Imperialism ruined everything

I am honestly always amazed that white men have been able to hold on to so much power for so long. In the U.S. census, white people who do not consider themselves Hispanic or Latino made up 62.6% of the population. If half of that percent is women, then white men make up only 31% of the population--but look around! White men are quite literally running this country and the media. How do we even allow this to happen? We outnumber them. I grew up watching 90s television where they really tried to have at least one token person of color in the group. By no means a perfect solution, but at least there were a good handful of shows and sitcoms that starred people of color. (Sister Sister was my favorite show growing up!) The shows my brother grew up on pretty much starred nothing but white people.

And I think that is where the danger of teleological thinking comes in. If we always assume that we're better off, that we are always marching towards a sunnier field, we become complacent and sort of just accept things. Let's be real: many parts of the world were doing great before Europe stuck their nasty fingers in there. China was light years ahead of Europe for the longest time, for example. The Americas had civilizations that could've done amazing things had they just been left alone. 

Knowledge can be lost. Rights can be lost. We must always be vigilant and critical of where our culture is going.

Faulty Interpretations

As Megan touched on, Herder was progressive for the 18^th century; his intentions were good as he hoped for unity and brotherhood among humans.  I believe Herder would roll over in his grave because his work was used as racist ideology for the Nazi party.  They focused on his mention of each people having a certain language, region, and identity; they ignored his message that “One and the same species is humankind on earth” (25).  Taking a passage out of context skews the message, and in this case, hinders a legacy. It is important to focus on the “big picture” and the author’s purpose rather than fragment a work and decide what one sentence means.

In the movie Dinner for Schmucks, Barry says, “In the words of John Lennon, “You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not.”  Tim, his friend, finishes his lyric by saying, “…the only one.”  Barry is confused: “The only what?” he says.  “No, that’s the lyric: ‘You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.’”   Barry took the lyric out of context and misinterpreted the meaning.  John Lennon’s “Imagine” uplifts and encourages peace but Barry’s interpretation was negative because he missed the conclusion.

Unfortunately, after the demise of the Nazi regime, we still habitually take phrases out of context and misunderstand their meanings. Personally, I have found that many religions pick and choose passages to support, while completely ignoring others.  Granted, it would be hard to master every passage in the Bible per say, but some are seen as law while others are overlooked.  It’s discouraging to see people condemned while many participate in activities that are equally as forbidden without condemnation.  Though this might be a controversial view, I believe we should look at the “big picture” given to us by our religious texts rather than nitpick and attack individuals for their specific “wrongs.”

I may be an idealist like Herder, but sometimes we need to focus on the overall message rather than allowing ourselves to be confused by individual phrases or paragraphs.  We should be ashamed that a line or two can spawn a genocide like the Holocaust; we should be ashamed that a line or two, to this day, can cause hatred for our brothers and sisters.  It’s important to keep our eyes open and acknowledge what the author means; they would not write the entire piece of work if they only wanted us to interpret one sentence. 

Herber and the "Post Racial Society"

While Dr. Johnson was discussing Herder, I found that what Herder was saying was, honestly, a bold move for someone who was living in the 18^th century. In reference to white and black relations he said “You should not oppress him, nor murder from him: for he is a human being just as you are…” While a considerable amount of this essay would be something that a person who believes we are in a post racial state in the 21^st century would say, considering the time period, and who he was taught by, I believe Herder was a pretty decent fellow, but does that still apply today?

Currently, we live in a world where some individuals believe “color doesn’t matter,” but it does. It actually matters so much that it influences hate crimes, hate speech and ridiculous “prevention measures.” There are children having to go out of their way to make sure that they can make it home safely to their parents. Black children, especially males, are taught at an early age to keep their hands out of their pockets, don’t run, don’t wear a hoodie, don’t “look guilty” basically don’t give the police what they would call a “reason” for them to do something. In this article, many parents of black children describe the hardships of having to tell their children what to do, to basically be invisible to the police because they don’t want their children to be Trayvon Martin or Mike Brown. In actuality, walking while black has become more dangerous every day.

