American defense system is vulnerable. People all over the world have begun to fear flying. WhatShow MoreRelatedTerrorism : Terrorism And Terrorism1326 Words   |  6 Pagesallowing terrorism to be successful and continue. Terrorists gain power through the common, innocent people they attack. How the world responds to terrorist attacks determines whether or not terrorism will cease. The common people’s response to terrorism, the interest of the state, and the media’s role in terrorism all aide to terrorism’s success and its continuation in the future. How people willingly choose to respond to terrorist attacks defines terrorism and determines if terrorism will continueRead MoreTerrorism : Terrorism And Terrorism1126 Words   |  5 PagesTerrorism Have you ever had a fear for your family, your town, your country, or your world. How about the fear to have everything taken from you, destroyed, and not caring if it has hurt you or not? What about your fear and pain is, and can be someone else’s happiness? The fear of you being terrorized? That is terrorism. Someone else bringing fear and terrorizing you. That is a terrorist’s goal. Terrorism is common and is very difficult to stop. The government promises protection for the peopleRead MoreTerrorism : Terrorism And Terrorism1035 Words   |  5 PagesOver the past Century, terrorism has advanced from random killings to enormous plans for terrorist groups. To understand terrorism you must first define it. Terrorism as we all know it is hard to define and understand, and has many different definitions as it is used widely. The word terrorism stems from the word terror, which means to instill fear in. People become terrorists when they take the actions towards instilli ng fear and terror upon people to prove a certain point or agenda. Some terroristsRead MoreTerrorism : Terrorism And Terrorism1626 Words   |  7 PagesTerrorism can be categorized as â€Å"the use of intentionally indiscriminate violence as means to create terror, or fear, to achieve a political, religious, or ideological aim (Fortna).† Although there is no formal definition of terrorism, we typically associate the words terrorism and terrorists with acts of violence that are used unlawfully to intimidate in pursuance of political gain. Terrorists do not act at random, but rather use violence to maximize on fear and publicity with a specific goal inRead MoreTerrorism And Terrorism : Terrorism1231 Words   |  5 Pages Terrorism is a common term used in the media and news everyday, especially in the United States. We are in a constant battle against ‘terrorism’, â€Å"Counterterrorism has to be woven into the everyday workings of every department. It should be included on the agenda of every meeting†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Kelling Bratton, 2006). Terrorism and How to Respond All terrorism is criminal but not all criminals are terrorists. Terrorism unlike most crimes has a political agenda behind it. Many terrorists are involved withRead MoreTerrorism : Terrorism And Terrorism851 Words   |  4 PagesTerrorist attacks are major threats that could occur in any nation. Terrorism is one of those things that can happen at any time. It will strike in small, medium and large cities. Although we will never be able to remove all risk from terrorism, we can definitely reduce the risk through hazard mitigation and disaster preparedness (GBRA, 2011). To better understand terrorism we need to know what it is. Terrorism can be defined as the use of force or violence against persons or property in violationRead MoreTerrorism : Terrorism And Terrorism1377 Words   |  6 PagesTerrorism in Sudan In the past, Sudan had been designated as a State Sponsor of Terrorism regarding support for international terrorist groups. However, Sudan has changed its approach ever since the 9/11 attacks has been aiding the United States in diminishing the pervasiveness of terrorist groups in Sudan, and in the world. Recently, Sudan has remained cooperative with the United States in its war on counter terrorism. Sudan has taken many preventive measures to keep these terrorist groups outRead MoreThe Effects Of Terrorism On Terrorism And Terrorism944 Words   |  4 PagesEffects of Terrorism â€Å"The history of terrorism is a history of well-known and historically significant individuals, entities, and incidents associated, whether rightly or wrongly, with terrorism,† (History of Terrorism). The history of terrorism is a long bloody road. One of the bloodiest of acts of terrorism in the early years, was the reign of terror. In which, the Jacobin leader, Maximilien Robespierre, executed 40,000 people. Newspapers coined the word â€Å"Terrorism† as a way of describing RobespierreRead MoreTerrorism Between Terrorism And Terrorism1207 Words   |  5 PagesQuestion † What trends are evident in terrorism over the past 5 years? How have these trends impacted on the ways in which counter terrorism has responded in the Australian context? Introduction Terrorism poses a serious security challenge to the Australia and globally as it prevalence has increased over a decade although less attacks occur in the Western nations. The purpose of this assignment is to examine what trends and terrorist tactics are evident internationally over the past 5 years andRead MoreTerrorism Between Terrorism And Terrorism2012 Words   |  9 PagesTerrorism has played a brutal and alarming role in societies across the world. Many nations have been confronted with the need to develop solutions in the wake of tragedies caused by terrorism. Unfortunately, terrorist organizations are still operating and terrorist acts have continued. Many questions that have still gone unanswered despite careful study, but governments are finding some relief when collaborating with anti-terrorism organizations (Fischer, 2002). Terrorists have struck almost everywhere

The Secret to Happiness-Counseling Psychology Free Essays

Money and Happiness: The Problems of Understanding its Dynamic Relationship The want of money is the root of all evil. – Samuel Butler- Our society holds a taboo when it comes to explicitly speaking of the desire for money. However, at the same time our behaviors implicitly show us the extent of this desire. We will write a custom essay sample on The Secret to Happiness-Counseling Psychology or any similar topic only for you Order Now Many people spend much time analyzing the stock market for their next bid, millions of people buy lottery tickets looking for their big break, and many people fight with their siblings over their dead parents’ fortune. And the reason we so desperately pursue the accumulation of wealth is because we believe in its positive influence. We believe it will change our lives into a better one. We think it will make us happier. (Campbell, 1981) However, this is an issue still in question and an important one especially for counseling psychology. In this field, the relationship between money and life satisfaction is essential due to its relevance to career counseling. Considering that a jobs’ financial reward and hence its socioeconomic status is influential in career orientation for some people, the clarification of such relationship becomes crucial. And in accord