Introduction Aristotle, the Greek philosopher, used to believe that “human is a social and political creature and the one, who can live far away from human societies, is either a beast or a god.” Plato, another philosopher from ancient Greece also claimed that “the creation of the society is a natural construction. People by nature create societies, and they only achieve its completion inside them.” However, philosopher Kant insists that “human is a lonely animal that avoids the mob” and the even more cynical De La Croix, the French artist, believes that “people are social human beings that hate their peers.” With these kinds of contradictions in my head and with my introvert personality, which at the same time has an extrovert behavior, I entered Diane’s class that Monday morning, trying to figure out why humans seek or need other human beings. Is it because we learned - since primitive times - that being with a tribe was the only way to survive or because biologically we can’t do any differently? With this reflection blog, I will try to focus on the topics we explored during this week that may help me answer that question, considering them as great tools that can be applied in my peer and family mediation practice. Social Connection - Exclusion Throughout history, exclusion had always been the worst punishment for those who were threatening the society’s cohesion and peace. In ancient Greece, for example, ostracism (= social exclusion) was a procedure where the Athenian
Jean- Jacques Rousseau was born on June 28, 1712, in Switzerland. The European philosopher wrote a book called A Discourse on the Arts and Sciences. His belief is that society is corrupted by evil and that man is good in his “state of nature” (Notes). He believed that man are naturally good and if we let them act on their own instinct, that they will act their true nature. He claims that politics are evil and corrupt the society with their systems.
Jean Jacques Rousseau was a French philosopher in 1712-1778. He believed that all humans are born innocent and what corrupt them and makes evil is society. He believes that if there was no society it would not make human beings feel so judged, shy or depended on others. Without society people would feel more equal they would not want to compare themselves Humans would feel freer. Rousseau thought that society weakens humans that if someone were to grow up in a natural place and place far from society they would be stronger. Compared o the people that grow up in a society they weaken.
The battle between society and man, the social creature, would be a definition of social alienation. As a result of the wounds casted upon a man from society, that man begins to alienate himself and retreat. Fyodor Dostoyevsky, in “Notes from Underground,” shows us the Underground Man who, after expecting the world to work like it does in literature, finds himself being isolated for the last twenty years of his life. Ralph Ellison, in “Invisible Man,” shows us an Invisible Man who, in the beginning has social hopes and aspirations, eventually becomes completely alienated on. While Dostoyevsky and Ellison show us somebody alienated from society in different eras and environment, they differ on why one becomes alienated.
The movie “Social Network” is about the ideas and the development behind the creation of the very popular social networking site “Facebook”. Mark Zuckerberg is the main character in the movie and also the actual creator of Facebook.
Social Konnections Inc (SKI) is a global internet company that runs a large social media networking web site. The major source of income for the company is from the advertisers who use the advertising space created by Social Konnection Inc. The amount an advertiser pays depends on the number of views or the number of clicks depending on the type of the contract. The company acquired Corporate Collaborations this entity manages private and public social media networks that earn its revenue providing corporate social network development and hosting services. The audit committee of the company has requested the company to hire a new audit firm with a better experience in
A man walks into a bar and begins to converse with a local—the man is not from the area. Intrigued by the unfamiliar face, the first thing the local asks is: “where are you from?” Instead of asking for the travelers name, he seeks to identify a larger organization. These simple conversations display the tendency for humans to associate with groups. Democrat or Republican, lower, middle, or upper-class, family, education, ancestry, these communal affiliations are what define an individual. Governments are run by a community of people, and those that are not often collapse, as displayed by many failed dictatorships and monarchies. Even the most intimate component of a human, the mind, is divided into a community of different selves, as explored in the article “First Person Plural” by Paul Bloom. As demonstrated by Edna Pontellier in The Awakening, the rule of one body or persona is neither permanent nor healthy, regardless of the setting; true success comes from a conglomerate of distinct perspectives with a mutual goal in both a governmental and personal setting.
It was once said that “the only living societies are those which are animated by inequality and injustice.” A man named Paul Claudel wrote this in his work, Conversations dans le Loir-et-Cher, and he criticizes the ability to have a functional society. Societies are meant to organize the values of people into a system with uniform laws and expectations; however, societies can never fully achieve this. Claudel only sees societies with dysfunctional characteristics like inequality and injustice. There are always exceptions to the social order because all people are individuals with different life experiences that help define who they are. Nathaniel Hawthorne also criticizes the Utopian ideals that societies often hold in his novel, The
Jean Jacques Rousseau was a French philosopher who believed that man was born with a pure heart and good intentions; however, society inevitably corrupted man. He believed that any desire to be a good person must be internally initiated from the one seeking it. Once man has immersed himself into society, he allows himself to be persuaded that being good is not the only way of life.
Through the evolution of social bonds, individuals have always been under scrutiny to abide by a list of rules in order to be successful in their community. This ideology is made evident in the book, The Code of the Street, by Elijah Anderson. Anderson dissects and exposes the various issues dealing with families in urban minority communities. These families are labeled as “street” and “decent”. The connotation of the term “code of the street” is a set of accepted and understood set of rules in which “street” and “decent” families abide by in order to function in modern-day street society. These regulatory rules are known as a “code” because this term is not blatantly stated, but mutually understood by those living in these disadvantaged communities.
Jean Jacques Rousseau stated that the view of science, art, and social institutions has corrupted humankind. He also stated that natural state is morally greater than civilized state. Later he stated that it is more important to express yourself than to hold back on becoming a unique individual (Hampshire, 149).
In contrast, Rousseau had a generally positive view on human nature though a rather negative view on modern society. He proposed that humans had once been solitary beings and had learned to be political. He believed that human nature was not fixed and was subject to changed. Likewise, he believed that man was good when in a state of nature, but was corrupted by society as shown in his quotation, "Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains.” Also differentiating himself from other humanists, Rousseau taught that the sciences and the arts were not beneficial to man. Rousseau believed the general will must always be right and to obey the general will is to be free.
Sanders, Frankland and Wilkins. (2009) Next Steps in Counselling Practice. 2nd Edition: Ross-on-Wye: PCCS Books Ltd
Human Nature and society are two very controversial subjects. People can never seem to agree on what is human nature or how society should work. Why you may ask? It is because no one truly knows because everyone has different ideas. Sir Thomas More and Michel de Montaigne are prime examples of how they may seem to have totally different ideas, but they do indeed have some similarities. Although Sir Thomas More and Michel de Montaigne both believe human nature is best in a simpler form; More argues in order to have a simpler life they must be governed through a utopian society, where Montaigne argues the barbaric lifestyle is superior.
Nathan DeWall, a Psychologist at the University of Kentucky says that “Humans have a fundamental need to belong. Just as we have needs for food and water, we also have needs for positive and lasting relationships.” The need to belong can be so strong that we are willing to change who we are just to belong to a group. Most times it is small changes. For people who are people pleasers, we will go out of our way to help others, even if that means we are neglecting ourselves, just to get their approval.
One of the facets of living within civilized society is that there are certain norms and social conventions that people must follow. Frequently, there is a large effort on the part of government, financial, and social institutions to keep people doing most of the same thing as others going to work, driving cars, buying homes, etc. Despite the fact that people engage in these efforts individually, the simple fact that they are all attempting to do the same thing, in much the same way, is indicative of the fact that they are engaged in collective behavior. THESIS: Those who are able to overcome collective behavior and allow for their individuality to determine their own outcomes exemplify the best of human nature.