Impossible To Have Objective Knowledge Philosophy Essay

Impossible To Have Objective Knowledge Philosophy Essay As humans we live with the inescapable notion of our own consciousness, burdened with the endless pursuit of knowledge, we eternally accumulate a careful conglomeration of facts and experiences that shape our very being. Imprisoned within our own cultural paradigms we fear our own subjectivities, entirely aware that our language, values and beliefs impact our every choice. We do not live in a social vacuum; instead, we roam free in a stimulating and subjective society. The acquisition of knowledge, or justified true belief as here defined, is learned through our tainted sensory experiences; whether auditory, visually or kinaesthetically. However, there remains the belief that certain areas of knowledge can remain immune to our polluting paradigms, areas of knowledge that do not evoke truth in their subjectivity but tell the truth in their objectivity. We often deem subjective knowledge hot and impulsive, wrought with emotion and bias, its validity tarnished by its opinionated and unb alanced nature. Objective knowledge is logical, considered, proven and factual, based in the realms of reasoning; science and maths. But to what extent is mathematical and scientific knowledge actually objective? And does subjective knowledge really hold any lesser value than its idolised counterpart or are we just afraid of own cultural paradigms? What can be less open to interpretation and more immutable than maths? Mathematics is the science of rigorous proof and the art of drawing coherent conclusions entirely independent of interpretation; we assume this to be the epitome of objective knowledge. Maths indubitable nature affords it enormous practical value, we are certain that 2 + 2 = 4 and that any circles circumference, no matter how big, when divided by its diameter equates to pi. Such facts rest undeniable and eternal, maths gives us non-trivial, substantial knowledge that rests true outside of experience. However, a question remains as to where maths exists? Is it, discovered or invented? The discovery theorem indicates a Platonic view of maths, somewhere in a metaphysical realm, the perfect forms of a circle and pi reside and mathematicians, by solving problems, are discovering an entity that already exists separate from our reality. If humans werent actively doing maths would maths exist at all? And can discoveries a ctually be made about mental fictions or is maths a human construction? J. S. Mill argues that mathematics exists in the eye of the beholder and that mathematical truths are empirical generalisations based on a vast number of experiences  [1]  . It does appear that Maths is not a universal language; mathematicians struggle to talk to non-specialists about their work because maths like all other knowledge can be culturally variable, subject to correction and change. Mathematicians form epistemic communities; the Romans, for example, had no concept of zero, Egyptian multiplication involved repeated doubling of numbers and in West Africa only subtraction was used to express numbers (not 2+2 but 6 -2 = 4). Hence, maths, as a human endeavour is susceptible to varying mental interpretation, so to what extent are we mentally selecting particular kinds of experience and deeming them to be important? We reached our modern, established perspective of maths through communication and collaboration, so it seems that although the numbers and patterns themselves ar e objective, the learning and advancement of maths is more inter-subjective; common ideas shared and amalgamated. Science too, provides us with a framework for objective knowledge; science appears indisputable because it is based on observation and fact. Culturally, we deem something scientifically proven to equate to the absolute truth. We believe our scientific account of the universe to be true and dismiss the hocus pocus of alternative medicine, creationism and the paranormal. Science is about how the world works; there being only once correct explanation for any phenomenon. Simultaneous discovery, like the discovery of DNA initially by Watson and Crick shortly followed by Franklin and Klug demonstrate the solidity and objectivity of science. If we could rewind the history of science, developments and discoveries may have occurred differently and by different scientists but the outcomes would be very similar. Gravity would still give weight to objects, causing them to fall towards the ground and cells would still be the smallest unit of life. However, the practice of science, as a human endeavour is founded in uncertainty, each time we learn something new with the astonishment comes the realisation that we were wrong before, David Bohm said, The notion of the absolute truth is shown to be in poor correspondence with the actual development of science. Scientific truths are better regarded as relationships that hold in some limited domain. Hence, the indisputability of science is based in observation and fact but observation and fact are dependent