Your detailed and thorough post due by Wednesday@MIDNIGHT for full credit (A). Partial credit (C) can be earned by posting late, which is better than a ZERO.
Remember, weekly blogging is worth 1/3 of your entire semester grade.
Be sure to communicate with Dr. W as needed - rob.williams@madriver.com.
Read and blog COSMOPOLITANISM, Chapters 3-4.
2) EVIDENCE: Post and number THREE specific observations from EACH CHAPTER of our reading(s) that supports your thesis.
Use 2-3 sentences for each observation, and combine direct quotations from the text (AUTHOR's LAST NAME, 27), with IYOW analysis.
3) QUESTION: Include in your post a SINGLE SPECIFIC question you'd ask the class based on our readings.
THESIS)
ReplyDeleteChapter 3: one's beliefs are entirely reliant on their past experiences and environment, it's possible to be presented with the same facts and come to completely different conclusions.
EVIDENCE)
Chapter 3:
- “most appeals in everyday life to viruses are like most everyday appeals to witchcraft. They are supported only by a general conviction that sickness can be explained.” here he is saying that most people just blindly label things based off their past experiences.
- “what you see depends on what you believe. What it’s reasonable for you to think, faced with a particular experience, depends on what ideas you already have” here he is saying how one interprets a situation is dependent on their already held beliefs.
- “The advance of reason in the industrialized world is not the product of greater individual powers of reasoning. It is the result of the fact that we have developed institutions that can allow ordinary human beings to develop, test, and refine their ideas” we are more advanced not because we have better ideas but because we thoroughly test ideas when presented.
QUESTION)
If one's experiences/beliefs act as a sort of filter when interpreting events/facts then is it possible for a nation to share one filter? And if so, what are some examples of these filters in the america?
1) THESIS: IYOW, post a single sentence that captures the thesis for EACH CHAPTER of our reading.
ReplyDeleteChapter 3: People will see things differently and disagree, even in something that may seem like a fact to one person. This is based on people's upbringings and cultures.
Chapter 4: Understanding of other cultures is needed to analyze another society and its history, customs, beliefs, and taboos.
2) EVIDENCE:
Chapter 3:
1. One thing I really liked from this chapter was how the author explains how people see things differently. He uses examples such as a common cold to explain how a person’s culture and beliefs shape what they make think about cures for the virus. “Consider how long it took to persuade European scientists” that atoms make up everything, he writes (Appiah, 37).
2. Using a person’s beliefs to help them understand something is a unique way of bridging the gap between cultures. Appiah describes a story where a missionary tries to get people in remote villages to purify their water so their babies stop dying of disease. Nothing works until the missionary describes that the bubbles when boiling water is actually “the spirits escaping” from the water (Appiah, 38). You sometimes must use the rhetoric of people in order to make them understand, based on “what ideas [they] already have” (Appiah, 38).
3. For any given thing, there are likely people with very logical opposing theories. Appiah explains that these theories are largely based out of our upbringing and current beliefs (41). Beliefs are bound to differ, but Positivists believe that whenever people disagree about facts, one person holds the actual truth (44).
Chapter 4:
1. Appiah expands on the previous chapter to explain that we must “expect such disagreements” (46). But, discussion is needed not in order to “agree but just to understand” (Appiah, 47).
2. Thin concepts are agreements that seem universal, like the ideas of good and bad. Thick concepts are ones that may differ from society to society, like what is considered rude (Appiah 47).
3. Taboos differ from culture to culture. Most are based on the writings and history passed down. Appiha explains how these taboos and guidelines for actions can seem totally foreign to another culture, or may be something that many people recognize (Appiah, 57).
3) QUESTION: How do you think world problems could be solved if everyone was able to look at issues through a different lens, like Appiah explains in Chapter 3?
Chapter Three
ReplyDeleteThesis: The ways in which people perceive information differs greatly depending on their past experiences, aspects of upbringing, and the cultures they frequently interact with.
Appiah goes about the different ways in which individuals (depending on cultures, past experiences and possible religions) depict spirituality. For example, Asante beliefs revolve heavily around witchcraft and is so extensive that people with this belief may not believe the exact same thing to another believer. This is similar to evangelical christians and their depictions of traditional spirits.
