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More handpicked essays just for you.
How identities shape individuals
The role of identity
The role of identity
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1. The word face as defined today has many different connotations. Simply and most commonly it is often thought about as the part of the body, which is most often seen and recognizable to others. Because of this, it can be said to be one of the most vulnerable parts of the body. It can also be understood at a front or more often mask that people put up to disguise their true selves. The expression” that’s just a face” infers that the subject being talked about is hiding behind the face and is not being real or true to what they are. As Levinas explained his meaning of the face in Totality and Infinity he drew upon this idea. In his view, if something had a face then it was more accessible and easier to deal with. This is applicable to the physical world in many ways. …show more content…
This idea is also expressed in chapter 1 of Eboo Patel's Act of Faith. Throughout the chapter, Patel familiarizes the reader with several suicide bombers. Through this, he is essentially giving them a ‘face’. Although he doesn’t go into much detail on their appearance, he does talk about their lives and their families. This allows them to become more comprehensible and show that they truly are just people. A quote from Terry McDermott simplifies it quite well on page 3 as he concludes,” The men of September 11 were, regrettably, I think, fairly ordinary men.” It's an idea that Levinas also touches on in this paper on page 197 when he talks about ‘faceless gods’ having power over people. This concept confirms the belief that if something, in this case, someone, is not seen seem bigger or more powerful that they really are. These conclusions that terrorist are truly just people wouldn’t have come together if they had remained anonymous. It is the power of the face that allowed Patel and others to be able to relate to them and see them as they truly are. Levinas says on page 194,” In gaining access to in I maintain myself within the same,” to say that by seeing it and understanding it he relates to
Finding a way in life can be difficult. Following that way can be even more difficult, especially when it goes against someone's origin. In Acts of Faith, Eboo Patel tells his story of what it was like to struggle through finding himself. Patel asks the question of "How can I create a society of religious pluralism?" throughout the book, and raises implications about what our children are being taught in different societies throughout the world.
Perspective allows people to see another person’s point of view. In the essay “The Cabdriver’s Daughter” by Waheeda Samady, she addresses her perception versus society’s opinion of her father. In her eyes, her father is a person capable of displaying kindness and expressing his profound knowledge while for some Americans, he is their preconceived notion of what a terrorist might look like. She challenges people to look past his scars and the color of skin, and “look at what the bombs did not destroy” (19). To her, he is the man that has lived through the Soviet-Afghan War, persevered through poverty, and denied these experiences the power of changing him into a cantankerous person. Samady feels prideful of her father’s grit through his past experiences yet feels sorrowful thinking about the life he could have lived if the war had never happened.
Tarkovsky’s refusal to attach these faces to a situation, to a decision, or to an exchange of looks with another character makes these anonymous and minor figures especially elusive. Yet their impact is undeniably strong. It is as if the viewer’s mind, unable to read the characters’ eyes, turns away from the distractions of the world towards deeper and unspeakable regions, thus reacting in a way comparable to the beholder of a holy face in an icon. (143)
Some of Goffman’s other works include ‘The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life’, ‘Asylums’, and ‘Stigma’ which are a series of books about social behaviour. They are often referred to as modern classics. The essay on face-work can be considered as an expansion of Goffman’s previous works on interaction and included in this series.
One reason for this mistrust of Muslims is that terrorists are able to hide in plain sight, much like the invisible owner’s family in the film, because people are unable to sense the true intentions of someone. To combat this, the American public developed a stereotype against people who wore Muslim cultural clothing such a hijab. Much like Grace seeking to gain control of her house by locking every door behind her, Americans felt the need to “reinstall patriarchal order against the natural” (Pizzato 221) by profiling and corralling Muslims away from the general
According to Junot Diaz’s short story "No Face", it’s sort of a reimagining of Ysrael’s life as a superhero narrative. Diaz explores how a man’s mental growth is stunted by his community’s perpetual scrutiny of him for reasons beyond his control and he relates the story in a very masculinity way which makes the story a powerful and strong with the character named No Face. He’s created a fantasy world in which to live, separate from the world that is so cruel to him. The story function here as the introduction of hope and revelation that such hope is fanciful. The influence of masculinity supports No Face’s goal and motive through his story.
The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan tells the story of Christian, a deeply religious man whose self-imposed pilgrimage takes him through a variety of locations in his quest to reach Celestial City. However, to better understand Bunyan's perspective on Christianity as given in his novel, we must examine the life experiences of the author. Born in 1628, Bunyan lived in a time period that was undoubtedly heavily influenced by the Reformation movement incited by Martin Luther only a century earlier. The lives of Luther and Bunyan parallel in that both disagreed with fundamental doctrines applied by the Church in their lifetime. Additionally, both were labeled as dissenters and subsequently persecuted for adhering to their own principles (Bunyan, Introduction pg. XVII). Perhaps the most striking similarity was their common belief in the theological teaching of justification by faith, and the role, or lack thereof, of works in acquiring salvation (Perry, Peden, Von Laue, pgs. 18-19). The concept of justification by faith and the zero sum value of works as taught by Luther is the central theme of the novel The Pilgrim's Progress and the basic position concerning Christianity that Bunyan conveys to the reader. Three examples of this position contained within the novel include Christian's opinion of morality and legality as a result of his encounter with Mr. Worldly-Wiseman, Christian's definition of hypocrisy and the subsequent demise of By-ends, and finally the refusal of admittance to the Celestial City for Ignorance, despite his works.