on the theory we choose to believe. What we see depends on how we choose to look at it and as humans we cannot observe the world purely and unhindered. Instead we see and structure things around our own cultural paradigms. Our science is based on a Westernised view that progress and objectivity are best reached through classification and explanation but does this render it useless? Of course not, science is there to be used but it is not there to tell us how things are. Science is not powerful because it is true: it is true because it is powerful  [2]  . But is truth synonymous with objectivity? Or can we harness our subjective and emotional human natures to further enhance our knowledge? Montaigne claimed, to understand via the heart is not to understand and through our quest to objectify knowledge we ignore our most basic emotional instincts. A scientific definition of emotion is the modification of neural activity that animates and focuses mental activity but is this not missing the vital essence of what it is to feel an emotion? This description of emotion is like describing art as a collection of blobs on canvas or defining poetry as words in short lines. Some knowledge demands subjectivity and complexity, notions of good and beauty, for example. In many ways formal knowledge of maths, philosophy and geography are a means to satisfy the highest and noblest human impulse and self-actualisation; the arts. Often human truths cannot be expressed using the language of rationality; it seems the artist attempt to address these truths w hile embracing their own creative process. Indeed art is a personal creation and contains the opinions of the artist but with science the feelings of the scientist are neglected from the final understanding of the process. Does this make science better than the arts? It would if science and the arts were investigating the same truths; science is obsessed with knowledge of the universe whereas art lends itself to knowledge of humanity. Iris Murdoch famously in The Sovereignity of the Good suggests that appreciation of the arts allows us to transcend the problems of rationality and empiricism that plague the human condition. Murdoch believes there to be some sort of objective good but sees that the means of achieving this end is to open our consciousness towards art thus directing our being towards unselfishness, objectivity and realism. The very nature of art as an ephemeral entity; forever transforming and evolving, transports us away from the comfort of our own subjectivities and plunges us into alternative human truths. No one is suggesting the lines and colours reveal truths in themselves; as Margaret Atwood said, context is all. To read WH Audens Sonnets entitled, In Time of War, is not to gain facts or objective truths about the Japanese occupation of China in 1938 but instead to bask in the literature, meaning and beauty of poetry. Audens words speak a deep and vitally human truth so by trying to reduce this art to a series of concrete facts are we not diminishing it? Of course the sky didnt throb like a feverish forehead and obviously the Japanese soldiers were not bound like the heiress in her mothers womb. It is more the penetrating insights, the deep sense of social awareness and contextual relevance that afford poetry and the arts as a whole the ability to bestow knowledge about humanity during the most turbulent and controversial eras. If anything, art is a continuous cultural narrative, evolving and translating the daily events that form our history. The search for certainty, objectivity and absolute truth lends itself to the study of history, for what could be more certain than that which has already happened? As G.R Elton suggests, the study of history is concerned with a subject matter more objective and independent than that of the natural sciences, and we often acknowledge the apparent immutability and un-changeability of the past. But as Napoleon argued, what is history but a fable agreed upon? From the age of eleven, during history classes we are indoctrinated into the significance of bias and the vigilance required to exercise caution around historical opinion. It is almost impossible to expect any human historian to escape their own paradigms and write free from influence. We are forever imposing our own values and moralities onto the past; my own essay on the reputation of Queen Marie-Antoinette during the French Revolution was largely angled around my own prejudices against misogyny and patriarchy. Perhaps more than an ything, history is a social construct, facts about the past that are interpreted in the present. However, the selective and human nature of history does not deem it twisted or useless or fabricated, by removing the judgemental and interpretational aspects of history we are left with fragmented and scattered etchings of the past. The historian herself is aware of her bias and thus seeks a convergence of evidence in a hope that further analysis and reasoning will transform such etchings into an original, insightful and beautiful picture.