Oral history is extremely important and effective in carrying forward a belief system. In Kumasi, people often mentioned that their ancestors are the individuals that introduced said beliefs to them. Because of this, spiritual explanations take over more mundane explanations in certain scenarios, such as a flame moving through the woods.
The Duhem theory explains that no matter how much data you have collected, there are many other theories that will equally explain it. This goes to show this aforementioned idea that your process of thought is truly shaped by both your upbringing and the culture around you. Appiah gives the example that scientists will deny evidence if it's attached to another theory, giving excuses that the data was contaminated or what not.
Chapter Four
Thesis: There are bound to be disagreements between societies. It’ll take a massive amount of respect to one’s culture as well as security in your own to discuss and analyze these issues.
“If we are to encourage cosmopolitan engagement, moral conversation between people across societies, we must expect such disagreements: after all, they occur within societies.” Communication between societies is the most important factor to consider in attempting to strongly link them together is a cosmopolitan world.
Family values can cause issues within this system since they have a different sense of importance to an individual. One society can depict the mother of having great importance to the family dynamic and another can be the exact opposite. When it comes to raising children, people are especially protective in their values and culture.
There are some values that are innately gross to an individual, such as an American being told to eat a cat. Some of these have a sense of reason, such as vomit, cockroaches and rats since they carry disease. Although this is the case, situations like this often differ from society to society and the “line” of grossness differs greatly as well.
Question: What are some aspects of life you value that may be considered abnormal for those outside the United States?
Chapter 3
ReplyDeleteThesis: Cultural upbringings shape the way we view and perceive the world around us, which is why two people can start on the same path, or be presented the same information, and end in two different destinations.
Evidence:
Appiah was explaining anthropologist Sir Edward Evans-Pritchard and “what he was teaching us is that what you see depends on what you believe. What it’s reasonable for you to think, faced with a particular experience, depends on what ideas you already have.” (39) This really stood out to me because its an important concept that never really get taught in schools. That there may not be a right or wrong way because each way might be right to that individual based on their experiences.
I have always believed that “concepts and ideas develop in our upbringing” and we begin to form our values around our experiences growing up. (41) Realizing that everyone has different upbringing also translates into realizing that concepts and ideas will be different as well.
“It’s not that we are individually more reasonable, it’s that we have been given better materials with which to think about the world.” (42) This quote really stood out to me when discussing religion, witchcraft and scientific education. Growing up in America we have the privilege to learn about science, but not everyone has that so they have different concepts and ideas about certain issues.
Chapter 4
Thesis: Different cultures around the world have different values, and in order to agree to disagree we must respect and understand others values.
Evidence:
“Local values that scarcely correspond to anything you might recognize as important.” (49) This idea of local values was interesting and I believe can be very different even just across states.
“Grasping what the word means doesn't give you a rule that will definitely decide whether it applies in every case that might come along.” (58) Individuals have different perspectives of what a single word can mean, and I think this greatly represents itself in slang.
Growing up, like most I was taught the golden rule and to ‘treat others how you want to be treated’, as Appiah points out this is solely thinking about myself. He “suggests that [the golden rule] we learn about other people's situations, and then use our imaginations to walk a while in their moccasins.” (63) To fully understand the golden rule, we should think about the other person's values and concepts of life to think about how they want to be treated.
Question:
Thinking about evaluating languages, what slang words have you heard or used that have specific definitions but in certain situations mean something different?
Ex. Sick. Which by definition is affected by physical and mental illness but is used in ways like “oh that's sick” meaning “oh that's cool”
Thesis)
ReplyDeleteChapter 3: The way an individual forms their beliefs is entirely based upon their past experiences and these beliefs can vary from person to person.
Chapter 4: Disagreements between cultures is inevitable due to varying cultures existing. The only way to resolve this disagreement is to seek to understand other cultures.
