November 2014 Monthly Blog

NOVEMBER 2014

In “The Challenge of Cultural Relativism”, James Rachels  says that there is no objective “truth” in morality, only opinion. He explains the general rules that all societies will follow in order to be able to function and how society must look at the reasons for its cultural actions, and judge their actions based on the given reasons. I generally agree with Rachels’ arguments and how cultural relativism is not an universal protection from criticism. I believe that we, as a society, must look inward and outward to fix any moral problems seen in society in order to improve. By focusing on reasons rather than judgment, we can create a greater understanding between cultures, promote tolerance, and achieve progress as a nation. Societies, seen in Beowulf for example, are said to have disputes with other societies. One section is in a dispute with the other when Beowulf comes to the Geats, eventually resolving the dispute.

Rachels has written against the views stated in the article, arguing that the main argument for Cultural Relativism fails, and that there are good reasons to think that there exists an objective standard of morality. The Cultural Differences Argument, he claims, isn't valid because it does not follow from the fact that societies disagree on moral issues- that there is no truth in the matter. He then provides three consequences that would follow if Cultural Relativism were true: first, we could not longer judge other societies; second, our society’s standards would be the unquestionably right standard for us; third, moral progress would be impossible. He sees that none of this is possible and argues that this leads us to have grounds for supposing that Cultural Relativism is false. He explains what he thinks is the identity of standards, saying that actions that promote the welfare of human beings are morally good, while actions that hinder the welfare of human beings are immoral. 

I agree with his critiques of Cultural Relativism and his arguments for thinking that an objective standard exists. I can see how there are many cultural differences among our nation and other nations, which, even though we don’t always admit, cause disputes among what culture is considered practicing their own culture better than others. 

AP English Blog 10/31/14

Cultural Norms. They hold us together as a culture, but separate us from being unique individuals at the same time. A society’s cultural norms are the set of laws in society that in some way run America. The set of cultural norms in one’s society then leads the individual to become molded by those cultural norms. They influence actions of society today and how individuals interact with others within their own culture. In The Importance of Being Ernest, cultural norms are very obvious. We see elite, high end individuals living among one another, judging each other over what they eat or how they dress. In All Things Fall Apart, we see a man who has several wives and can legally beat them. Different norms are accepted in different cultures, which was shown in both novels. 

Society, today, is very particular. You need to dress, look, and act a certain way to be accepted by society. We are very into electronics and social media is everywhere that we look. We interact, get news, and talk to one another through social media. It is a cultural norm to rely and have a Facebook and Twitter. In The Importance of Being Ernest, it is a cultural norm to eat pastries and dress in dresses all day every day. You must marry someone with an elite name, such as Ernest. If they didn’t conform with an expectation, they were looked down upon, which is how today’s society acts towards us. Not only in elite societies, but in lower classes, such as in All Things Fall Apart, the cultural norms are different from ours. If men went around beating their wives today, or even having more than one wife in our society, they would be looked down on. Okonowa beat his wives and his friend had over thirty! Just seeing how different each society is, is fascinating. We only usually hear about our own society’s and we forget that each society is different. 

AP English Blog- 9/30/2014

       “Prison brutality”, I thought during class. That is something that the novel The Power of One is built around. The only difference is that the brutality in the novel happens inside of a boarding school, not a prison. Peekay, the main character, was terrorized and abused by the Judge, a boy attending the boarding school alongside of Peekay. We see violent abuse, verbal harassments, degradation, and dehumanization happening to Peekay in The Power of One. Unfortunately, these problems of abuse are still transpiring to this day inside of our prisons in our nation.

Prison brutality in and of itself is overall a horrible problem. What I believe is even worse than the abuse itself, is when abuse does occur, and no one speaks out. Only 1 out of every 8 cases of prison brutality are reported to the federal government for investigation due to the circumstances, such as fear of retaliation, or that a guard abused an inmate himself. “The Department of Justice chooses to exclude the bulk of violence committed inside its correctional facilities from the national crime surveys” (“Prison Crime Rate: The US Violent Crime Rate Is Falling”). In The Power of One, Peekay, the Judge, and the Judge’s “clan” could not have been the only ones present in the boarding school at the time, nor could they have kept that many incidences of abuse quiet throughout the duration of the months that they were attending. The supervisors in the novel are said to have “walked around with a whip” (Courtenay) and they did nothing to stop the abuse from occurring to Peekay. Prison guards do the same actions- “The guards encouraged fighting… When fights broke out.. the guards did nothing to stop them. They beat, choked, and threatened to kill the inmates on a daily basis” ("Inside OPP: Prison Guards, Inmate Detail Brutality inside Jail”). “On man on death row for killing a prison guard was brutally beaten to death. He began writing to Florida newspapers about prison brutality and corruption. "So a gang of guards stormed into his cell to shut him up. They broke almost every one of his ribs, punctured his lung, smashed his spleen and left him to die” (“Torture in US Prisons”). The supervisors in The Power of One may not have been such a physical factor in the abuse to Peekay, but they let the situation go on continually, and took no apparent action to put an end the conflict. It is the duty of those appointed to such high authority to take action to protect humans, under circumstances, both in the novel and in today’s prisons. 

I have always been fascinated, but horrified, by stories about what happens behind bars and in our nation’s prisons. I find myself under the documentary section in Netflix, glancing through the one’s associated with prisons. Seeing how horrifying some of the conflicts that take place inside of our prisons, makes it inconceivable how these stories can just go unreported. If I was a supervisor in Peekay’s boarding school and I heard about these things happening, after looking into the hearings more, I would go straight to the principal. If I worked in a prison and I observed abuse happen unjustly, I would not be able to restrain myself from going to the warden. When I first read about the brutality done to Peekay in The Power of One, I couldn't help myself but think what would’ve happened if he had told someone. Just as if a guard told a warden about observing brutality to inmate. Would anything be different?

Works Cited

Picou, Jelpi. "Inside OPP: Prison Guards, Inmate Detail Brutality inside Jail." New Orleans City Business. N.p., 17 Nov. 2011. Web.

Courtenay, Bryce. The Power of One. New York: Delacorte, 2005. Print.

Voorhees, Josh. "Prison Crime Rate: The US Violent Crime Rate Is Falling." Slate. N.p., 30 June 2014. Web.

Lendman, Stephen. "Torture in US Prisons." Rense. N.p., 14 Nov. 2010. Web.