The Stranger by George Simmel and The Concept of the Political by Carl Schmitt are two influential essays in sociology about how people –or groups of people- interact with those who are different from them. The way the authors view those who are different from them contrast in many ways, but both support the idea of a human collective being besieged by foreign ideas. The way that Simmel approaches it is more accepting than Schmitt, saying that it is good to have some people who are impartial and unhindered by the ties of the community. Schmitt, however, implies that dissent from the major political opinion is unnecessary and will lead to problems in a country. He further claims that any who bear ideas that will radically change the collective’s …show more content…
Being a stranger comes with many benefits, the biggest of which is impartiality and objectivity. For example, “agewrboieabj Italian judges”. Another benefit that the stranger provides the import of goods or ideas. The first strangers, travelling merchants, would import goods from one country to another, bringing with them the ideas of many different cultures from along their trade route. These ideas could not have organically sprung up in the places that they imported them to, as each culture has an evolutionary history that lead to its current state of affairs. One of the major downsides, as Simmel puts it, “scpar goat quaote”. The view that Simmel provides, the distinction between strange and familiar, seems very foreign to us today. Our daily lives are surrounded by strangers, and we never know if the person next to us shares the same ideals as us. This was not true in the early 1900’s -when this piece was written- as they did not have the same concentration of population. Most people then lived in isolated communities, where all neighbors knew each other fairly well and shared most, if not all, political and social beliefs. This is why the appearance of a stranger in such a community would be a much larger even than yet another stranger joining the surging masses of today’s urban …show more content…
He who comes into a society possessing ideas that could undermine the very core of our daily life should be considered an enemy, according to Schmitt. On the contrary, while never explicitly stated by Simmel, this exchange of ideas could lead both of the countries that they are from to greatness. To draw on an example from our world today, people from educated and well off countries often volunteer to go to impoverished areas in third world countries to build infrastructure or treat medical problems. These people are strangers, yet they unambiguously contribute to the wellbeing of the masses. However, there have been many cases in which strangers come to a country for exploitation, such as the mass colonization of Africa and Asia by the European powers. According to Schmitt, the enemy will always be a stranger, but a stranger is not always an enemy. This is because he refuses to consider the possibility of an internal struggle, calling it “self-laceration”. The question then is if it is reasonable to believe that a community will exist as Schmitt imagines it to, or if opinions will diverge and people will become strangers and finally enemies to their fellow
The author Ken Kesey was born in La Junta, Colorado and went to Stanford University. He volunteered to be used for an experiment in the hospital because he would get paid. In the book “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”, Kesey brings up the past memories to show how Bromden is trying to be more confident by using those thoughts to make him be himself. He uses Bromden’s hallucinations, Nurse Ratched’s authority, and symbolism to reveal how he’s weak, but he builds up more courage after each memory.
Has there ever existed a person that has not judged someone else over their lifetime? Judging by reality as well as literature it seems that no person like that has ever existed. It appears that it is human nature to want to pronounce others as either purely good or evil. But does everyone fit into the mold of good or evil? In Albert Camus's The Stranger, Meursault is a morally ambiguous character, and this ethical indistinctness plays a major part in the novel as a whole and the theme that Camus is trying to portray.
The Stranger by Albert Camus is a story of a sequence of events in one man's life that cause him to question the nature of the universe and his position in it. The book is written in two parts and each part seems to reflect in large degree the actions occurring in the other. There are curious parallels throughout the two parts that seem to indicate the emotional state of Meursault, the protagonist, and his view of the world.
Chapter 6 of part I of The Stranger concluded with Meursault’s conscious decision to shoot an Arab because of the physical discomfort the Arab’s knife caused him. The significance of the ending of part I is that it was the first demonstration of Meursault’s awareness of the possible consequences of the act that he committed. This awareness continues into the second part of the novel as he is arrested and trialed. The reason for Meursault’s trial is the murder of the Arab. His insensitivity towards Maman’s death and lack of a social conscientious are factors that contributed to support further investigations, but are not reasons to trial him because they have not ‘harmed’ society on a way that he could be arrested for. For example, if Meursault
This passage is set before Meursault’s execution with the chaplain entering the scene, and telling Meursault that his “heart is blind”, leading to Meursault to yell and delve into his rant, and moment of consciousness. The passage has a calm in the beginning as if Meursault catches his breath from yelling previously, and he starts to reassure himself that he is not wrong for expressing his views as it went against the public’s religious beliefs, and states that this moment was so important to him that it was if his life was merely leading up to it. Why this particular scene is important to Meursault is that this is an instance where he successfully detaches himself from the world, and begins to deconstruct the world’s ideals as his rant shifts on to focusing on how nothing in life mattered. Meursault describes his gripes with the chaplain’s words as he explains his reasoning as to why the concept of a god is flawed as Meursault saw that everyone was inherently the same, with equal privileges just how often people could express them separated them. The passage continues with Meursault arguing that everyone would be faced with judgment or punishment one day, and explains why his own situation was not significant as it was no different. After that explanation the passage ends with Meursault posing the concept of everything in the world being equal both in wrongdoing and life in general, evident in his example of saying “Sala¬mano's dog was worth just as much as his wife.” Although the passage shows Meursault challenging the ethics and morals that the world around him follows, it does have instances like the end in which we see that the rant is still expression of Meursault's complex emotions, as it is unclear whether it is fear or a...
