There is no doubt that The French Lieutenant's Woman, written by John Fowles, should be among the list of the most controversial, outstanding and distinguished postmodern literary works in 1970s. As a writer greatly ...There is no doubt that The French Lieutenant's Woman, written by John Fowles, should be among the list of the most controversial, outstanding and distinguished postmodern literary works in 1970s. As a writer greatly influenced by Existentialism, Fowles endows the book tremendous vitality, that is, the vigor of philosophy, which differentiates the work from the other common postmodern ones. This quality is reflected on the theme of freedom to a great extent. In the following part, the author mainly discusses about certain principles of existentialism which yield such great impact on Fowles, and the theme of existentialistic freedom is to be analyzed through the approach of the artful characterization and postmodem writing techniques.展开更多
Recent critical approaches on human rights have exalted the potentiality of this category for seeking progressive agendas (Santos 2007) insofar as they are enacted within counter-hegemonic cognitive frames (Rajagop...Recent critical approaches on human rights have exalted the potentiality of this category for seeking progressive agendas (Santos 2007) insofar as they are enacted within counter-hegemonic cognitive frames (Rajagopal 2006) towards the construction of "subaltern human rights" (Onazi 2009). Others,. however, have pointed out that the human rights institutional and political hegemony makes other valuable emancipatory strategies less available, and that this foregrounds problems of participation and procedure at the expense of distribution (Kennedy 2005). Finally, others have explained how the abstractedness of the category entails a de-politicization (Rancière 2004; Zizek 2005; Douzinas 2007) or an emptiness that, of course, can be filled by progressive activism, but whose substance is easily reappropriated by those in power (Miéville 2005). By engaging with the above-mentioned perspectives, and following the decolonial approach (Mignolo 2009; 2011), I suggest that the category human rights can be decolonized and being used for progressive agendas only after a comprehensive critique of liberal legality (that entails a critique of liberal abstract rationality, political economy, and modernity/coloniality) has been performed.展开更多
In this paper, we make an argument around two elements greatly connected on the setting of neoliberal globalization: traditional media and social movements. More specifically, our proposition in this research is to c...In this paper, we make an argument around two elements greatly connected on the setting of neoliberal globalization: traditional media and social movements. More specifically, our proposition in this research is to conduct a comparative study of online versions of two newspapers, the Brazilian newspaper Folha de S^o Paulo and the Spanish El Mundo. Considering this, we analyze the coverage of these vehicles in 2010, a period of presidential elections in Brazil, on the MST (Landless Movement) from the perspective of DH (human rights) Adopting a critical, historical, and dialectical view, we use the theoretical assumptions of Roland Barthes Douglas Kellner, Joaquin Herrera Flores, and David S~.nchez Rubio展开更多
Adichie's Purple Hibiscus is a feminist work that challenges the dehumanizing tendencies of the menfolk as evident in the character of Mama (Beatrice Achike) who eventually exposed the African conception of an idea...Adichie's Purple Hibiscus is a feminist work that challenges the dehumanizing tendencies of the menfolk as evident in the character of Mama (Beatrice Achike) who eventually exposed the African conception of an ideal woman who keeps dumb even in the face of humiliation, victimization, and brutality so as to be perceived as a good woman. We will make a resounding case to portray that Achike belongs to the category of liberal feminism. However, as events unfolds, she was forced by situations beyond her control to respond and go radical in order to crush anything that stands in her way to happiness. Efforts will be made to show how African women are rated based on the real and good women as represented by Ifeoma and Beatrice Achike respectively. This essay in exploring the different tenets of feminism will acknowledge that radical feminism is an off shoot of violence. We shall argue that radical feminism is a radical reaction to dehumanization, humiliation, and violence. This study seeks to address the issue of feminism and how characters subject to series of humiliation that leads to a radical approach to gain their freedom.展开更多
