In his book The Community of Those Who Have Nothing in Common, Alphonso Lingis (1994) discusses community and proposes an untraditional view of community, the “other community”. Traditionally community is known as a social structure in which individuals have something in common. This usually refers to a shared location, shared identity or common values or beliefs. In this traditional view or “rational community” these commonalities are crucial in uniting individuals. This “other community” comes into being when individuals’ lives connect or bump up against one another without necessarily having anything in common. These interactions can arrive inexplicably. It is often difficult to understand these “others” whom we do not share the same qualities of the rational community, although we recognize them as individuals. We may recognize our shared vulnerability, and it supersedes that although our ethical responsibilities have no clear rational command, they nevertheless make demands upon us. Lingis (1994) indicates that “One exposes oneself to the other-the stranger, the destitute one, the judge-not only with one’s insights and one’s ideas, that they may be contested, but one also exposes the nakedness of one’s eyes, one’s voice, and one’s silence, one’s empty hands” (p. 11). This “other community” comes into being when the stranger is exposed, having no common rational discourse with us. This stranger or intruder disrupts or intentions and makes us question our own cultural coding, “arresting one’s own intentions” during their encounter. This face of the other, the stranger serves as an “indicative surface” to us. Lingis (1994) states “The face of another is a surface upon which one senses directions and directives that order me; w... ... middle of paper ... ...ape it. Lingis’s “community in death” is composed of a dying one as well as an accompanying one that is not dying. As indicated previously the “saying” is necessary in this community. This “community in death” emerges from the dying one, which contributes to the reality that they will no longer inhabit this world together with the accompanying one again. There is an obligation in this “other community” to accompany the dying one, without this accompaniment Lingis’s other community would not exist. It is this consciousness of death that incites ones obligation to accompany the dying one. This consciousness of the death of the other guarantees my own life as well as death and links my communicative action to the situation. We know what to do, “accompany” before we know what to say, the “saying”. And this “saying” may not be as important in the end as one might think.
A community is comprised of a group of goal oriented individuals with similar beliefs and expectations. Currently the term is used interchangeably with society, the town one lives in and even religion. A less shallow interpretation suggests that community embodies a lifestyle unique to its members. Similarities within the group establish bonds along with ideals, values, and strength in numbers unknown to an individual. Ideals and values ultimately impose the culture that the constituents abide by. By becoming part of a community, socialization...
Think of the term ‘globalization’. Your first thought may be of people from all corners of the Earth exchanging ideas, views, products, and so much more. Appiah introduces his article by describing a scene of a traditional Wednesday festival in the town of Kumasi. He allows the reader to visualize the traditions held by those in attendance, but begins his case by providing details of men on their cellphones and holding conversations on contemporary topics such as H.I.V/AIDS. When Appiah speaks of “contamination,” he highlights the way one culture is influenced by another accepting an exchange of ideas. In his article he asks, “why do people in these places sometimes feel that their identities are threatened?” (Appiah). This question raises a topic that is central to the unification of peoples’ ideals and cultures...
Community is defined as a group a people living in an area under the same conditions. Realistically, a community is so much more than this definition. It is people and their different beliefs that form a community. In the town of Milagro, Amarante Cordova, Ruby Archuleta, and a town coming together to rescue a fellow community member from jail exemplify the true spirit of what community is.
“A human being’s sense of self is established in the context of their ethics and morals. The concept of identity is related to ‘who I am’. Individuals situate themselves in a contextual environment that may include their relationships with family and friends, and their abilities and the occupations in which they are, or have been. This identifies what is ultimately important to an individual and how that relates to where their identity is in relation to this.” (Thomas, 2013)
Whereas the prevalence of unanticipated and premature deaths led to pre-industrial cultures to focus death fears on individuals' postmortem fates, the death fears of modern cultures are more likely to focus on the processes of dying. Thus contemporary fears of dying involve the anxieties of dying within institutional settings, where often life is structured for the convenience of staff and where residents suffer both physical and psychological pain in their depersonalization. They also involve fears of being victims of advanced Alzheimer's Disease: being socially dead and yet biologically alive. In sum, the dreaded liminality between the worlds of the living and the dead have historically shifted from the period after death to the period pre...
