Patriarchal Force and Political Power: Comments

Comment on "What Would Machiavelli Do?"

Fri, 19 Nov 2010 16:04:37 -0500

The author I quoted intended his book to be humorous. Who knows whether or not he would have cheated his own mother. However, the author makes a strong point. He uses Machiavelli's philosophy against him, which shows us something interesting. First, it shows us that his philosophy is unlivable. Therefore, it is a philosophy that is inconsistent and contradictory.

You say that he loved Italy and wished its people free from foreign rule. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt (despite no sources to back up your point). However, it's the motivations behind that love which his philosophy can shed light on. Did he love for some sort of personal gain (like his philosophy suggests)? Or does he contradict himself and love for "something higher" than himself?

- MAXON A BRUNO

Comment on "What Would Machiavelli Do?"

Thu, 11 Nov 2010 22:24:06 -0500

I understand where the author is coming from, as most of Machiavelli's concepts were considered drastic. Yet, I feel like this is another case where Machiavelli is being misunderstood by those who study him. Deep down, Machiavelli strived for an Italy free of foreign rule with a leader who genuinely cared about his people. This often gets overlooked, and people instead choose to talk about how Machiavelli would have lied if it meant success. It brings up a good debate though!

- ROBERT MICHAEL ROSELLI JR

Comment on "What Would Machiavelli Do?"

Mon, 01 Nov 2010 08:35:44 -0500

I found this very funny, but it's true, especially about the resume. You cannot compete with others who tweak their resume to make them sound better. Everyone comes up with ways to make their resumes appear more established.

- Samantha Linsenbigler

Comment on "The Church vs Galileo or Christianity vs Galileo?"

Sun, 17 Oct 2010 22:57:53 -0500

I think this post was really well done. The Catholic Church is made up of people, and people make mistakes. It's the same with any religious group. While the harsh treatment of Galileo was certainly not warranted, I don't think it's fair to attack Christianity because of it. I also find it interesting that you likened the differences between 'Christian' and 'Christianity' as the differences between a Church and Christian beliefs. I had never really thought of it that way, but now that you explained it that way, it makes sense. I would like to add that I think Galileo was rather progressive for his time. From our discussion it class, it sounds as if he was a man who married the ideas of science and religion. From my understanding, he supported the idea of the two coexisting and strengthening each other. It's a pity that the Church of the time did not hold the same views.

- ELISSA JOANNE LYNCH

Comment on "The Roman Catholic Church and the Arts"

Fri, 01 Oct 2010 15:21:07 -0500

I like your point about people using the great art as visuals for understanding. I'm Catholic and imagining the masses in Latin or any other language would be intimidating to be honest. Thanks for sharing!

- Casey Dincher

Comment on "The Consequences of Humanism"

Wed, 22 Sep 2010 22:07:45 -0500

I was questioning humanism, so thank you for sharing this. We briefly touched on humanism, but I think time ran out, so we didn't discuss the whole concept. Obviously, terms have different meanings these days, but you would think the definition of humanism would have remained the same. It is interesting and beneficial to know how it has evolved. This surprised me, in essence that it was more individualized back then than it is now. One would think people are more independent, individual, and original now, but this definition kind of makes it seem the other way around.

- Karlie Orisko

Comment on "The Importance of Writing in the "Common Tounge""

Mon, 13 Sep 2010 01:12:08 -0500

Hello Maxon:

I agree that the use of Simple Language is a great and effective tool to spread ideas, knowledge and beliefs around.

It's also true today.

To be simple is also to be elegant so long it's suitable in the context. For example, written works should be formal, but they can still be simple.

Take Care
Mike

- SHUAI LIU

Comment on "Fustrations!"

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 22:47:24 -0500

COMPLETELY AGREE with this post. I spent an hour on mine last night and I was so tired at the end of it that I hit preview instead of save, but the whole thing deleted itself. It was awful.

- Gabriella Colombo

Comment on "Final Thoughts on Class"

Sun, 03 May 2009 17:19:58 -0500

Nick, I was going to write a blog post of my reflections on the class as well but I feel that you have summed up most of the feeling that I had towards this class during the past semester. It was also my first time blogging and philosophy course. I found the Greek texts to be very interesting and much easier to blog about instead of the later reading of Irigaray and Bulter. I'm not sure if that was due to the fact that it was easier to follow along with the characters of the Greek plays or that Irigaray was trying to make me angry on purpose. It seemed like Irigaray wanted to "stick it to the man" the whole time. But as Professor Long said the whole time she does have PhD's so she probably knew exactly what she was talking about. But even still, it always left me wondering if she had a husband, and if so, good luck to him.

But in all, the class gave a better understanding of how politics work not just in government and Washington, but with regards to everyday conversation and action.

