The Mask of Benevolence Essay Example for Free

The Mask of Benevolence Essay The Mask of Benevolence BY sarniJ010 The Mask of Benevolence was honestly shocking to me and made me rethink a lot. I thought it was interesting and intriguing that it discussed the views of most hearing people and talked about why they arent necessarily right. Many of the facts, opinions, and details of how things had been dealt with in the past completely surprised me. One of the most surprising things for me was how each culture viewed one another; which was almost all negative. Of course, not all people in each category have those thoughts. The book was an amazing read for me because I was able to see nd understand some things as the deaf culture does because the author, Harlan Lane, was so specific and explained things through the thoughts she heard from people within the deaf community. In the beginning of the book, Lane discusses how the deaf culture views cochlear implants and the oral communication of deaf people. And though I was unsure why there was there was such a strong dislike of these things, it soon made sense to me. Deaf children that are forced to get an implant or to rely on oral communication get lost in an in between world of deaf and hearing. Lane stated, the implanted child will not move easily in the hearing world, it is unlikely that he will learn American Sign Language (ASL) fluently and make his own fundamental values of that community. So there is a real danger that he will grow up without any substantive communication, spoken or signed. (p4). This was extremely eye opening because although I had never thought negatively in any way about the deaf community I did have the impression that medical advancements and such implants would be viewed incredibly highly to the deaf. As most hearing people are, I uppose I was simply uneducated on the facts of cochlear implants. Lane claims that the result of the discrepancies between the implant and the natural mechanism of hearing is a sound that many formerly hearing adults have trouble interpreting and sometimes even localizing. (p219). On page 20, Lane tells a story about a woman from a large deaf family and hoped dearly that her daughter, too, would be deaf. Deaf people do not wish to hear, they simply wish for people to be more aware of their culture. They are not impaired, they were simply born into a small culture; like eing Hispanic or Jewish, why would you wish to wake up and be white one day? That is not who you are. Lane discusses so many negative things of how the hearing think of the deaf that not only completely blew me away but also made me feel disgusted toward the majority of hearing people that do look down on the deaf community. I was astonished. I honestly never knew there were that many naive people out there that saw hearing people as that much better and higher than the deaf; simply because I have never known anyone who thought that way and I never even considered that! I was in shock when I saw Lane quoting an American psychiatric publication from 1985 that stated, Profound deafness that occurs prior to the acquisition of verbal language is socially and psychiatrically devastating. (p35). Devastating?! The view of the deaf from so many hearing is outrageous! After quoting the publication, Lane went on the list several characteristics that the hearing culture has labeled to all deaf people. These characteristics included aggressive, irritable, egocentric, and even shy. How would a nearing person know it a deat person is sny or isolated? Hearing people see that the deaf person is not communicating with them and automatically assumed these things. However, how do you expect someone who does not share the same language as you chat and visit with you? That is extremely egotistically of all hearing people that think that way. And that Just goes back to hearing people expecting the deaf to learn our language. How unbelievably naive! Its not like the Hispanic culture moving here that have the ability and resources to learn English yet refuse to. The deaf have the most unique language in the world and are imply unable to learn any other language fluently. How can you learn to speak a language fluently when you are unable to hear it? As I Just stated, sign language, which I will refer to as ASL from now on even though sign is not exclusive to America, is simply the most unique language in the world. And those that deny it as a language are simply Just incredibly uneducated. Something I found interesting was when Lane discussed storytelling in the deaf community on page 16. She explained how deaf children learn the importance of storytelling and they practice at a very young age. Lane states that clear communication is highly valued; stories should be rich in detail, start at the beginning and end at the end, and contain plain talk; hinting and vague talk in an effort to be polite are inappropriate and even often offensive (p16). How is that not talking about a culture with a rich language? In fact, I feel as though the deaf can actually communicate more than the hearing. Because not only do they have the language like we do, their facial expressions and attention to detail are way beyond the average hearing person. Another point from early on in he book that I wanted to discuss was a something that I could relate to. The chapter entitled The Paternalism Indictment discusses the flaw with the teachings for deaf children. That market is completely controlled by hearing people who hardly understand the deaf and their culture and so it is all basically based of stereotypes. On page 49 Lane states, It is said to be conducted in the interest of deaf people, but the profits go almost exclusively to hearing people. And I got to see this first hand when I was a sophomore in high school. My long time best friend, Rachel, was born rofoundly deaf in one ear. She can hear fine and is in no way deaf or a part of that culture. She never once required any special treatment in school. However she did use a hearing aid or speaker box in elementary from time to time. All throughout middle school and our first year of high school she maintained a pretty high GPA. One day while we were sophomores, she randomly received a new schedule from the office. Following the new schedule, she went to her first class and discovered that they had put her in all special education classes. Obviously she was confused and pset, so she called her mother and they went to the office to sort out what was clearly a mistake. The office stated that it was not a mistake. Apparently, the school had been claiming Rachel as profoundly deaf, which she was in one ear, and requiring the special attention of any other child with a severe impairment. And of course, the school was getting large additional funds because of Rachels impairment; Shame on the school for knowing that they would receive additional benefits for claiming Rachel. And shame on the state for that matter for giving the chool extra funds because the poor school was Just so kind as to deal with all of Rachels special needs due to hearing impairment. Lane stated there are paternalistic universals and parallax in the attributions, and a claim to a civilizing burden that fails to mask the benefactors economic interest (p49).