to the importance of this issue, there has been abundant research relating to it. However, the results seem to be mixed and confusing. The purpose of this paper is to point out the shortcomings of previous works on this issue and additionally, to provide a new scope into which will be a guide for further research on this issue. Problems in samples and variables Previous studies have attempted to see if money increases happiness by looking into the lives of those who have a lot of money. But some of these studies seem to have missed out on a vital factor, sample size. In a study of some of the wealthiest people in the United States, Diener et al. (1985) found the happiness levels of these people to be only slightly above average than that of people with regular incomes. However, the sample size for this study was only 49. Also, Brickman et al. (1978) found that lottery winners were not happier than controls even after their sudden fortune. But his research contained only 22 lottery winners as participants. In both cases the sample size was much too small to make a general rule out of their research. There could have been plenty of other happier wealthy people who are on the Forbes 500 list or won the lottery but did not participate in the study. So it seems obvious that in future studies, the sample size should be enlarged as much as possible. This would be easier nowadays due to the increased number of millionaires and billionaires in general and quicker access to them through e-mail. Sometimes researchers seem to have failed to fully analyze the variables they used in their research. In a more recent study, researchers found that income increase over the course of 10 years had only a small positive impact on happiness (North et al. , 2008). This time the size of the sample was relatively large by 274, but certain variables within this sample diminished the implication of this study. Apart from the sample being from a concentrated area (San Francisco Bay area) and being mostly consisted of Caucasians (89%), the researchers have not fully analyzed the spending patterns of the samples’ income. They simply tried to correlate the total income with other variables such as happiness. But considering the possible fluctuations of expenditure during the course of 10 years, for example, due to emergencies or children’s college tuitions, the net worth of the increased income could have been no different during those 10 years. According to other research, having a strong sense of control over ones financial state can be linked to greater overall satisfaction and that strong sense of control is possible if there is sufficient net worth of income (Cummins, 2000). So without knowing whether the participants had sufficient net worth it would be somewhat misleading say that more income does not contribute to more happiness. Mixed Results The researches shown above are only a few of many that touch upon this issue of money and happiness. And due to many variables that complicate the relationship of the two, there have been plenty of mixed results. It has been shown that happiness is strongly correlated with increasing income at poverty levels (Diener Biswas-Diener, 2002) whereas once income exceeds that level and basic needs are met, money matters only a little (Myers, 2000). On the other hand, there has been research that money generates opportunities for individuals to make better decisions that allow them to improve their well-being (Schwartz, 2004). But then again, more money seems to open possibilities for negative events in life such as divorce (Clydesdale, 1997). What all these findings and many others lead us to conclude is the old adage: â€Å"Money isn’t everything. † Considering Other Variables But knowing just that would not be fruitful. So in response to this unsurprising insight there have been many attempts to clarify the variables in which allow the correlation between money and well-being to be more clear. In one study, Johnson and Krueger (2006) collected a nationwide sample of 719 twin pairs in the United States. The researchers have demonstrated, through methods of self-report surveys, that an individual’s actual available money explained only about 10% of people’s perceptions of financial well-being, proving the old adage. Along with this finding they showed that perceived financial situation and perceived control over various life domains mediate the relationship between wealth and life satisfaction. In other words, those who believed that they have more control over their financial state and/or those who perceived their financial state in a positive light were happier with regard to how much money they had. This research is meaningful in that it tried to connect relative psychological factors that take crucial part in this issue of money and happiness. However this research is qualified in terms of understanding the question â€Å"Will earning more money make us happy? The main defect it has is that, because their study was not based on longitudinal data it does not show whether more money now than before effects happiness. It focused more on the effect of money on people’s well-being at a fixed time. Research Questions Considering that psychological factors can have a significant contribution to life satisfaction concerning money, an attractive research question would be whether increased income and the ability to perceive change, or retrospect, one’s socioeconom ic status have an impact on life satisfaction. One can assume that if an individual can clearly perceive how much better oneself is doing than before then that person might feel happier than someone who does not see that upward change. But one major factor these studies mentioned above miss out on is personal desire and values. So it would be also interesting to find out if people with different values or desires have different affects by increasing incomes. More specifically, finding out whether people who peg certain emotional rewards to the cquisition of material goods, and hence are extrinsically motivated, are more likely to become happier as their income increases would be a relevant research question. It would be recommendable for both research questions to be done by longitudinal studies. Conclusion This paper has looked into researches concerning money and happiness. This theme was found to be important not only because it concerns our modern life perception about happiness but also because this perception is a crucial e lement in making career plans for one’s life. Current research has shown problems with sampling and choosing the right variables. Some studies proved to be fruitful in that it factored in relevant psychological concepts that would mediate satisfaction regarding money. Also, it turns out that longitudinal studies are much more informative in knowing the effects of income change on well-being. The research question provided by this paper is relevant to current issues of this topic and to career counseling because it would clarify elements such as ability of retrospection and motivation types to be predictors of subjective well-being with regard to one’s income. How to cite The Secret to Happiness-Counseling Psychology, Essay examples