...inferior cultures are always able to adapt and learn things from larger groups, in contact zone environments the larger groups are finally able to draw things from the smaller cultures as well, and thus transculturation becomes a two-way street. Only when people are made aware of the marginal diversity that surrounds them in everyday life are they able to gain a wider understanding and deeper knowledge of the world around them. They are then able to apply that knowledge to shape and benefit the way they interact with others and operate as a part of a society that is more open, leaving behind the mistake of imagined communities and applying inaccurate definitions to groups of people.
Simmel says the stranger is “person who comes today and stays tomorrow”; he/she has a position within society but that position is “fundamentally affected by the fact that he does not belong in it initially and that he brings qualities into it that are not, and cannot be, indigenous to it” (Simmel, 361). To be a stranger, according to Simmel, is to have position in society but to be at a distance from others relationally with differences in race, culture, class, language, sometimes religion, and physically in terms of community. Due to these differences, the stranger remains an outsider. The Stranger is in the United States, but mentally in Mexico providing for their families and chasing a better life.
In Chapter 4 of Political Thinking; the Perennial Questions, Tinder raises the question of whether social order can be maintained without power. The argument of whether humans are estranged or naturally good plays a large part in deciding this question. Tinder hits on two major topics before coming to his ultimate decision. The first is that human nature can be linked to reason as both a cognitive and a moral tool that can be used to live without a specific source of power. In other words, people with a strong sense of morality can suffice without the need of an organized government. It is then argued that the concept of natural occurring interests between a society successfully taps into the fear that social order is spontaneous, disregarding whether people are generally good or bad. The example of free enterprise is given, regarding humans as selfish and materialistic. With this an idea for government to protect property and create stability in currency arose while trying not to encroach on personal freedoms.
This face of the other, the stranger serves as an “indicative surface” to us. Lingis (1994) states “The face of another is a surface upon which one senses directions and directives that order me; w...
Simmel, Georg. "The Stranger." from Kurt Wolff (Trans.) The Sociology of Georg Simmel. New York: Free Press, 1950.
French author and playwright Albert Camus once said, “He who despairs over an event is a coward, but he who holds hope for the human condition is a fool.” In the The Stranger and The Guest this philosophy is expanded on by demonstrating how those who do not conform to society are isolated, and portrayed as a threat to society because of their unique beliefs.
Sometimes reading fiction not only makes us pleasure but also brings many knowledge about history and philosophy of life. ‘The Guest’ by the French writer Albert Camus is a short story and reflects the political situation in French North Africa in 1950s. According to this story, we know the issues between the France and the Arab in Algeria, and the protagonist, Daru, refuses to take sides in the colonial conflict in Algeria. This is not a boring story, because Camus uses a suspenseful way to show the character, conflicts and symbol and irony.
Within the Stranger, Albert Camus brought up many questions and a few answers. He created an outsider to society and showed us how he lived, Meursault.
Existentialism is defined as "a philosophical theory or approach that emphasizes the existence of the individual person as a free and responsible agent determining his or her own development through acts of the will”. In other words, existentialism it emphasizes individual freedom. Throughout The Stranger, the amount of existentialism views is abundant. The use of Mersault’s experiences covey the idea that human life has no meaning except for simple existence. The idea of existentialism in Albert Camus' The Stranger reflects through Mersault's life experiences with his relationship with Marie, the death of his mother Maman, the murdering of the Arab, and Mersault's trial and execution, all these events show that Mersault’s life of no meaning.
Fulcher, J. and Scott, J. (2003) Sociology, 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. Giddens, A. (1992) Human Societies: A reader, Polity Press: Cambridge. Giddens, A., ed., pp. 113-117.