- RYAN JUDE CURRAN

Comment on "30 Rock "The Natural Order""

Fri, 01 May 2009 20:00:29 -0500

Damn I was watching that episode last night too and was going to make a post about it but it looks like i am too late. I agree with what you guys are saying about equality. It almost seems like trying to get rid of the dichotomy is pointless because there are all sorts of natural differences in people. Instead of trying to avoid them, maybe it is better to embrace them and accept the differences and live with them. I feel that sometimes we go to too far of lengths in society to make sure everything is perfectly equal. It is like that article 9 issue in college athletics that states that there has to be an equal number of female and male athletic teams. The simple fact that you are making a rule going out of the way to accommodate someone, does not seem like equality at all. Affirmative action would fall under this category too. Is it REALLY fair? what if a student with lower grades, SAT, etc... gets into the school you applied to simply because of their race, gender, etc.. but you had better marks? Sometimes it is better to allow the natural order of things.

- NICHOLAS ROBERT DI TARANTO

Comment on "Life after a phallocentric world"

Fri, 01 May 2009 19:49:22 -0500

As I was typing a response to your comment, my mother called me to see how I was doing. When I told her that I was responding to a comment on the philosophy blog, my own mother informed me that she agrees with the idea that there would be less war if women ruled the world. The feminist that I encountered who told me that all men could be eradicated from the planet, and women would be able to survive perfectly well growing sperm in labs was my prom date. The people one individual meets in his or her life do not have to reflect the people another individual meets. As for self-identification, I do not know what all of them self identify as, but at least two of them (my mother and one of my friends from here) do indeed identify themselves as feminists.

And without going too far into my final paper on how/why groups form, many find that the ability to defend resources or individuals in the group is one of the primary benefits and is one of the primary reasons of forming a group in the first place. Perhaps there wouldn't be a need for such defense if all groups were run by women, but without examples, it is impossible to make such an assumption.

- BRYAN JAMES HERLING

Comment on "Primitivism"

Fri, 01 May 2009 18:38:06 -0500

I am glad you referenced Heart of Darkness since it relates to the issue of racism in multiple ways. If you haven't already read Chinua Achebe's "An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's Heart of Darkness", I think you would find it interesting. Achebe argues that the way in which Conrad wrote Heart of Darkness resulted in a racist depiction of native Africans. Some may argue that this was merely Conrad's way of showing how the "civilized" men originally viewed Africans. Yet, I definitely see truth in Achebe's argument since Conrad's depiction of the natives as savage and primitive completely fails to illustrate the many aspects of African culture.

Your last point about placing value on how others are represented reminds me of the slightly comical reference that today's speaker made about a male researcher(?) having a "preference" for the bodies of African women, while refusing to give any value to them. The speaker pointed out the inconsistency of having a preference without having a value system. While I think that you are correct that forms of representation should not be placed in a hierarchy, there seems to be no way to eradicate value systems from our society. For instance, it seems unlikely that the high value placed on rationality will dissipate anytime in the near future.

- ANDREA LYNN LESHAK

Comment on "Talent v. Skill"

Fri, 01 May 2009 16:32:13 -0500

The comment made regarding talent in today’s lecture also struck me. It is not the first time that I have heard it before though. The distinction between being given talent and earning it is important for people. Those who have worked hard to acquire talent and skill and faced seemingly insurmountable challenges in the process are more likely to fight harder to hold onto it and respect others who are in similar positions. In the world of professional sports these differences are more pronounced. They manifest themselves in character traits and are clear in the way they treat themselves, teammates, coaches and fans.

Therefore, I can completely understand why people cringe at the idea of being complimented as “being talented”. It not only diminishes the work they put in but also implies that they lack certain positive character traits, which is insulting. As a result, the distinction is of paramount importance and should be considered more often. People who get praise because they have earned it are due more respect and appreciation than those who got lucky.

- KAITLYN MARGARET RANDOL

Comment on "Talent v. Skill"

Fri, 01 May 2009 14:46:53 -0500

I think that talent does imply some sort of instinctual ability, however it is not viewed that way in society. One someone tells you that you're talented you do not usually think twice about or disagree with that person. Clearly that person meant what their statement as a compliment and did not mean in any such way to offend you. However, if given more thought, talent does infer that this ability that you possess was just given to you and by no means did you have to work for it. Skills, on the other hand suggest that you had to work and perfect your abilities to arrive to the skill level you are now. However, we use to terms as if they were the same. There is a difference, however we do not really distinguish between the two words. Maybe we should though. Sometimes people are just born with these talents whereas others have to work hard to get to the same level. I feel that these words mean more to someone who has to work on their skills to be good than the person who just so happens to be talented.

