Bestolarides 1 Paul Bestolarides Professor Stark HRS 296: Global Histories 27 February 2015 Valuing Identity I could recollect a nostalgic instance in life about a traveling experience, but upon arriving to the city of Amman in the Middle- East, no experience was evermore instilled into the intellect of my ignorant eighteen- year- old, self. Immediately, I could recognize the solemnity of organization; the formal wear between people, the newly creative technology for consumer purposes and the religious reminders echoing through the highest towers of the Mosques. The experience was unlike any from the United States. These perceptions informed me that I was living in some kind of utopian society. …show more content…
Appiah, Huntington and Fukuyama’s text surround the history and reality of some the major concerns, about the fall of ideologies, resulting in a Western liberalism. But not only do these texts inform us about, i.e., how to live, what will happen, but how we can improve our lives, to compliment another’s, who are not from our specific locale. Bestolarides 2 Each of us belongs to different cultures, yet we hold some of the same universal values. It is essential to examine each author’s noted significance. In Appiah’s ‘Cosmopolitinism,’ he implies that some of the innate universal values that each individual hold, can be expressed through art, mathematics and moral values. These values manifest into a universal identity according to Appiah, [pg. 94]. “They are present in every large enough group of our species; in particular, they are the statistical norm in every society,” [pg. 95, paragraph 1]. But, to Appiah, humanity is not an identity at all. Instead, it is a collection of shared interests. Appiah concludes Chapter 6 with this particular philosophy: You can make a stranger into a common human if you discover each other’s shared interests. And in keeping this shared interest, it is beneficial in sustaining a culture. By examining a culture of any kind, a connection can be made, concerning how cultures can make up an identity. His seminal book Cosmopolitanism, is a moral manifesto, for a world where identity has become a weapon and where
My identity has been formed over the course of my life, especially throughout my pre-teen years, in 2012, when my parents decided to split, and my mother went off to live with in Bristol. I have become a completely different person from when I was ten years old, because of the people in my life, such as my teachers, my parents, and my friends. I feel as though I have become a more well-rounded person, because of my experiences.
Most people, unless they choose to be an outsider, want to be considered “cool.” Whether it’s to fit in with a peer group, or clique, or to impress someone in particular, like a member of the opposite sex, or a potential mate. Or possibly to gain something from an individual for financial or social gain (see “Scamming”).
Identity is what defines us as a person. Everyone one on earth has their own unique identity. To showcase my identity, I created a collage of images and descriptive words, called an identi-kit. This identi-kit shows what I feel like is my identity to myself and the others. My identi-kit identifies me as a mixed martial artist. The identi-kit has images of a deadly shark with mixed martial arts gloves on that say mixed martial arts on the front and fight shorts with the words competitor and warrior on them. It also has descriptive words like “killer instinct” and “fight” which describe my spirit. There are three assumptions that come to question when asking about one’s identity. The first is if you were born with this
There are many aspects that are apart of developing a person’s identity and sense of who they are. We are fully responsible for the outcome of our life according to Sarte. There are no excuses in life and we are responsible for our successes and for our failures. Whether we choose to sit back and wait for whatever to happen around us or take action and try to go out and make the changes you want in your life, you are responsible for all the lows and the highs. Our values are formed from the decisions we make, which help us form our identity. The decisions you make in life have an impact on you’re happiness. This can be through making a difference in the world or finding love or having a successful career.
Nowadays it is not uncommon that almost everyone has at least one profile on some sort of social networking site. The reason? To not feel left out. We post online to share what we are doing and how we are feeling. However, social media has influenced us in ways that were not initially planned. Our identities, the concept of what makes you, yourself. Identities are constantly evolving due to social media. We are posting online to make good impressions on the people who follow us. We snap photos and add filters to make ourselves look and feel better. Maybe someone will comment! What if nobody does? Do I delete it? These are constant questions and concerns that go through peoples’ minds during the time they post content. I know those questions run through my head each time I click the share button. It’s almost like we need validation from others for us to be ourselves. When I post, I wait to see the reaction of others, will they like it? When others post, I am constantly comparing myself to them. We are constantly comparing and evolving. Exactly like our identity. Our lives are increasingly more public now more than ever.
Over the course of the semester I have crossed many boundaries that I never would have thought of. Whether that be domestically or culturally over the course of the year and with that it has changed my identity. This semester I found who I am more than anything and gave me an approach to how to live within a community that at first I do not know. With this being said I speak most likely for many that college started out scary as we knew no one and had never been away from home this long. I know personally I found my new identity that I never knew that I had because I crossed boundaries. As time goes on identity evolves when you cross domestic and international boundaries.