How does Angela Carter reinterpret Gothic Conventions Essay

Angela Carter reinterprets Gothic Conventions in both ‘The Tigers Bride’, and ‘The Courtship of Mr Lyon. ’ These reinterpreted gothic conventions are not merely used by Angela Carter to shock the reader, (typical of the Gothic), but additionally to add a sub-genre. This is clearly the case in both ‘The Tigers Bride’ and ‘Courtship of Mr Lyon’ as the feminist and Marxist message is provided by the subversion of the genre. For instance, in a conventional gothic novel the female is stereotypically either the â€Å"trembling victim† or â€Å"predator. † In other cases, women remain absent from the Gothic novel all together. However, in both of these short stories from Angela Carters collection ‘The Bloody Chamber,’ this gender role is subverted so the male becomes the victim. This is particularly evident in ‘The Courtship of Mr Lyon’ where Mr Lyon takes the role of the desperate women locked away, needing to be saved. Mr Lyon claims to be â€Å"dying† because Beauty left â€Å"because you left me. † The state of the lion is covered in the description with imagery of death and decay; â€Å"dead† flowers, â€Å"groaning† hinges, and â€Å"drifting cobwebs. † Beauty therefore takes the role of the male protagonist. There is a mention of otherness as Beauty found My Lyons â€Å"bewildering difference intolerable,† whereas, conventionally, the male was the norm and the female the other. Furthermore, in ‘The Tigers Bride’ conventional gothic gender stereotypes are also played with as Beauty breaks out of patriarchal society by rejecting her â€Å"clockwork twin† and taking the form of an animal â€Å"beautiful fur. † Carter uses the gothic conventional symbol of animals but in an alternate way. In both stories she puts animals on a higher level than man for their more moral qualities. The beast for instance is juxtaposed against her farther in ‘The Tigers Bride’ as he is the poor protector who â€Å"bartered,† and lost his â€Å"treasure† (again, objectifying women. ) The use of animals again explores a feminist message, as Carter believed that like animals, females were regarded as soulless. However, in both texts Carter also holds onto many of the stereotypical gender gothic conventions. For example the reference to Beauty as â€Å"Miss Lamb† in ‘The Courtship of Mr Lyon’ and also the mention of the lamb in ‘The Tigers Bride’ â€Å"Lion lies down with the lamb. ’ Furthermore, in both stories Beauty is objectified and the property of her farther, this is introduced immediately in ‘The Tigers Bride’, â€Å"my farther lost me to the Beast at cards. † The female here is clearly still a victim. In regard to setting, Carter does comply with many of the conventional gothic associations. In both ‘The Courtship of Mr Lyon’ and ‘The Tigers Bride’ the home of the Beast is regarded as the ‘isolated castle. ’ However, there is a difference in the habitats of Mr Lyon and Beauty in ‘The courtship of Mr Lyon’ as conventionally the male protagonist is associated with the city with unmoral behaviour, and the female is associated with the pastoral country. This enables Carter to add a message that both man and women need to combine both feminine and masculine qualities to be happy. Another example where Carter subverts the genre using the setting is in the stereotypical class of gothic. Conventionally, the gothic was focused mainly on aristocracy. Whereas, in both short stories Beauty is poor, for instance in ‘The Courtship of Mr Lyon’ her farther refers to his lost riches â€Å"how rich again I may once again be. † This conveys a Marxist reference, which is hinted at again â€Å"all of the world he knew need not necessarily apply. † Gothic symbolism is also reinterpreted in both novels. The reference to the â€Å"white rose† is a widely recognised gothic symbol and is featured in both short storied. However, besides symbolising the innocence of women and their purity, it could also symbolise freedom and salvation, much like a ‘white flag’ as both Beauty’s try to escape patriarchal society. Carter additionally subverts the supernatural. For instance in ‘The Tigers Bride,† despite inter-textuality with ‘Beauty and the Beast’ it is beauty who must transform into the Beast, as he licks her skin off revealing a nascent patina of shining hairs. The sole purpose of this, however, in not purely to shock the reader. Beauty is removing any human elements from herself, giving her, allowing her to break away from society and its limitations on women.