          In summary, being “colorblind” really does nothing except for denying the real misfortune that black individuals face every day of their lives. Colorblindness ignores the suffering that every black male must go through while walking the streets wondering if they may get pulled over, arrested, or killed. It disregards the fact that there are so many families having to live the rest of their lives without their children there at Thanksgiving or Christmas. All in all, the attitude that Herder expressed for the 18^th century was quite well meaning, but for the 21^st century is shows a lack of acknowledgment to the issues faced consistently. 

The Irony of Kant's Accreditation

            Immanuel Kant is often regarded as one of the most iconic thinkers of the Enlightenment period as well as one of the primary cognitive pioneers of what is today considered “Moral Philosophy”. These accreditations, to me, come as ironic considering the many logical and ethical flaws of his positions on cognitive and physical integrity due to race. Kant, in a nutshell, seems to hold all non-white races in a lower regard, with Blacks on the bottom. Blacks, according to Kant, while very physically capable, are lazy and incapable of showing any intellectual capabilities that have allowed Whites to progress so far. This is a fairly bold statement to make on behalf of all black peoples, considering he never traveled more than 10 miles away from his hometown. Despite his lack of travel, Kant has extensively outlined both what he considers to be the physical and cognitive limitations of almost every geographical human race, as well as their physical appearances accompanied by shoddy biological explanations. How can a man with such little experience with traveling the world so boldly outline the characteristics and limitations of every human sect imaginable? How could this be considered “logical”, and how could such an esteemed philosopher of ethics hold such unethical views? According to some, perhaps the views and writings of Kant are purely a “product of his time”, and it is unreasonable for us to assume his views would have a solid link to modern day views? I personally can’t entirely agree with this assumption, as moral philosophy should not only adhere to certain cultural aspects within a particular social standing in time; philosophy, especially moral philosophy, should be timeless and apply to any given time era unless contradicted by facts unknown to peoples from said time period. The lack of critical study on peoples of different races (and people, in general) in Kant’s time may coincide with his racist remarks on most non-white races, however, it isn’t exactly uncommon for philosophy to transcend its time. Truly pure, critical logic in most sects of philosophy should only be limited by two things: the capacity to understand held by the particular being forging said thoughts and pertinent knowledge not yet acquired in their time. Social and cultural indoctrination should not be a limiting factor in the progression of a “solid” philosophical assertion.

Welcome to Class!

Welcome to the blog-home for Dr. J's Spring 2015 Contemporary Moral Problems course! This site will serve as a forum for students to discuss the material we cover in class, as well as a place to raise questions we may not have addressed in class or to make connections between our material and current real-world events. Each week, students will be divided into two groups, with half of the class designated as "Authors" and the other half designated as "Commenters." In any given week, "Authors" will post a short essay (minimum 300 words) related to the course material before Friday at 5pm. "Commenters" will respond to at least two of that week's Author-posts before the beginning of the next week's class. Students are encouraged to post or comment beyond the requirements stated here, as frequent and quality blog activity will be rewarded in the final grade.

First, if you don't know ANYTHING about blogs or blogging, there are (fortunately) lots of tutorials out there to help!  If you have a specific question, you can usually find the answer to it at the Blogger Help Center.  For a quick YouTube introduction to blogging, I suggest this video and this one.  There's also a "Complete List of Blogger Tutorials" available.  That's the amazing thing about the internet, of course... you can learn to do almost anything with a few clicks!