The world’s population is continuously increasing and laws are being made to maintain a global social order. The social order includes, and is not limited to, world peace, free international economy, international trade, and assurance that basic human rights are respected by all nations and humans live a decent life, full of opportunities. This is an ideal that we all aspire to, in a way or another and although we want to create a perfect world, it is impossible to do so because of people’s interests and their own view of “perfection.” We, as humans, are not perfect, and therefore we cannot have a perfect world. Many have tried to create ideas of what would make a perfect society. Socrates, Plato and Aristotle have diligently tried for centuries to establish a well-balanced world in which each individual has their own freedom. More than two thousand years have passed since then and the world is still struggling to find a way to create a harmonious international society. Cosmopolitanism and anti-cosmopolitanism have different ideas on how we can achieve this goal. To me, a combination of the two sounds more achievable. In this paper, I will try to demonstrate that today’s world is a combination of the two and ideas from both will take us a few steps forward towards an international goal.
While cosmopolitanism can be viewed as a concise concept, it can also be viewed to have two different strands. The first strand, as Appiah explains, focuses on the obligations we have to one another as universal citizens of the cosmos; obligations that stretch beyond family or local community. The second strand is more intensive stating that not only are we obligated to those whom we share nothing in common with but also find ourselves accountable for knowing other individuals on a more profound level of their practices and belief systems. Yet, while there do exist these two varying strands Appiah also acknowledges that it is not desirable nor probable that as a collective population we want to live under a single model of living. All the while, he briefly states that these two varying strands of the same descending concept may conflict in certain instances. Those who advocate fiercely for the cause of unification and understanding were often mocked for their own hypocritical actions.
There are millions of words across the globe that are used to describe people and uncover their identity, but what is identity? How can you begin to describe something that varies so greatly from one human being to another? Can you create a universal meaning for a word describing human concepts that people often fail to define for themselves? Of course there isn't one definition to define such a word. It is an intricate aspect of human nature, and it has a definition just as complex.
An identity is the state of being oneself. Your character is comprised of your past, present, and future. Some individuals are ashamed of who they really are and try to change themselves, or mask their identities. One of the dominant themes that is conveyed throughout The Namesake is the theme of identity. In the novels, everybody is a little lost, or a lot lost, frankly. Practically every individual struggles with his or her identity, because every person feels the tug and pull of different cultures, different traditions, and different dreams. The Namesake is about this perpetual dilemma faced by immigrants as they fight to maintain their identities while trying to shake them off at the same time while The Great Gatsby is about people
Our perception of our identity is constantly changing, the groups we belong to, the people we talk to and the way we connect with others help to form our identity. There is one thing we all have in common despite our individual identities, is the need to belong. There’s no obligation to belong to only one group, you can belong to many. An individual can belong to many groups, which will then create multiple identities; hence our understanding of identity is never constant. Belonging to a loving family, group of caring friends that help us to develop our own sense of self. However, belonging can have a negative side. For example our families might have an expectation of us to do something that might alter our ambitions and interfere with
The way in which others perceive us can occasionally play a part in the shaping our identity. Our teenage years and our desire to belong both significantly impact who we are today. However, in saying that, it’s evident that as we mature the opinions and views of other become less relevant and are less likely to affect our sense of identity. Your identity defines who you are and is something influenced by various contributing factors.
To be an American is to have traits of freedom the thing that the founding fathers counted on is to have the will to speak freely and to have the will of religion in the constitution it say that every citizen should have life liberty and the pursuit of happiness. This impacts and brings everyone from different places to help create a society that is free. The founding fathers also counted for the people to speak for what is right. The reason is because this helps out on what the people want instead of the government wants this goes to show that the people matter and that is what makes a person happy and also makes a person feel like they have the pursuit to be happy.
There are numerous factors that either make up or restrain the self-identity of a person or an individual. Culture, in addition to family traditions, is one of the factors that affect the self-identity of an individual. When growing up, the environment around affect the personality, values, as well as, beliefs of an individual. The environment includes friends, family members, and the people that affect the life of an individual. So, if the environment is negative, then an individual will have low self esteem.
“Molly, dinner time!” my mother yells in a sing-songy voice from the first floor. My father calls the waitress over, “Excuse me, Molly” he states, trying to get her attention. The doorbell rings, and I answer it, “Hi, I’m Molly” says the cheerful little girl scout standing at my doorstep. Names are universal identifers; they shed no light about one’s personality. They are labels, they fail to display our identity because identity is a unique part of what makes you, you.