Evidence)
Chapter 3:
“On the other hand, you have to persuade Akosua of the existence of tiny, invisible atoms, strung together to make viruses, particles so small that you cannot see them with the most powerful magnifying lens, yet so potent that they can kill a healthy adult.”(Appiah, 37). Without a relevant background or upbringing it is entirely possible to not grasp the concept of particles. An individual's prior experiences often determine how they view certain things, so beliefs often vary from person to person.
“ Similarly, in Kumasi, people who are asked why they believe in witchcraft will appeal to authority, too. “Our ancestors taught us about it.” And they will then go on to tell you of cases of witchcraft they have seen or heard of…”(Appiah, 38-39). While some may say that the scientific evidence that supports witchcraft is lacking, it does not change the fact that this belief was ultimately shaped by the individual's background.
“Those of us who were given scientific education have a significant advantage. It’s not that we are individually more reasonable; it’s that we have been given better materials with which to think about the world.”(Appiah, 42). Those who have received a scientific education simply have a different upbringing which has clearly influenced their beliefs/values. This doesn't inherently mean that one upbringing is better than another, rather it simply means that variety exists.
Chapter 4:
“Thin concepts seem to be universal; we aren’t the only people who have the concepts of right and wrong, good and bad; every society, it seems, has terms that correspond to these thin concepts, too.”(Appiah, 47). What is defined as right and wrong can often vary from culture to culture. With this fact in mind it is understandable how cultures disagree with one another, however we should seek to understand one another.
“There are, in short, different ways of organizing family life. Which one makes sense to you will depend, in good measure, on the concepts with which you grew up.” (Appia, 49). An individual's upbringing will ultimately shift their beliefs and values and since individuals make up a culture, it ultimately changes the culture itself.
“And while taboos can lead to genuine disagreements about what to do, many people readily understand that such values vary from place to place.”(Appiah, 56). Certain cultural taboos can often promote disagreements between different cultures however this should simply be expected. This is again due to the fact that an individual's experiences and upbringing often lead to varying beliefs.
Question: What are some ways we could analyze and understand other cultures to prevent future disagreements?
Chapter 3:
ReplyDeleteThesis: A person’s perspective of something is influenced by the way they were raised and taught how to perceive it.
Evidence:
1. “What it’s reasonable for you to think, faced with a particular experience, depends on what ideas you already have (Appiah 39). We use previous experiences/ideas to help explain things we encounter, even if they aren’t the true reason. Basically, if the theory makes sense, it works.
2. “However much data you have, Duhem said, there will be many theories that explain it equally well” (Appiah 40). Just because there is data to back it up, doesn’t mean there aren’t other explaining theories that still make sense. A theory’s worth as an explanation is based more on the person’s prior experiences rather than backing data.
3. “Those of us who were given scientific educations have a significant advantage. It’s bit that we are individually mire reasonable; it’s that we have been given better materials with which to think about the world” (Appiah 42). Since we have been given an education that is more scientifically advanced, we think in more scientific ways compared to those who haven’t received that education. Because of this, we have different ideas about why things happen.
Chapter 4:
Thesis: Understanding differences in values is vital to dissolving disagreements about values.
Evidence:
1. “And the most fundamental level of disagreement occurs when one party to a discussion invokes a concept that the other simply doesn’t have. This is the kind of disagreement where the struggle is not to agree but just to understand” (Appiah 47). Some ideas can be completely foreign to people, by no fault of their own. So, when brought up in conversation, it won’t mean anything to them.
2. “The first problem with the Golden Rule, in any of its versions, in practice, is that to apply it I have to know not just why I am doing what I am doing unto others—the description of the act that matters to me—but also how the act will strike those others” (Appiah 61). While we may mean the best by our actions, it might not necessarily be what the other person wants. We need to think about what they feel to be right, not just our thoughts of what’s right.
3. “Even if we share a value language, and even if we agree on how to apply it to s particular case, we can disagree about the weight to give to different values (Appiah 63). Even when there isn’t a language barrier between the two parties, they can still have differing priorities about things.
Question:
What are some current disagreements over values that could possibly be resolved by understanding the other side?
Well blogged, team!
ReplyDeleteAll posts below this line = C/LATE.