Flying Home :: essays research papers fc

"Flying Home": a Living Story. Ralph Waldo Ellison is perhaps one of the most influential African-American writers of the twentieth century. Ellison is best known for writing about such topics as self-awareness, identity, and the racial repression of African-Americans in the United States. His masterpiece, Invisible Man, chronicles the story of a young man striving to find himself in a world where he is hardly noticed. This novel won him much respect in the eyes of the literary community. Earlier in his career, Ellison also wrote many influential short stories. "Flying Home", is one of Ellison’s stories that call the attention of all concerned with the basic essence of human freedom. In "Flying Home", Ellison creates a provocative statement about the Black situation in the south in the 1940’s that is rich with symbolism and personal experience. Born on March 1, 1914, in Oklahoma, Ellison was raised in an environment that promoted self-fulfi llment. His father, who named his son after Ralph Waldo Emerson and hoped to raise him as a poet, died when Ellison was three. Ellison’s mother enlisted blacks into the Socialist Party and was also a domestic worker. In the early 1930s, Ellison won a scholarship to Alabama’s Tuskegee Institute, where he studied music until 1936(Busby 10). Later, to earn money for his education (after a mix-up regarding his scholarship), he traveled to New York, where he met Richard Wright and became involved in the Federal Writer’s Project. Encouraged to write a review for New Challenge, a publication edited by Wright, Ellison began composing essays and stories focusing on the strength of the human spirit and the necessity of racial pride. It was during this time that Ellison composed "Flying Home." "Flying Home", is the story of a young man who is one of a very small number of African-American pilots in World War II. The story begins as the young man, named Todd, crashes his trainer plane into a Southern crop field. Injured and unable to move, Todd is helped by one of the field workers, a black man named Jefferson. Todd, a man of the "white" world is overcome by feelings of disgust by the appearance and demeanor of Jefferson. Todd feels physically ill from having to deal with someone of such low class. At this early point in the story the reader wonders why Todd, a black man, would show such terrible feelings toward someone of his own race. Flying Home :: essays research papers fc "Flying Home": a Living Story. Ralph Waldo Ellison is perhaps one of the most influential African-American writers of the twentieth century. Ellison is best known for writing about such topics as self-awareness, identity, and the racial repression of African-Americans in the United States. His masterpiece, Invisible Man, chronicles the story of a young man striving to find himself in a world where he is hardly noticed. This novel won him much respect in the eyes of the literary community. Earlier in his career, Ellison also wrote many influential short stories. "Flying Home", is one of Ellison’s stories that call the attention of all concerned with the basic essence of human freedom. In "Flying Home", Ellison creates a provocative statement about the Black situation in the south in the 1940’s that is rich with symbolism and personal experience. Born on March 1, 1914, in Oklahoma, Ellison was raised in an environment that promoted self-fulfi llment. His father, who named his son after Ralph Waldo Emerson and hoped to raise him as a poet, died when Ellison was three. Ellison’s mother enlisted blacks into the Socialist Party and was also a domestic worker. In the early 1930s, Ellison won a scholarship to Alabama’s Tuskegee Institute, where he studied music until 1936(Busby 10). Later, to earn money for his education (after a mix-up regarding his scholarship), he traveled to New York, where he met Richard Wright and became involved in the Federal Writer’s Project. Encouraged to write a review for New Challenge, a publication edited by Wright, Ellison began composing essays and stories focusing on the strength of the human spirit and the necessity of racial pride. It was during this time that Ellison composed "Flying Home." "Flying Home", is the story of a young man who is one of a very small number of African-American pilots in World War II. The story begins as the young man, named Todd, crashes his trainer plane into a Southern crop field. Injured and unable to move, Todd is helped by one of the field workers, a black man named Jefferson. Todd, a man of the "white" world is overcome by feelings of disgust by the appearance and demeanor of Jefferson. Todd feels physically ill from having to deal with someone of such low class. At this early point in the story the reader wonders why Todd, a black man, would show such terrible feelings toward someone of his own race.