Organizational Leadership Philosophy Essay

The ingredients of my leadership philosophy which I believe will be most effective have been summarized into three pages. It is undisputable that vision, values, leadership development, managing change, care for soldiers and their families and a sense of humour are all important elements in a leadership philosophy. It is in this that I have a conviction of the ideology that, a military leader must have a personal philosophy since it will enhance accomplishment of a comprehensive and integrated view of life which is of critical essence. Personal philosophy is therefore of absolute necessity because it gives a foundation to other areas in life. To start with, vision is one of the most important elements to be put under consideration when creating a leadership philosophy. One of this is the fact that, vision ought to be idealistic in order to reflect the mental model of the organization for now and in the future. It must also have the characteristics of appropriateness, purpose, direction and standards of excellence (Wallace, 2008). It must be simple to understand, well articulated and ambitious. The organizational vision which corresponds to commander’s intent can be divided into three concepts. Operation is used to describe the intent of the commander. Purpose is what unifies the operations and involves what the organization is meant to do. Lastly, endstate is the final result that has been achieved. From the above perspective, the vision I have communicated should be understood and shared by everyone in the organization if we are to achieve our objective. We should also apply the concept of vision and revision where our vision acts as a way-point which is subject to adjustment along the way Value is the second element and it entails the morality and virtues which should form the central theme of the human nature. As an organization, the values of the U. S. army are the foundation to provide service to the country. The seven major values which guide this philosophy can be essential in any organization which includes loyalty, duty, respect, selfless-service, honour, integrity, and personal courage. The values are moral guidelines for each soldier to lead us through the intellectual, emotional and philosophical issues that surround our lives and organization. Every leader should therefore adhere to the seven values and ensure that they play the central role in their leadership philosophy. Organizational success depends on the values of the company, its stand and the belief of its people. People who think that we cannot change or train values are wrong and should therefore go for basic training in the US Marine Corps model. In addition, I believe that lack of enough discussion and understanding of values is the major reason for unethical behaviour which the media highlights. It is my duty therefore to establish a formal training program that will enhance values within the army. Caring for one another is the third element of my leadership philosophy just as it is emphasized by the soldiers. This kind of care extends to all other people such as ensuring that soldiers and their families are taken care of. This is in as ensuring that, any mission set forth is successfully accomplished. This may appear as competitive imperatives but both of them must be successfully accomplished by a talented leader. Taking good care of my soldiers will involve ensuring quality life, safety, family support, proper equipment and training, and timely recognition of excellence. This aspect is greatly concurred within the army as the attribute is emphasized in form of an aggressive program which provides for and serves the soldiers welfare as an essential catalyst that ensures unit bonding. The full potential of a soldier is reached when their leaders are caring because modern combat needs love and care of soldiers and soldiering. Leader development is another element made up of three important components which include formal schooling, leader training and empowerment. Among the professional training I intend my soldiers to undergo include the Basic as well as the Advanced Non-commissioned Officer Course, and many other courses that will promote professional development. Although the formal educational courses may collide with training and exercises, subordinates must receive these training to sharpen their specialities. Leader development is a continuous process and I will promote attendance to formal education to supplement our professional development programs (Wallace, 2008). I will also ensure that subordinates are empowered through delegation of duties to encourage the growth of leadership within the organization The next element which is inevitable will be to manage change. Frequent deployment, downsizing, modern technology, and increased personnel and operations tempo will require the army to deal with tremendous change. My mission and purpose for the organization will clearly elaborate the need to manage change because it will be necessary for general improvement. Leveraging diversity is another element of leadership philosophy which is often overlooked by many people. Soldiers from different ethnic, religion, racial experience backgrounds should be treasured since they add value to the organization. The mechanism that I intend to use to ensure that diversity is appreciated includes open-door policy, visibility and small-group sessions in the organization. Moreover, any personnel who do not value diversity will not be tolerated. Lastly, maintaining a sense of humour ought to be preserved since it is an important element for diffusing tension (Wallace, 2008). Humour is important in developing personal rapport and enhancing the cooperation spirit. References Wallace, A. (2008). Organizational leadership: Major Principles for Effective Leadership. A Journal of Human Resource Planning, Vol. 45, p. 23-32

Conflict Resolution Within The Workplace - 1224 Words

It is imperative that leaders develop problem solving methods to address conflict resolution within the workplace. The purpose of this paper is to discuss specific techniques and tools to resolve conflict within the workplace. A description of a workplace conflict at my current place of employment will be provided. The impact that cultural norms may have on conflict will be briefly considered. Additionally, the impact that conflict has on leadership’s decision making will be addressed. In discussing resolution of this particular conflict, specific techniques most useful in reducing or overcoming the identified conflict and associated behavior will be identified. Finally, the potential negative and positive impacts that the techniques utilized to address this problem has on resolving the conflict will be explored. Workplace Conflict As discussed by Schwartz (1997), there are specific measures that should be taken to address workplace conflicts. Some of these measures are cur rently being utilized within my workplace to address a very recent conflict. The conflict in particular revolves around unethical behavior of key officials. Briefly, this conflict has to do with three management personnel being accused of falsifying documents and misappropriating funds within the organization. They have also attempted to have the individual that reportedly exposed their behavior dismissed from the organization. Administration now has to handle this conflict. As a result, it hasShow MoreRelatedGender and Culture Conflicts at Work858 Words   |  3 Pagesï » ¿Gender and Culture Conflicts @Work There are a number of conflicts at my workplace. One of which that is related to gender is the differences in conflict management and conflict interaction with respect to gender. I noticed differences in how women react to and engage in conflict as compared with men. 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