Democratic private schools in Israel are a part of the neo-liberal discourse. They champion the dialogic philosophy associated with its most prominent advocates--Martin Buber, Emmanuel Levinas---together with Paulo Fr...Democratic private schools in Israel are a part of the neo-liberal discourse. They champion the dialogic philosophy associated with its most prominent advocates--Martin Buber, Emmanuel Levinas---together with Paulo Freire's critical pedagogy, the humanistic psychology propounded by Carl Rogers, Nel Noddings's pedagogy of care and concern, and even Gadamer's integrative hermeneutic perspective. Democratic schools form one of the greatest challenges to State education and most vocal and active critique of the focus conservative education places on exams and achievement. This article describes the dual discourse connected to the schools. The first is the inner dialogical, which is devoted to student freedom and progress, the child being placed at the center. The second is the exterior discourse, which represents the school as a place of counter-education that provides personal and group development and comprises a site of liberty and choice. The schools in Israel are described as test case and indicating the existence of a sophisticated form of deception via the use of alluring terminology. The democratic private schools should be recognized for what they really are--agents of commodification that undermine democracy rather than enhance it.展开更多
Paradise Lost is a great epic written by John Milton. Deeply influenced by Christian Humanism, Milton fully shows his free will defense in Paradise Lost. Based on the text of Paradise Lost, this paper mainly analyzes ...Paradise Lost is a great epic written by John Milton. Deeply influenced by Christian Humanism, Milton fully shows his free will defense in Paradise Lost. Based on the text of Paradise Lost, this paper mainly analyzes the causes of Milton's free will defense, his pursuit for free will shown in the two falls in the work: Satan's fall and Adam and Eve's fall. This paper also discusses the practical meaning of free will defense in Paradise Lost: it reveals his grief and anger of the failure of England revolution and shows the idea that people don't have the freedom to interfere or destroy other people's free will.展开更多
Condemned by Mencius (ca.372-289 BCE) as selfishness (weiwo, 为我), Yang Zhu's yangsheng philosophy in China is traditionally depicted as a philosophy of egoism and hedonism. In contrast, Yang Zhu (fl.ca.370-350...Condemned by Mencius (ca.372-289 BCE) as selfishness (weiwo, 为我), Yang Zhu's yangsheng philosophy in China is traditionally depicted as a philosophy of egoism and hedonism. In contrast, Yang Zhu (fl.ca.370-350 BCE) is described as an "early liberal or individualist" hero in the Western Discussion of Chinese Philosophy. Yang Zhu may not be a liberal or individualist hero as portrayed by the West, but surely he should not be depicted as a promoter of egoism as Mencius did. Both John Emerson and A.C. Graham are probably right when they claimed that Yang Zhu was a revolutionary thinker of his own time; and "Yang Zhu's intervention for the Chinese thinking world had provoked a metaphysical crisis which had threatened the basic assumptions of Confucianism and Mohism and set them into a new course" (A.C. Graham 1978). From my reading, Yang Zhu's influence on Chinese philosophy had been and will be even greater, although his philosophy as a whole was not practiced by Chinese society in the past due to the dominance of Confucianism. Yet as the first person who clearly emphasized nourishing of life for individuals and the first theory that rooted morality into xing (性, human nature), Yang Zhu's yangsheng philosophy had indeed through history made a huge contribution to Chinese nurturing life tradition, and had great potential in providing inspiration to modern moral thinking. Many discussions initiated or developed by Yang Zhu and his followers have influenced both Confucianism and Daoism profoundly. His idea of nourishing life was not only inherited and developed by Zhuangzi and later Daoist religion from life preservation perspective, but also by Mencius and Xunzi from moral cultivation perspective. As a doctrine that has shown more and more relevance to modern society, people can find many inspirations from Yang Zhu's answer to the following questions: What is the aim of human life? What is the right attitude toward life and death? What is human nature? What is the relationship between life nourishment and individual freedom? Why nourishing one's own life should be as important as nourishing that of others? What is the difference between humans and animals? Why living a natural life is so important for human beings? Based on materials collected from various Chinese sources directly related to Yang Zhu's school, especially the chapter entitled as "Yang Zhu" from the book of Liezi, this paper will explore essential features of Yang Zhu's yangsheng philosophy and its relevance to modern society. As "guiji" (贵已, cherishing oneself) is the core of Yang Zhu's yangsheng philosophy, discussion of this paper will focus on what Yang Zhu's "guiji" means, why Yang Zhu's "guiji" is not "weiwo" (为我, for oneself), and how Yang Zhu's "guiji" yangsheng is relevant to modern society.展开更多
