Tuesday, March 17, 2020

Free Essays on Cost Of War

Vietnam was a hell on earth for the solders that were forced to fight it. The solders that had a bad experience were traumatized beyond help. The story â€Å"The Red Convertible† was a story about a man named Henry that was sent to Vietnam and upon his return was never the same. Lyman, Henry’s younger brother, narrates the story and he was fortunate not to have to fight. Henry did not get enough support when he really needed it. When Henry came back from Vietnam he was traumatized. He never acted the same and his family never recognized him from before he left. His actions seem to be more hostile to everyone. Henry seemed always withdrawn and overly aggressive upon his return. Before he went into the service he had a good relationship with his brother and acted a little â€Å"loony†. The part of the story where they go on a road trip with their new convertible defines Henry’s personality. Henry and Lyman were driving around when they saw a girl named Susy walking along the road, on a whim they both decide to pick her up and give her a ride home. When they find out where she lives in Alaska they don’t care and they drive her home. They were both so carefree that they decided to go take her home. Henry and Lyman were so charismatic that Susy’s family took them in as their own. When Susy let down her hair and Henry held her up on his shoulders showed what a carefree and expressive p erson he was. Lyman seemed to have all the luck and that led to Henry’s resentment toward him. Lyman seemed to be a prodigy with making money. He was so good that he was able to own a restaurant at the age of 16. And he showed he good luck more by getting a good number on the draft where Henry got a bad one and so he signed up for the military. Henry’s hostility toward Lyman manifested by him not going through the same experience, and Henry not getting any help. Henry was unbalanced when he came back from the war. He didn’t care about hims... Free Essays on Cost Of War Free Essays on Cost Of War Vietnam was a hell on earth for the solders that were forced to fight it. The solders that had a bad experience were traumatized beyond help. The story â€Å"The Red Convertible† was a story about a man named Henry that was sent to Vietnam and upon his return was never the same. Lyman, Henry’s younger brother, narrates the story and he was fortunate not to have to fight. Henry did not get enough support when he really needed it. When Henry came back from Vietnam he was traumatized. He never acted the same and his family never recognized him from before he left. His actions seem to be more hostile to everyone. Henry seemed always withdrawn and overly aggressive upon his return. Before he went into the service he had a good relationship with his brother and acted a little â€Å"loony†. The part of the story where they go on a road trip with their new convertible defines Henry’s personality. Henry and Lyman were driving around when they saw a girl named Susy walking along the road, on a whim they both decide to pick her up and give her a ride home. When they find out where she lives in Alaska they don’t care and they drive her home. They were both so carefree that they decided to go take her home. Henry and Lyman were so charismatic that Susy’s family took them in as their own. When Susy let down her hair and Henry held her up on his shoulders showed what a carefree and expressive p erson he was. Lyman seemed to have all the luck and that led to Henry’s resentment toward him. Lyman seemed to be a prodigy with making money. He was so good that he was able to own a restaurant at the age of 16. And he showed he good luck more by getting a good number on the draft where Henry got a bad one and so he signed up for the military. Henry’s hostility toward Lyman manifested by him not going through the same experience, and Henry not getting any help. Henry was unbalanced when he came back from the war. He didn’t care about hims...

Sunday, March 1, 2020

Understanding the Philosophy of Culture

Understanding the Philosophy of Culture The ability to transmit information across generations and peers by means other than genetic exchange is a key trait of the human species; even more specific to humans seems the capacity to use symbolic systems to communicate. In the anthropological use of the term, culture refers to all the practices of information exchange that are not genetic or epigenetic. This includes all behavioral and symbolic systems. The Invention of Culture Although the term culture has been around at least since the early Christian era (we know, for instance, that Cicero used it), its anthropological use was established between the end of eighteen-hundreds and the beginning of the past century. Before this time, culture typically referred to the educational process through which an individual had undergone; in other words, for centuries culture was associated with a philosophy of education. We can hence say that culture, as we mostly employ the term nowadays, is a recent invention. Culture and Relativism Within contemporary theorizing, the anthropological conception of culture has been one of the most fertile terrains for cultural relativism. While some societies have clear-cut gender and racial divisions, for instance, others do not seem to exhibit a similar metaphysics. Cultural relativists hold that no culture has a truer worldview than any other; they are simply different views. Such an attitude has been at the center of some of the most memorable debates over the past decades, entrenched with socio-political consequences. Multiculturalism The idea of culture, most notably in connection with the phenomenon of globalization, has given rise to the concept of multiculturalism. In one way or other, a large part of the contemporary world population lives in more than one culture, be it because of the exchange of culinary techniques, or musical knowledge, or fashion ideas, and so on. How to Study a Culture? One of the most intriguing philosophical aspects of culture is the methodology by means of which its specimens have been and are studied. It seems, in fact, that in order to study a culture one has to remove herself from it, which in some sense it means that the only way to study a culture is by not sharing it.The study of culture poses thus one of the hardest questions with respect to human nature: to what extent can you really understand yourself? To what extent can a society assess its own practices? If the capacity of self-analysis of an individual or a group is limited, who is entitled to a better analysis and why? Is there a point of view, which is best suited for the study of an individual or a society?It is no accident, one could argue, that cultural anthropology developed at a similar time at which psychology and sociology also flourished. All three disciplines, however, seem to potentially suffer from a similar defect: a weak theoretical foundation concerning their respecti ve relationship with the object of study. If in psychology it seems always legitimate to ask on which grounds a professional has a better insight into a patient’s life than the patient herself, in cultural anthropology one could ask on what grounds the anthropologists can better understand the dynamics of a society than the members of the society themselves.How to study a culture? This is still an open question. To date, there certainly are several instances of research that try and address the questions raised above by means of sophisticated methodologies. And yet the foundation seems to be still in need of being addressed, or re-addressed, from a philosophical point of view. Further Online Readings The entry on cultural evolution at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.The entry on multiculturalism at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.The entry on culture and cognitive science at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.