- CARLEY AMANDA PLOTZKER

Comment on "30 Rock "The Natural Order""

Fri, 01 May 2009 14:31:57 -0500

I was always watching "30 Rock" last night thinking the exact same thing. The episode reminded me a lot about what we have talked about in class in regard to dichotomy. But like Ruth said, males and females embrace the difference between the two. Although we are constantly trying to move away from gender stereotypes and gender roles and make men and women equal, I believe that will never fully happen. In keeping with "30 Rock," Liz tries to change a giant water cooler bottle and was clearly struggling with it because she was not strong enough. However Tracy refused to let a male coworker help her because she was equal to him hence she could do whatever he could. Because men and women are not physically equal it would be very hard to totally disregard and overcome dichotomy. Not to say that society can not overcome the other inequalities that exist between men and women, but the fact that men will always have a physical advantage might make it difficult when trying to get rid of dichotomy.

- CARLEY AMANDA PLOTZKER

Comment on "Life after a phallocentric world"

Fri, 01 May 2009 14:21:44 -0500

Bryan, I find it interesting that you have dealt with so many feminists that fit into the "girl power category". I have met few women who even self-identify as feminists, let alone women who fall into different categories of feminism.
In any case, I think it is important to look at how a male-based society leads to death and corruption, as opposed to the male gender. Components of a typical patriarchal society include capitalism and a strong military. I think we all can see how these characteristics of patriarchal society relate to war, death, and corruption. I am not trying to say that patriarchy directly causes these things, but I do see a strong correlation.

- ANDREA LYNN LESHAK

Comment on "Life after a phallocentric world"

Fri, 01 May 2009 13:34:03 -0500

I don't believe a restructuring of the way our society and government run would be beneficial to human society. I think the system we have works. The problems it has aren't with the system, it’s with the people involved in it. The system doesn't make mistakes, people do. And as any system used to organize human society would involve using humans, changing the system wouldn't improve anything. We would have to drastically improve the quality of education available to all members of society, or simply find a way to remove humans from the system all together. And one of the changes we need to make in the education system is making it stricter. And this doesn't involve creating a whole group of new rules and regulations and academic standards, but enforcing the ones we have. Making kids show up to class on time, enforcing dress code standards, making them clean up their language and use their teachers last names only, these are things we need to put back in school, while at the same time inviting more individual investigation and expressing in academic papers and projects. The idea here isn't to create a group of picture perfect cloned students, but to create in them a sense of personal responsibility and accountability to this patriarchal system. We don't need to change the system; we need to increase involvement in it. The more society works for the system, the more it will benefit from it.

- SCOTT MATHEW KELLY

Comment on "Life after a phallocentric world"

Fri, 01 May 2009 12:33:47 -0500

After talking before/after the conference today, I figured that I should clarify a bit on my earlier comment. The feminists that I have dealt with and that I refer to in the comment are by no means renowned feminists, and I assume the majority (if not all of them) are inexperienced in feminist argument. Those that I have encountered appear to fit into the girl (grrl?) power category that you mentioned, based on the extreme positions they take. My point in the comment was based on a very common position that has been thrown at me, which is linking large scale problems in the world ("war, death, and corruption") with the male gender. As I mentioned, death and corruption cannot be blamed on a gender. Although aggression can be linked somewhat to male hormones, war is not only caused by such aggression, and cannot be linked solely to the male gender either. As you mentioned, any experienced feminist would not make the link between such issues and gender, but I find that among the majority of "grrl power" use such an argument so often that the link is made almost accidentally.

- BRYAN JAMES HERLING

Comment on "Alternative Kinship Arrangements = Tragedy?"

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 17:47:47 -0500

I agree with you that there is no ideal family structure in theory, but in reality the typical mother-father family structure has a clear advantage as compared to same-sex, or bisexual parents. This disadvantage suffered by alternative family structures is not inherent in them, but is imposed by culture. They suffer discrimination and scrutiny which other families are not subject too. This has a negative effect on both the parents and the children and could lead some to say that these parents are unfit to raise children, or that “it’s just not right”. It is easy to imagine, in a world were there are no standards of family structure or kinship, that alternative systems to child rearing would be equally effective as what is commonly accepted today.

- Jonathan Lee Morrow

Comment on "Life after a phallocentric world"

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 12:33:23 -0500

Although it's clear that the system is flawed, I am not entirely convinced that it is worth changing from the bottom up. Is it necessary to commit to such a campaign that calls for new policies to revamp/reformat the educational system? And how can we tie the government more closely to the goals of the population without being phallocentric?

The problem I am having with this entire discussion is I cannot grasp what a system that is not "phallocentric" looks like. Overall I don't believe it is necessary to replace the current system with something entirely new. What we have now is by far nothing perfect, but isn't that the idea behind Hegelian and Marxist dialectics? Whether you believe there was originally an idea or a practice, both structures strive to create an idea or practice that is better than the previous. This is the structure of progress, and it has been working in the phallocentric system we have today.

My question is: if education were to be reformatted, what would be the style of its new format? And what level would this be taking place at (the United States alone, or a global effort to shift from phallocentrism)?

Forgive me for being a realist, but I just don't see the feasibility behind any of this at a large level.

- ROBERT MICHAEL WIECZOREK JR