During the past decades, while the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has continued to consolidate its political leadership and refused to tolerate any opposition parties, intra-party democracy has been emphasized repeat...During the past decades, while the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has continued to consolidate its political leadership and refused to tolerate any opposition parties, intra-party democracy has been emphasized repeatedly and expanded vigorously by Chinese Communist leaders as an alternative to electoral democracy or liberal democracy characterized by multiparty competition. Various democratic experiments have been conducted and many democratic elements introduced at all levels in the CCP. Although the growth of intra-party democracy is limited, these great efforts and achievements have profound implications for China's democratic future. The growth of intra-party democracy not only reflects the CCP's continuous efforts to institutionalize the rules of elite politics and fight against widespread corruption, but might also provide a good approach for political transition to democracy with Chinese characteristics in the future.展开更多
文摘There is no doubt that The French Lieutenant's Woman, written by John Fowles, should be among the list of the most controversial, outstanding and distinguished postmodern literary works in 1970s. As a writer greatly influenced by Existentialism, Fowles endows the book tremendous vitality, that is, the vigor of philosophy, which differentiates the work from the other common postmodern ones. This quality is reflected on the theme of freedom to a great extent. In the following part, the author mainly discusses about certain principles of existentialism which yield such great impact on Fowles, and the theme of existentialistic freedom is to be analyzed through the approach of the artful characterization and postmodem writing techniques.
文摘Recent critical approaches on human rights have exalted the potentiality of this category for seeking progressive agendas (Santos 2007) insofar as they are enacted within counter-hegemonic cognitive frames (Rajagopal 2006) towards the construction of "subaltern human rights" (Onazi 2009). Others,. however, have pointed out that the human rights institutional and political hegemony makes other valuable emancipatory strategies less available, and that this foregrounds problems of participation and procedure at the expense of distribution (Kennedy 2005). Finally, others have explained how the abstractedness of the category entails a de-politicization (Rancière 2004; Zizek 2005; Douzinas 2007) or an emptiness that, of course, can be filled by progressive activism, but whose substance is easily reappropriated by those in power (Miéville 2005). By engaging with the above-mentioned perspectives, and following the decolonial approach (Mignolo 2009; 2011), I suggest that the category human rights can be decolonized and being used for progressive agendas only after a comprehensive critique of liberal legality (that entails a critique of liberal abstract rationality, political economy, and modernity/coloniality) has been performed.
文摘In this paper, we make an argument around two elements greatly connected on the setting of neoliberal globalization: traditional media and social movements. More specifically, our proposition in this research is to conduct a comparative study of online versions of two newspapers, the Brazilian newspaper Folha de S^o Paulo and the Spanish El Mundo. Considering this, we analyze the coverage of these vehicles in 2010, a period of presidential elections in Brazil, on the MST (Landless Movement) from the perspective of DH (human rights) Adopting a critical, historical, and dialectical view, we use the theoretical assumptions of Roland Barthes Douglas Kellner, Joaquin Herrera Flores, and David S~.nchez Rubio
文摘Adichie's Purple Hibiscus is a feminist work that challenges the dehumanizing tendencies of the menfolk as evident in the character of Mama (Beatrice Achike) who eventually exposed the African conception of an ideal woman who keeps dumb even in the face of humiliation, victimization, and brutality so as to be perceived as a good woman. We will make a resounding case to portray that Achike belongs to the category of liberal feminism. However, as events unfolds, she was forced by situations beyond her control to respond and go radical in order to crush anything that stands in her way to happiness. Efforts will be made to show how African women are rated based on the real and good women as represented by Ifeoma and Beatrice Achike respectively. This essay in exploring the different tenets of feminism will acknowledge that radical feminism is an off shoot of violence. We shall argue that radical feminism is a radical reaction to dehumanization, humiliation, and violence. This study seeks to address the issue of feminism and how characters subject to series of humiliation that leads to a radical approach to gain their freedom.