On page 1036 Emerson says, "We come to wear one cut of face and figure." This sounds symbolically like putting on a mask or false appearance. Later, on the same page, Emerson talks about "the forced smile which we put on in company." "Forced" means to strain or produce with effort. Consequently, this "smile" we put on in public is not easily shown, as true emotions would be, but produced difficultly as if it was fake or not true.
Pope John Paul II once said, “Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth – in a word, to know himself – so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves.” (Fallible Blogma) Based on this significant and powerful quote, one can infer that faith and reason are directly associated and related. It can also be implied that the combination of faith and reason allows one to seek information and knowledge about truth and God; based on various class discussions and past academic teachings, it is understood that both faith and reason are the instruments that diverse parties are supposed to use on this search for truth and God. There are many stances and viewpoints on the issues of faith and reason. Some believe that both of these ideas cannot and should not be combined; these parties deem that faith and reason must be taken as merely separate entities. However, this writer does not understand why both entities cannot be combined; both terms are so closely compatible that it would make sense to combine the two for a common task. Based on various class discussions and readings, there are many philosophers and theologians who have certain opinions regarding faith, reason and their compatibility; these philosophers include Hildegard of Bingen, Ibn Rushd, Moses Maimonides, and St. Thomas Aquinas. The following essay will examine each of the previously stated philosopher’s viewpoints on faith and reason, and will essentially try to determine whether or not faith and reason are ultimately one in the same.
In numerous countries, particularly in the West, Muslims are currently looked upon with terror and suspicion, just as they are not by any means a part of the communities in which they live in. The Muslim veil, a long way from being the wonderful clothing of humble and devotion as Muslims see it, is viewed as an image of some dangerous religion. Young Muslim men wearing a facial hair are seen as extremists, and are stopped and searched as possible terrorists. Indeed, even government officials now talk about Islam and Muslims just as if they are considered to be hidden enemies inside these countries, who must be observed carefully.
...e part of a person’s character. The author also shows that characters who are concerned with appearances, such as Helmer, want to appear morally acceptable in the eyes of society.
In many aspects of our lives, the use of faith as a basis for knowledge can be found. Whether it is faith in the advice of your teacher, faith in a God or faith in a scientific theory, it is present. But what is faith? A definition of faith in a theory of knowledge context is the confident belief or trust in a knowledge claim by a knower, without the knower having conclusive evidence. This is because if a knowledge claim is backed up by evidence, then we would use reason rather than faith as a basis for knowledge . If we define knowledge as ‘justified true belief’, it can be seen that faith, being without justification, can never fulfill this definition, and so cannot be used as a reliable basis for knowledge. However, the question arises, what if a certain knowledge claim lies outside of the realm of reason? What if a knowledge claim cannot be justified by empirical evidence and reasoning alone, such as a religious knowledge claim? It is then that faith allows the knower to decide what is knowledge and what is not, when something cannot be definitively proved through the use of evidence. When assessing faith as a basis for knowledge in the natural sciences, the fact arises that without faith in the research done before us, it is impossible to develop further knowledge on top of it. Yet at the same time, if we have unwavering faith in existing theories, they would never be challenged, and so our progress of knowledge in the natural sciences would come to a standstill. Although I intend to approach this essay in a balanced manner, this essay may be subject to a small degree of bias, due to my own non-religious viewpoint.
Sacrifice is an important part of life. Most people have sacrificed in order to make their lives, someone elses lives or simply the world better.Sacrifice shows character and provides proof of someone's values and morals. In the novel “And The Mountains Echoed”, by Khaled Hosseini, many characters make sacrifices. The character Baba Ayub is a perfect example showing sacrifices project one's values more vividly than anything else.
Since the beginning of civilisation the question can art have the capacity to transform the world politically and morally has invariably haunted the philosophers and social scientists alike. This paper makes an attempt to address two different but interrelated questions in the light of photography by primarily focusing on Abu Ghraib pictures. First, I intend to look critically at Butler’s claim that framing of reality in a certain way imposes constraints on what can be heard, seen and read during the times of war. And second, I propose to consider the various ways in which the relationship between photography and ethical responsiveness can be explored by invoking the idea of face propounded by Levinas in one of his interviews.
Modern society and its people have the ability to make a vast range of choice when it comes to anything in their lives. People to today have the ability and free will to choose their partners, their careers, their aspirations in life and their own religion. In the opinion of Peter L. Berger, written in his 1979 book ‘The Heretical Imperative’, modern times provide three fundamental options in relation to religion; the first being ‘The deductive option’, which reaffirms a certain religious tradition in spit of counter claims against it (e.g. Islamic fundamentalism); the second is the reductive option, which modernizes a religious tradition in term which make it sensible or understandable in todays most important modes of though. The final option is called the ‘inductive option’, which turns external forms of authority to individual experience (e.g. William James and the varieties of religious experience). By looking at these options deeper and look at opposing views to Berger’s theory and personal religious preference will give the reader a clearer view of Berger’s ‘The Heretical Imperative’.