Current issues in aesthetics and beyond: Revisiting lookism

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 59-68
Author(s):  
Peter Takáč

AbstractLookism is a term used to describe discrimination based on the physical appearance of a person. We suppose that the social impact of lookism is a philosophical issue, because, from this perspective, attractive people have an advantage over others. The first line of our argumentation involves the issue of lookism as a global ethical and aesthetical phenomenon. A person’s attractiveness has a significant impact on the social and public status of this individual. The common view in society is that it is good to be more attractive and healthier. This concept generates several ethical questions about human aesthetical identity, health, authenticity, and integrity in society. It seems that this unequal treatment causes discrimination, diminishes self-confidence, and lowers the chance of a job or social enforcement for many human beings. Currently, aesthetic improvements are being made through plastic surgery. There is no place on the human body that we cannot improve with plastic surgery or aesthetic medicine. We should not forget that it may result in the problem of elitism, in dividing people into primary and secondary categories. The second line of our argumentation involves a particular case of lookism: Melanie Gaydos. A woman that is considered to be a model with a unique look.

1989 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
pp. 341-362 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Vansina

Around 1850 the peoples of central Africa from Duala to the Kunene River and from the Atlantic to the Great Lakes shared a common view of the universe and a common political ideology. This included assumptions about roles, statuses, symbols, values, and indeed the very notion of legitimate authority. Among the plethora of symbols connected with these views were the leopard or the lion, the sun, the anvil, and the drum, symbolizing respectively the leader as predator, protector, forger of society, and the voice of all. Obviously, in each case the common political ideology was expressed in slightly different views, reflecting the impact of differential historical processes on different peoples. But the common core persisted. The gigantic extent of this phenomenon, encompassing an area equal to two-thirds of the continental United States, baffles the mind. How did it come about? Such a common tradition certainly did not arise independently in each of the hundreds of political communities that existed then. However absorbent and stable this mental political constellation was, it must have taken shape over a profound time depth. How and as a result of what did this happen? Is it even possible to answer such queries in a part of the world that did not generate written records until a few centuries ago or less?This paper addresses this question: how can one trace the social construction of such a common constellation over great time depths and over great regional scale? All the peoples involved are agriculturalists and the political repertory with which we are concerned could not easily exist in its known form outside sedentary societies.


1968 ◽  
Vol 114 (517) ◽  
pp. 1499-1508 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. P. Leff

From time to time, normal human beings not suffering from any mental illness have reported experiences either akin to or identical with hallucinations (Byrd, 1938; Slocum, 1948; Ritter, 1954; Bombard, 1955). The common features in these reports have been the social isolation of the people involved and the physical hardships of their living conditions. They have usually been solitary mariners or polar explorers. Scientific interest was not aroused in these phenomena until directed to them by the experiences of prisoners of war in Korea who had undergone “brain-washing” techniques. At this time, Hebb and his colleagues began a series of experiments which opened up an era of widespread research into the field of Sensory Deprivation.


2005 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 33-38
Author(s):  
Tobias Blanke

This article will explore the relation of search engines to the freedom they invoke in human subjects. Away from questions about the social impact of search engines and their ethical use, it shall investigate the influence of search engines on ethical subjectifications. The article will criticise the common critique that search engines should only deliver neutral and objective results to their users, where ‘neutral’ and ‘objective’ are defined as anti-subjective. On the contrary, it will argue that search engines are designed to deliver subjective results. A possible ethical critique starts therefore where they fail to do so. Due to reasons immanent to the technology, search engines are never subjective enough in their relevance decisions. Their results collide at the same time with what their users expect them to deliver. The article will show that, far from being a disadvantage, this disagreement between the users’ expectations and the search engines results is what triggers an ethical subjectification.


2021 ◽  
pp. 153-180
Author(s):  
Jason Frank

One of the central ironies of Alexis de Tocqueville’s political thought was that the democratic era that promised to bring conscious human agency to an equal mankind, freeing human beings from their bondage to tradition and their submission to the sacred, actually threatened them with unprecedented forms of domination. Tocqueville’s sense of “religious terror” is engendered from the spectacle of everyone being “driven willy-nilly along the same road” and having “joined the common cause, some despite themselves, others unwittingly, like blind instruments in the hands of God.” “Religious terror” is both a symptom and a diagnosis of his concern with the deflated status of individual agency in democratic contexts, and with the related eclipse of the political by the social question. This chapter explores this dimension of Tocqueville’s thought and its relation to his denial of such agency to any collective actor, to deny heroism, and its associated grandeur, to the popular will.


2014 ◽  
Vol 47 (02) ◽  
pp. 199-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
Atulkumar K. Shah

ABSTRACTThe social impact of entire cadre of medical graduates admitted through donation and management seats is yet to arrive. What has arrived are the burdens of complying with various acts and facing legal challengesduring medical practice. This article deals with some recent legal requirements for catering to plastic and cosmetic surgery patients.


2007 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 409-432 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomomi Ito

AbstractThe notion of dhammamātā is one of the last items of the legacy of the late Buddhadāsa Bhikkhu. In order to accord women practitioners better social status and provide them with opportunities for spiritual training, Buddhadāsa avoided committing himself to the reintroduction of bhikkunī ordination. Instead, he proposed the notion of dhammamātā, which literally means ‘dhamma mother’. This article postulates that by using the metaphor of the mother, Buddhadāsa invited less conflict, appealing to the high respect which Thai people generally held for women. Moreover, the article argues that with dhammamātā Buddhadāsa challenged the common notion of motherhood which usually regards women as nurturers of the Sanġha. Dhammamātā nurture people's spirituality through their teaching and virtues. Whilst the social impact of dhammamātā cannot be compared to that of bhikkunī, whose yellow robes visually suggest a status equivalent to that of male bhikkhu, the concept of dhammamātā was a new creation revolving around the image of the female religious teacher, a role that Buddhist women had wanted.