In our lives, we go through stages of mindset and maturity that naturally coincide with aging. One thing that remains the same, though, through all of these stages, is that eventually, we die; we are completely aware of that as humans. Whether because it’s due to the painful reality that is mortality, our ever-diminishing ability to be wistful and imaginative, or merely the impending coming of the Grim Reaper, our entire lives are, ironic as it is, surrounded by and flooded with death. However, as we grow older, our perception of death changes. It goes from taboo in our young ages to something that begins to surround and eventually consume us as we grow older. Between the poems “For the Anniversary of my Death” by
Therefore, it is by creating a balanced, truthful communication, supportive and caring environment through the fading of a human life that death becomes meaningful. Every death is memorable, whether it happened in a hospital, or at a home, or in the street of a suburban neighborhood, on a royal bed, on an airplane, having dinner, during patrolling, at a war zone, or perhaps at the moment of birth. Dying with dignity was and will be the right to being born in this
The very beginning of the article, Dr. Khullar appeals to the emotions of a reader, reminiscing about an interaction between himself and a dying patient. He explains how the patient had no one to call and would die alone, causing himself to think that “the sadness of his death was surpassed only by the sadness of his solitude” (Khullar). The feeling of sadness and loneliness is continued using other scenarios that one likely is familiar with, such as “a young man abandoned by friends as he struggles with opioid addiction” or “an older woman getting by on tea and toast, living in filth, no longer able to clean her cluttered apartment” (Khullar). Dr. Khullar also uses this strategy through the use of various phrases such as “barren rooms devoid of family or friends,” or a quote from a senior: “Your world dies before you do” (Khullar). These scenarios and terminology evoke a feeling within a reader that results in acknowledgement of the material and what is being
Being human means to be unique and to be constantly striving for a better life. The community is shaped by every individual’s desire and path to acquire a life worth living. The individual’s desire for a fulfilled life is molded by the interactions and experiences one may encounter. It is through these experiences, that one discovers his or her place within their community. However, just because the individual is striving for the best that life can offer, does not mean that the ideas and morals of the individual coincide with that of the collective community. Through this potential dissonance between the human and community, one may find that the achievement of a life lived to the fullest is brought about by the resolution of conflict between
Community is like a Venn diagram. It is all about relations between a finite group of people or things. People have their own circles and, sometimes, these circles overlap one another. These interceptions are interests, common attitudes and goals that we share together. These interceptions bond us together as a community, as a Venn diagram. A good community needs good communication where people speak and listen to each other openly and honestly. It needs ti...
The idea that something exists after death is uncertain in this poem, saying this, it is important that the point of view is that of the observer. The ...
Sense of community has been operationalised as a state like entity, and as the outcome of certain social processes. As such, a conceptual framework has been developed that allows understanding of the way people are socialised into their communities and maintain, or fail to establish and maintain, social engagement. This has also been understood in terms of process analysis of social change. Its linkage to power is important, as it helps define the setting in which power is used and is less likely to be abused. From a process perspective, sense of community is a changing feature of people’s relationships to others, and as such can be a barometer of change in 18 18 community. It can be beneficial in helping people create a sense of identity and a resilience to untoward social change. As a central aspect of the development and maintenance of social connectedness, it is useful in conceptualising adaptive and protective factors for positive life in community. Sense of community can also be associated with negative aspects of social life. The nature of exclusion of ‘others’ can lead to harmful social consequences. Local social cohesiveness can be at the expense of minority groups and newly arrived immigrant groups. It can provide an analytic tool
Humans are not by nature meant to be unsociable or alone. Rather, “being truly human and living in community are inseparable.” The very essence of human existence relies upon the communal rather than the individualistic. For humans, the only way that a person can become a complet...
Should the most selfish elite individual take heed and meditate on the ideology behind community, he/she may awaken to the fact that many persons looking after one person has more advantages and a better survival rate than one trying to preserve one. The needs of the one will never outweigh the needs of the collective group. In the end individuality inevitably leads to self-destruction; therefore, commitment to community is a requirement for contemporary Americans and vital to its survival.
A Community can be defined as a group of people who don’t just live in the same area, but also share the same interests, experiences and often concerns about the area in which they live. Often when individuals have lived on a street or in an area for a while they become familiar with each other and the issues surrounding them. Children often attend the same schools and grow up together, again sharing similar experiences. In some instances adults may work together, and quite commonly all community members will share the same doctors, dentists, hospitals, health visitors and other public services and facilities.