Dr. Rob
1) THESIS:
ReplyDeleteCh 3:
Generally what people think or believe in, greatly depends on what they already know.
Ch 4:
Knowing that everyone has their own opinions, helps to understand the matter of value.
2) EVIDENCE:
Ch 3:
“In the end, though, with facts as with values, nothing guarantees that we will be able to persuade everyone else of our view: this is a constraint that cosmopolitans, like everyone else, must accept” (Appiah, 44). Every person grows up being taught from different perspectives and beliefs. People cannot expect that everyone must believe in their views. These differences are literally what makes us human; without them, we would not be able to grow and learn.
Appiah talks about the Azande and how they believe in witchcraft, most Western countries don’t believe in this, but that’s because science was driven into the West culture. “They think that there are certain evil people who have the power to harm others they dislike without using ordinary everyday means” (Appiah, 35). With a heavy practice of religion in their culture, they believe they need something to balance out the good, therefore they use witchcraft.
“We enter every conversation--whether with neighbors or with strangers--without a promise of final agreement” (Appiah, 44). There is no one correct answer. Life is one giant open-ended question with an infinite amount of different “answers” or beliefs.
Ch 4:
Appiah talks about, “In a lively discussion after a bar-room brawl, some say that the bystander who intervened was courageous, others that he was reckless and should just have called the cops” (Appiah, 45). This is an example of how what one person may think is the most important thing to do, might be another person’s last idea.
A reason why discussions about values are always complicated is that people’s mouths sometimes moves at a faster pace than their minds do over open-textured concepts “two people who both know what they mean can reasonably disagree about whether they apply in a particular case” (Appiah, 58).
“First, we can agree about what to do even when we don’t agree why. Second, we exaggerate the role of reasoned argument in reaching or failing to reach agreements about values. And, third, most conflicts don’t arise from warring values in the first place” (Appiah, 67). These three problems should be understood and looked at to help understand values.
3) QUESTION:
Do you believe that our country is becoming opinionated because we’re becoming so much more diverse? Because we are becoming exposed to new values and customs, do you think that our differences become the only thing people can focus on? Is the thought of “new” or the unknown so scary to people that they fight to stay with the familiar?
Sorry! I did this weeks post before last weeks.
DeleteChapter 3: The discovery in Ghana and living with spirits and witchcraft.
ReplyDelete“Almost everybody in Ghana believes not just in a powerful divine creator but in a whole range of other spirits.”(Appiah,34) He also mentions that at funerals, marriages, naming ceremonies, and confirmations, also birthday parties and almost every social gathering, people of all religions will pour libations to their ancestors.
“They think that there are certain evil people, women and men who have the power to harm others they dislike without using ordinary everyday means.”(Appiah, 35) They used witchcraft to harm one another.
“ There is nothing unreasonable, then, about my Kinsmen’s belief in witchcraft. They think only what most people would think, given the concepts and beliefs they inherited. If they grew up with their beliefs and their experiences, that is what would believe, too.”(Appiah, 42)
Was there a scientific reasoning behind the witchcraft?
Chapter 4
Concepts about what's right and wrong and what's there to be valued.
“ But moral conflicts come in different varieties. To begin with, our vocabulary of evaluation is enormously multifarious. Some terms “good”, “ought” are, such as philosophers often put it, rather thin.”(Appiah,46) They would express their approval but their application is other wise telling something different.
“ Sometimes, familiar values are intertwined with unfamiliar customs and agreements.”(Appiah,47) In each society there is a difference between agreement and value based on culture and what is taught.
“ Cosmopolitans suppose that all cultures have enough overlap in their vocabulary of values to begin a conversation.”(Appiah,57) The different vocabulary would make the conversation more interesting because one if learning from the other.
Why were these differences made between cultures and their vocabularies? What was the point?
Chapter 4 thesis: Understanding and analyzing another societies beliefs and values is an important aspect of learning there are differences between cultures.