2017 ◽  
Vol 58 (3) ◽  
pp. 405-439 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eren Duzgun

AbstractThis article takes issue with the common view that the early Turkish Republic (1920-1940) followed a “special” route to modernity characterized by “state capitalism.” It argues that such a view, rooted in theSonderwegparadigm, obscures the historical-comparative specificity of Turkish state formation, leading to problematic conclusions about the character of Turkish modernization. Based on insights derived from Karl Polanyi’s notion of “economistic fallacy” and Political Marxism’s conception of capitalism, I offer a new interpretation of the early Republican project in Turkey, which, in turn, provides a deeper understanding of the social content, tempo and multi-linearity of world historical development.


1996 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Carole Groleau ◽  
James Taylor

Abstract: The common view of information is rooted in a mathematical tradition which considers information as an object to be exchanged. Many researchers, including analysts working in information sciences, have adopted this vision of information. However, this approach, which we have termed an object-oriented worldview, masks the contextual nature of information and the processes by which human beings make sense of it. In this paper, we propose an alternative, a subject-oriented worldview of information. In this framework, information is considered from the point of view of actors and takes into consideration the contextual and social nature of information. This approach is described and illustrated through a case study examining the productivity of a newly computerized organization. Résumé: La manière habituelle de concevoir l'information est enracinée dans une tradition mathématique qui attribue à l'information le statut d'un objet à échanger. De nombreux chercheurs oeuvrant dans des disciplines telles que les sciences de l'information adhèrent à cette vision, que nous avons appelée "object-oriented worldview". Toutefois, cette perspective omet de considérer la nature contextuelle de l'information et les processus utilisés par l'être humain pour générer du sens à partir de celle-ci. Nous roposons une alternative, le "subject-oriented worldview". Celle-ci met l'accent sur le point de vue du sujet et reconnaît à l'information une valeur contextuelle et sociale. Cette approche sera décrite et appliquée à une étude de cas examinant la productivité d'une organisation nouvellement informatisée.


2014 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 81
Author(s):  
Maria da Glória Serra Pinto de Alencar

Este artigo traz reflexões teóricas acerca da avaliação de impacto social. Enfatiza as abordagens de Silva (2008), Lima (2008; 2009), Aguilar e Ander-Egg (1994), dentre outros, sobre as diversas concepções de avaliação como um movimento no processo das políticas públicas. Apresenta diversas tipologias e modelos de avaliação, centrando a discussão na avaliação de impacto social. Aborda o impacto social como uma função ético-filosófica, ligada a uma determinada concepção de mundo que resgata os valores do ser humano, seu desenvolvimento, sua criatividade, no contexto de um processo de aprendizagem guiado e direcionado para formas de convivência superior. Conclui que a avaliação de impacto social deve ser entendida antes de tudo como uma atitude diante da vida e das coisas e como um instrumento para construir o futuro.Palavras-chave: Avaliação de impacto, impacto social, políticas públicas.SEARCHING FOR CONCEPTUAL REFERENCE TO UNDERSTAND THE IMPACT EVALUATIONAbstract: This article brings theoretical reflections on the social impact evaluation. It emphasizes the approaches of Silva (2008), Lima (2008, 2009), Aguilar and Ander-Egg (1994), among others, about different conceptions of evaluation as amovement in the process of public policies. It presents various types and models of evaluation, focusing the discussion on the social impact evaluation. Addresses the social impact as an ethical and philosophical function, linked to a particularconception of the world which rescue the values of human beings, their development, their creativity in the context of alearning process, guided and directed to better acquaintanceship ways. Concludes that the social impact assessment should be understood primarily as an attitude toward life and things and as a tool to build the future.Key words: Impact evaluation, social impact, policies.


Author(s):  
Angela Militi ◽  
Federica Sicari ◽  
Marco Portelli ◽  
Emanuele Maria Merlo ◽  
Antonella Terranova ◽  
...  

Background: Is well known that oral health and dental aesthetic have significant effects on the sociality of human beings. The aim of the present study was to assess some aspects of oral health with possible repercussions in adolescent and youth, with particular reference to gender differences. Methods: A total of 190 subjects with female prevalence (F = 62.6%, M = 37%) and ages between 14 and 29 years old (Mean = 23.8; SD = 3.27) participated. Evaluation was carried using standardized instruments to assess quality of oral life (PIDAQ), negative impact of oral conditions (OHIP-14), and self-esteem (Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale). Correlational and difference analyses and linear regressions were performed. Results: Significant gender differences were found in terms of gender, in reference to variables such as self-confidence and convictions. Positive correlations emerged between psychological impact and social impact, aesthetic concern and social impact, convictions and self-confidence, oral health with psycho-social impact, and aesthetic concern, self-esteem with oral health. Inverse correlations emerged between psycho-social impact and self-confidence, aesthetic concern and self-confidence, oral health, and self-confidence. Multivariate linear regression indicated relations between age and psychological impact, sex and self-confidence, crooked teeth and conviction. Conclusions: The impact of oral health on the psychological well-being of young people is relevant. These factors, if considered within clinical practice, can improve the quality of life of the subject.


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