To What Extent Do Modern Versions of Virtue Ethics Address

To what extent do modern versions of Virtue Ethics address the weaknesses of Aristotle’s teachings on virtue? Aristotle’s idea of Virtue Ethics was influenced by his belief that all things and all humans have a purpose (a telos). For him a complete explanation of something has to include its final cause or purpose which essentially is to realise its potential. Virtue Ethics itself is concerned with the characteristics of a person rather than how a person behaves and it is this he outlined in his book Nicomachean Ethics. A ‘’virtue’’ are qualities that lead to a good life e. . courage and honesty. Aristotle explains for a person to adopt these qualities into their own lives is to maximise their potential to achieve a happy life and he goes on to explain Eudaimonia as being a quality of this happiness. However Aristotle then explains that a person should not act virtuously just to achieve a particular end because he believes this to be a subordi nate aim. A person that acts in a way to achieve goodness Aristotle explains is a superior aim and it is these people that act ‘’good’’ because it is the right way to act not because they ought to.Following on from this Aristotle goes on to explain the key to goodness and virtue is to follow the ‘’golden mean’’. This is when as a person we act between two extreme vices for example the midpoint between shamelessness and shyness is modesty, this therefore is the golden mean. Aristotle also distinguished between two types of virtue, moral virtues and intellectual virtues. The first being those cultivated through habit whilst intellectual virtues are those cultivated through instruction. In the later twentieth century Virtue Ethics suffered a revival.It was questioned whether Aristotle’s teachings on Virtue Ethics had any weaknesses and some modern perspectives on Virtue Theory can be seen to highlight these flaws. Although no t to a great extent, I do believe some modern versions of Virtue Ethics address the weaknesses of Aristotle’s teachings and my view is shared by many scholars who have criticised Aristotle’s Virtue Ethics for being too ‘’relative, vague and self-centred’’. Elizabeth Anscombe believed that ethical codes laying stress on moral absolute laws are outdated in a society where effectively a belief in God has been abandoned by the majority.She believed that we need to return to a morality which is based on human flourishing. However Anscombe did believe a return to achieving Eudaimonia was required and working from the basis of Aristotle’s work she believed morality is best based on a person (agent) rather than an act or outcome. Similarly Philippa Foot argued that although virtues cannot guarantee happiness, they can go some way to achieving it and she too uses Aristotle’s roots but updates them accordingly.She explains that virtues ca n only be virtuous when used in the correct way; she used the example of courage when applied to somebody robbing a bank, in this instance courage is therefore not a virtue and cannot be seen as virtuous. Alasdair MacIntyre encourages a return to the basis of Aristotle’s understanding of virtue and encourages the development of virtues that are relevant to contemporary times. He believed when compared to other ethical theories Virtue Ethics are more realistic and applicable to peoples everyday situations.I would agree with MacIntyre here that a virtue-approach is more suitable in our society. Naturalistic theories of ethics are time consuming and overly complexed and therefore difficult to apply, Virtue Ethics however is not. For MacIntyre morality should be focused on developing your telos, this echoing Aristotle’s teachings. When referring back to the question, to what extent do modern versions of virtue ethics address the weakness of Aristotle’s teachings, Ma cintyre’s work can be used to show that Modern versions of virtue ethics can do the exact opposite.Aristotle’s teachings are seen throughout Macintyre’s work so how therefore can Aristotle’s work be criticized for having weaknesses? However not all modern philosophers use Aristotle’s work in their own and many would argue against my view that it is without weakness. J. L Mackie, Louden and Sidgewick have criticized Aristotle’s teachings for being too vague for any application and Sidgewick went on to say it only indicates the whereabouts of a virtue. The belief that is doesn’t provide accurate guidance can also be seen in Rosalind Hursthouse’s work.She believes Aristotle’s work on Virtue Ethics doesn’t explain how a person would or should act but only how a virtuous person would think about the dilemma. However she like Foot and Anscombe is a supporter of Aristotle’s approach to morality using his work but adapting it to suit a modern society. When looking at Aristotle’s teachings, they can be seen as very cultural dependent. The change in culture in our society today can be seen as a barrier for reviving this ethical theory. During the time of Aristotle communities were consistent in what they believed and this made virtues applicable to all.However in relation to our own communities today is there this consistency? In my opinion I do not believe so. For this reason I would argue that Aristotle’s idea of Eudaimonia in today’s society would be interpreted differently by many and one virtue for somebody may be a vice for another. From modern scholars such as Anscombe, Foot and MacIntyre we can see that Aristotle’s ideas are still prevalent in their own and it is for this reason that I disagree modern versions of virtue ethics addresses the weaknesses of Aristotle’s teachings to a large extent.Whilst using his ‘roots’ but changing it to su it a modern society may be seen ,by some, to be a weakness in my opinion this is a strength. Aristotle’s teachings have stood the test of time and are still predominantly used in this century with only a few appropriate changes. The counter argument however would be that Aristotle’s teachings are outdated for the community we live in now. The difference in community now compared with that of Aristotle’s provide a weakness in his theory and I understand that to a small extent weaknesses can be found, using modern versions of Virtue Ethics, in Aristotle’s teachings.