ReplyDelete"People everywhere have ideas about your responsibility to your children, for instance. But who are your children? I grew up in two societies that conceived of family in rather different ways. In part, because these societies-Akan society in Ghana and the English world of my mother's Kin-have been in touch with one another for several centuries, these differences are diminishing. Still, an important difference remains." (Appiah, 47)
"Thin concepts are agreements that seem universal, like the ideas of good and bad. Thick concepts are ones that may differ from society to society, like what is considered rude." (Appiah 47)
"Cosmopolitans suppose that all cultures have enough overlap in their vocabulary of values to begin a conversation. But they don't suppose, like some universalists, that we could all come to agreement if only we had the same vocabulary. Despite what they say in Japan, almost every American knows what it is to be polite, a thickish concept. That doesn't mean we can't disagree about when politeness is on display." (Appiah, 57)
Ch. 3 thesis: Beliefs are a way for people to reach a conclusion, not necessarily the right answer or an agreement, but a starting point, which can sometimes prevent them from understanding the more correct views of science.
ReplyDeleteCh. 3 evidence:
“If this were all symbolic, we could suppose that these acts expressed family values or something of the sort. The trouble is the fundamental belief wasn’t remotely symbolic. If you didn’t think your late great-uncle could hear you and help you in your doings, you disagree with my father about the facts.” (pg. 34)
“She takes some water and boils it. See, she says, there are spirits in the water and when you put it on the fire they flee: those bubbles you see are the spirits escaping, the spirits that are making your children sick. Now boiling water makes sense. Now the babies stop dying. In belief, as in everything else, each of us must start from where we are.” (pg. 38)
“That there are many ways of arguing for values of many kinds should be a good deal less puzzling when we recall that there are many kinds of facts for which we must offer different kinds of support, too. Mathematical beliefs can be justified by proofs. Beliefs about the colors of things get support from how they look in ordinary lighting. Psychological beliefs about other people get support from what they do and say.”
Ch. 4 thesis: Crossing cultural boundaries can mean crossing ideological boundaries, neither right nor wrong, but concepts in which we take for granted and can lead to issues.
Ch. 4 evidence:
“Some terms – “good,” “ought” – are, as philosophers often put it, rather thin. They express approval, but their application is otherwise unconstrained: good soil, good dog, good argument, good idea, good person. […] It’s when you’re trying to find points of agreement with others, say, that you start to abstract out the thin concepts that may underlie the thick ones.” (pg. 46-47)
“So increasingly people think of taboos as “things we don’t do.” The step from “what we don’t do” to “what we happen not to do” can be a small one; and then people can come to think of these practices as the sort of quaint local custom that one observes without much enthusiasm and, in the end, only when it doesn’t cause too much fuss.” (pg. 53)
“Cosmopolitans suppose that all cultures have enough overlap in their vocabulary of values to begin a conversation. But they don’t suppose, like some universalists, that we could all come to agreement if only we had the same vocabulary. Despite what they say in Japan, almost every American knows what it is to be polite, a thick-ish concept.” (pg. 57)
Question: Can thick concepts like courage become dulled or more nuanced across languages and cultures?
Thesis
ReplyDeleteChapter 3: It is very hard for people to change their mind set when they have had thoughts and beliefs for a long period of time.
Chapter 4: In Order to have an opinion on how other societies are run we have to first understand and respect their values.
Evidence
Chapter 3:
“To rule out the theory of witchcraft, you would first have to understand it better, and then you would have to persuade my relatives both that the theory gets it wrong over and over again and that you have a better story”(Pg 36, Appiah). As time goes on and new generations get older, individuals explore new ideas and discover new things. The new generation wants to share this information with the older generations but a lot of the time their ideas are turned away because people are set in their ways and don't want things to change.
“A month later she’s back, and they’re still giving the babies the dirty water. After all, if a stranger came into your community and told you that your children got influenza because of witchcraft, would you respond by going out and slaughtering a sheep?”(Pg 38, Appiah). If individuals are brought up with a certain belief and a person they are not familiar with tries to tell them their belief is wrong they tend to not listen to that person and even get defensive.
“When they do experiments or collect data to support their theories, other scientists, often those attached to different theories, deny that the evidence shows any such thing” (pg 39, Appiah). Even when we find something that indicated what we have believed for all this time is wrong we tend to reject it because giving up a belief you have had for a long period of time isn't something people like to do because change is hard.