文摘Democratic private schools in Israel are a part of the neo-liberal discourse. They champion the dialogic philosophy associated with its most prominent advocates--Martin Buber, Emmanuel Levinas---together with Paulo Freire's critical pedagogy, the humanistic psychology propounded by Carl Rogers, Nel Noddings's pedagogy of care and concern, and even Gadamer's integrative hermeneutic perspective. Democratic schools form one of the greatest challenges to State education and most vocal and active critique of the focus conservative education places on exams and achievement. This article describes the dual discourse connected to the schools. The first is the inner dialogical, which is devoted to student freedom and progress, the child being placed at the center. The second is the exterior discourse, which represents the school as a place of counter-education that provides personal and group development and comprises a site of liberty and choice. The schools in Israel are described as test case and indicating the existence of a sophisticated form of deception via the use of alluring terminology. The democratic private schools should be recognized for what they really are--agents of commodification that undermine democracy rather than enhance it.
文摘Paradise Lost is a great epic written by John Milton. Deeply influenced by Christian Humanism, Milton fully shows his free will defense in Paradise Lost. Based on the text of Paradise Lost, this paper mainly analyzes the causes of Milton's free will defense, his pursuit for free will shown in the two falls in the work: Satan's fall and Adam and Eve's fall. This paper also discusses the practical meaning of free will defense in Paradise Lost: it reveals his grief and anger of the failure of England revolution and shows the idea that people don't have the freedom to interfere or destroy other people's free will.
文摘Condemned by Mencius (ca.372-289 BCE) as selfishness (weiwo, 为我), Yang Zhu's yangsheng philosophy in China is traditionally depicted as a philosophy of egoism and hedonism. In contrast, Yang Zhu (fl.ca.370-350 BCE) is described as an "early liberal or individualist" hero in the Western Discussion of Chinese Philosophy. Yang Zhu may not be a liberal or individualist hero as portrayed by the West, but surely he should not be depicted as a promoter of egoism as Mencius did. Both John Emerson and A.C. Graham are probably right when they claimed that Yang Zhu was a revolutionary thinker of his own time; and "Yang Zhu's intervention for the Chinese thinking world had provoked a metaphysical crisis which had threatened the basic assumptions of Confucianism and Mohism and set them into a new course" (A.C. Graham 1978). From my reading, Yang Zhu's influence on Chinese philosophy had been and will be even greater, although his philosophy as a whole was not practiced by Chinese society in the past due to the dominance of Confucianism. Yet as the first person who clearly emphasized nourishing of life for individuals and the first theory that rooted morality into xing (性, human nature), Yang Zhu's yangsheng philosophy had indeed through history made a huge contribution to Chinese nurturing life tradition, and had great potential in providing inspiration to modern moral thinking. Many discussions initiated or developed by Yang Zhu and his followers have influenced both Confucianism and Daoism profoundly. His idea of nourishing life was not only inherited and developed by Zhuangzi and later Daoist religion from life preservation perspective, but also by Mencius and Xunzi from moral cultivation perspective. As a doctrine that has shown more and more relevance to modern society, people can find many inspirations from Yang Zhu's answer to the following questions: What is the aim of human life? What is the right attitude toward life and death? What is human nature? What is the relationship between life nourishment and individual freedom? Why nourishing one's own life should be as important as nourishing that of others? What is the difference between humans and animals? Why living a natural life is so important for human beings? Based on materials collected from various Chinese sources directly related to Yang Zhu's school, especially the chapter entitled as "Yang Zhu" from the book of Liezi, this paper will explore essential features of Yang Zhu's yangsheng philosophy and its relevance to modern society. As "guiji" (贵已, cherishing oneself) is the core of Yang Zhu's yangsheng philosophy, discussion of this paper will focus on what Yang Zhu's "guiji" means, why Yang Zhu's "guiji" is not "weiwo" (为我, for oneself), and how Yang Zhu's "guiji" yangsheng is relevant to modern society.
文摘During the past decades, while the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has continued to consolidate its political leadership and refused to tolerate any opposition parties, intra-party democracy has been emphasized repeatedly and expanded vigorously by Chinese Communist leaders as an alternative to electoral democracy or liberal democracy characterized by multiparty competition. Various democratic experiments have been conducted and many democratic elements introduced at all levels in the CCP. Although the growth of intra-party democracy is limited, these great efforts and achievements have profound implications for China's democratic future. The growth of intra-party democracy not only reflects the CCP's continuous efforts to institutionalize the rules of elite politics and fight against widespread corruption, but might also provide a good approach for political transition to democracy with Chinese characteristics in the future.