Second, it's important to know that blog-writing differs from the writing you might do for "traditional" papers in some ways, but not in others. Here are some things to think about as you compose your posts and comments:

FOR AUTHORS:

• Do not wait until the last minute to write your post! Students should think of the blog as a community exercise. In this community, Authors are responsible for generating that week's discussion and Commenters are responsible for continuing and elaborating upon it. In order for the Commenters to be able to provide the best commentary they can, it is necessary that Authors do not wait until the last minute to post entries in any given week. Like traditional papers, it is almost always obvious when a student has elected to write his or her blog-posts at the last minute, as they end up being either overly simple, poorly conceived or poorly edited. Your contribution to the blog discussion is important, so take care to show the respect to your classmates that you would expect them to show you.
• Be concise, but also precise. The greatest challenge of blog-writing is to communicate complex ideas in a minimal amount of words. It is important that you keep your posts short, in keeping with the blog format, but also that you do not sacrifice the clarity or completeness of your ideas for the sake of brevity.
• Be focused. If you find that your blog-entry is too long, it is likely because you have chosen too large a topic for one post. (Consider splitting up long entries into two or more posts.) It should be eminently clear, on the first reading, what your blog post is explaining/asking/arguing. Use the Post Title to clearly state the subject of your entry.
• Choose a topic that will prompt discussion. The measure of a good blog post is how much commentary it can generate. To that end, do not use your blog posts for simple exegesis or to revisit questions already settled in class. Good discussion-generators often include bold claims about, or original interpretations of, our classroom texts. Connecting the course material to current events or controversies is also a good way to generate discussion. Pay special attention to in-class conversations, as many of the issues that generate discussion in class will also do so on the blog.
• Proofread. Proofread. PROOFREAD. As a rule, blog-writing is (slightly) less formal than the writing you might do for a paper you hand in to your professor. For example, you may write in the first person, and a more "conversational" style is usually acceptable. However, ANY writing with glaring punctuation, spelling or grammatical mistakes not only will be difficult to read and understand, but also will greatly diminish the credibility of its Author. It is NOT ADVISABLE to "copy and paste" the text of your post into blog's "new post" box, as you will inevitably end up with a format that is difficult to read. Be sure to familiarize yourself with the formatting buttons above, and always preview your post before publishing it.
• Make use of the "extras" provided by new technology. When you write a traditional paper for class, you don't have many of the opportunities that blog-writing affords. Take advantage of the technologies available here to insert images, embed video or employ hyperlinks to other relevant materials.
• Respond to your commenters. Authors should stay abreast of all the commentary their posts generate. If you are asked for clarification by a commenter, or if one of your claims is challenged, it is the Author's responsibility to respond.

FOR COMMENTERS:

• Read carefully BEFORE you comment. The biggest and most frequent error made by commenters is also the most easily avoidable, namely, misreading or misunderstanding the original post. Don't make that error!
• Simple agreement or disagreement is not sufficient. Sometimes it will be the case that you fully agree or disagree with an Author's post. However, a comment that simply states "I agree" or "I disagree" will not count for credit. You MUST provide detailed reasons for your agreement or disagreement in your comment.
• Evidence works both ways. Often, the source of disagreement between an Author and a Commenter will involve a textual interpretation. If an Author claims in his or her post that "Advocates of the death penalty are obviously operating within a Kantian moral framework," the Author should have also provided a page citation from Kant supporting that claim. If you (as a Commenter) disagree, it is your responsibility to cite a passage from Kant that provides evidence for your disagreement. For disagreements that are not text-based-- for example, disagreements about statistical claims, historical claims, claims about current events, or any other evidentiary matters-- hyperlinks are your friend.
• NO flaming allowed!:  Engage your classmates on the blog with the same consideration and respect that you would in class. 

Although this blog is viewable by anyone on the Web, participants have been restricted to members of the PHIL392 class only. This means that only students enrolled in your class this semester at CBU can post or comment on this blog. However, anyone can read it, so students are reminded to take special care to support the claims that they make, to edit their posts and comments judiciously, and to generally represent themselves in conversation as they would in public.

I look forward to seeing your conversation develop over the course of this semester!
--Dr. J