Chapter 4:
ReplyDelete“To apply the concept of “rudeness,” for example, you have to think of the act you’re criticizing as a breach of good manners or as lacking the appropriate degree of concern for the feelings of others”(Pg 46 Appiah). Different places in the world have different meanings of words and different meanings as well, it is important to understand this before trying to understand their society.
“Thin concepts seem to be universal; we aren’t the only people who have the concepts of right and wrong, good and bad; every society, it seems, has terms that correspond to these thin concepts, too” (Appiah 47).Many societies have many similar concepts much as morals (good and bad) but although they have the same concepts there may have different morals where one thing might be good in another place it might be very bad.
“Many married women lived with their brothers, visiting their husbands on a regular timetable. Of course, a man took an interest in his children, but his obligations to his children were relatively less demanding: rather like being an English uncle, in fact”(Pg 48, Appiah). The role of family can change drastically society to society, in this society it is not the norm for a husband and wife to live together and the husband has little responsibility with taking care of his children but in our society it is very important for both parents to be in children's lives.
Question: Do you think the key problems Americans have conflict with other countries is because they don't take the time to understand their customs?
Chapter #3:
ReplyDelete1) A person’s environment and their past experiences shape their values and beliefs.
2)(a) Your perspective of something is based on what you believe and your
willingness to believe in something is based on your previous beliefs and experiences. “When they [scientists] do experiments or collect data to support their theories, other scientists, often those attached to different theories, deny that the evidence shows any such thing. The objections can be of many different kinds. They might say, for example, that the experiment really hasn’t been done properly. (Your test tubes were contaminated.) They might say that the so-called data are simply incorrect. (We did the same experiment, and that’s not what happened.) Or they could point out that their own theory explained the data just as well. (The theory that life on Earth arrived in the form of basic organisms on a meteorite explains the fossil data just as well as the theory that life evolved by the creation of its basic elements as the result of electrochemical processes in the primal oceans) (Appiah 39-40).
(b) Theory and data cannot be separated. “When Galileo said that he saw through the telescope that the moon had mountains, he was assuming– as some of his opponents at the time pointed out– that telescopes work just as well in space as on Earth” (Appiah 40-41).
(c) We would not many of our beliefs without developing them from the people around us. “Concepts and ideas develop in our upbringing. Some concepts and ideas are based in our biological natures– like color concepts, or the idea that there are physical objects in the world. But some ideas we wouldn’t be using if we hadn’t been given them– like electron, gene, democracy, contract, superego witchcraft” (Appiah 41-42).
Chapter #4:
ReplyDelete1) Understanding and valuing other cultures is the key to solving disagreements.
2)(a) The language we use to evaluate ideas, beliefs and values may not exist
between different cultures therefore, making it sometimes impossible to come to final consensus. “The most fundamental level of disagreement occurs when one party to a discussion invokes a concept that the other simply doesn’t have. This is the kind of disagreement where the struggle is not to agree but just to understand” (Appiah 47).
(b) Different cultures may use the same vocabulary to evaluate ideas, beliefs and values but have different interpretations. “Evaluative language, I’ve been insisting, aims to shape not just our acts but our thoughts and our feelings. When we describe past acts with words like “courageous” and “cowardly,” “cruel” and “kind,” we are shaping what people think and fell about what was done–and shaping our understanding of our moral language as well. Because that language is open-textured and essentially contestable, even people who share a moral vocabulary have plenty to fight about” (Appiah 60).
(c) Although people may share the same values, disagreements can still arise because they prioritize their values differently. “Even if we share a value language, and even if we agree on how to apply it to a particular case, we can disagree about the weight to give to different values” (Appiah 63).
3) Can something be ever be truly agreed upon when the language we use to evaluate ideas, beliefs and values have different weights (i.e. I may believe more things fall into the “courageous” category then my neighbor but we both agree that person A’s actions were “courageous” but not person B’s actions, does that mean person A’s actions can’t be considered “courageous” because we have different ideas on what courageous means?)