Family Complexities in Interracial Marriages Essay

Family Complexities in Interracial Marriages This paper was really interesting to write because it is a topic that could affect me some day. Plus,Fools Rush In is my favorite movie so I loved the opportunity to analyze it. I liked writing the paper because I think that its a topic that a lot of people tend to overlook or think unimportant. The truth is that many people rush in to interracial marriages without stopping to think of the effects on their families. This paper wasnt written to dissuade anyone from marrying someone of a different ethnicity or religion, only to inform them of what could (and does) happen. It was really hard to write a synthesis on the two movies without comparing and contrasting them. It†¦show more content†¦Fools Rush In starts out comparing the lives of two very different people. Alex Whitman is a white, upper-class successful New Yorker who has recently been relocated to Las Vegas. Isabelle Fuentes is a Mexican-American woman struggling with her photography career in Las Vegas. They meet by chance in a restaurant and have a one night stand. Three months later, Isabelle interrupts Alex’s smooth lifestyle with the announcement that she is pregnant. After meeting Isabelle’s very tight knit, very Catholic Hispanic family, Alex decides they should elope. What follows are many comedic scenarios of both people trying to fit in to the other’s culture. Real problems arise with topics of rac e, religion, and location. Each family contributes to the stress of the situation. Isabelle’s family thinks that they need to stay in Las Vegas in order to be closer to family, and that the baby’s religion has to be Catholic. Alex’s family thinks themselves superior over Mexican-Americans and thinks that economics is more important than being close to family. Isabelle lies about a miscarriage, and they go their separate ways. 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