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The phrase “perceived value” is often assigned to inanimate objects whose worth lies in the value a consumer assigns to the product. According to Adam Smith’s theory of “invisible hand”, rational individuals make decisions out of a desire to do what benefits themselves the most. Although this stimulates the economic market and benefits society as a whole, the application of this concept takes a negative toll on interpersonal relationships (Ulmer 256). When the consumer-object relationship is applied to human relationships, the accumulation of experiences and poor decisions that affect perceived value of one individual affects how that same individual will choose to treat the other. Rose Goldsen, Professor of Sociology at Cornell University, argues that “An individual bases his value on appearance, good behavior, bad behavior, and relationships” (42). These four areas directly build or destroy an individual’s self-esteem. The constant ranking of an individual that comes with daily competition influences his life through social, physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects, which in turn, influence his output behaviors. Studies show that the damage to psyche begins in childhood (Cimini 13). Children innately yearn for affirmation. If a parent does not support and value his child, the child is more likely to live recklessly and desperately search for affirmation from the world. The extreme emotional behaviors lead to a lack of regard for moral code, poor treatment of others, and harm to the child. Societal flaws are paralleled in literature to act as foils of society. This concept is reflected in characters that represent caricatures of humanity in the novels Wuthering Heights, The White Tiger, and The Picture of Dorian Gray.
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Goldsen, Rose K., and Charles Morris. "Varieties of Human Value." American Sociological Review 22.1 (1957): 111. Print.
Hafley, James. "The Villain in Wuthering Heights." Nineteenth-Century Fiction 13.3 (1958): 199-215. JSTOR. Web. 31 Mar. 2014.
Khor, Lena. "Can the Subaltern Right Wrongs?: Human Rights and Development in Aravind Adiga's "The White Tiger"" South Central Review 29.1/2 (2012): 41-67.JSTOR. Web. 31 Mar. 2014.
Liebman, Sheldon W. "CHARACTER DESIGN IN "THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY"" Studies in the Novel 31.3 (1999): 296-316. JSTOR. Web. 31 Mar. 2014.
Ulmer, Melville J. "Human Values and Economic Science." Journal of Economic Issues 8.2 (Jun 1974): 255-66. JSTOR. Association for Evolutionary Economics. Web. 31 Mar. 2014.
Wilde, Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray. London: Ward, Lock, 1891. Print.
"The Picture of Dorian Gray." Novels for Students. Ed. Ira Mark Milne and Timothy Sisler. Vol. 20. Detroit: Gale, 2005. 146-165. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 5 Sep. 2013.
For millennia, there have been constant conflicts between the upper class and the lower class, characterized by the upper class’s sense of superiority towards those less economically prosperous. Mansfield, Gordimer, and Orwell describe these conflicts between the upper and lower classes to propose that completely transcending class prejudices is impossible and suggest that societal values have greater impact than individual values as they degrade both a person’s behavior and morality.
Human persons are fundamentally equal in their worth and dignity. A person’s worth is not dependent on their lineage, how they fit in some utopian scheme, how much they produce or consume, their autonomy or independence, or their race, intelligence, age, religion, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic status. Human worth is innate and cannot be forfeited. And it is equal in each person.
Every cultures has their own way to define the values. What could be of value in one country could be invaluable in a different country. For example, in Mexico there are places within the same country where the values are measured in different types of ways, such as; in a low-income scenario morality is of great value and in a high-income scenario money and power determine their values of life in a different manor. Everything depends in the social background you are born into that determines how you will live life this term would be called ascribed status” a position an individual either inherits at birth or receives involuntarily later in life”(Henslin, 2015, pg.102).
The idea of morals and values are one of the most debated topics in the world of critical thinking. Life times can be spent philosophizing about the morality of our human race and the shared “innate” values. Hence forth this excerpt which talks directly (as well as indirectly) about the genealogy of values and morals in a society of humans comparatively to that of nature.
Harris, Sam. 2011. The Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values. Simon and Schuster.
Howells, William D. “Heroines of Nineteenth Century Fiction.” Harper’s Bazaar XXXIII-26 (1900): 516-23. Rpt in Nineteenth Century Literature Criticism. Ed. Janet Mullane and Robert Thomas Wilson. Vol 19. Detroit: Gale, 1938. 8. Print.
Shapiro, Arnold. “‘Wuthering Heights’ as a Victorian Novel.” Nineteenth Century Literary Criticism. Vol. 16. Eds. Joann Cerrito and Paul Kepos. Detroit: Gale Research, 1992. 108-110.
eyes reveals that people cared more about money and material things than their values and
Without tradition of ethics, people would not be taught what to value. In the U.S., certain aspects of life are seen as more important, thus being passed through the family for all to cherish and learn from; however, some Americans are not happy with where this country stands in terms of what the people choose to render “valuable”. With 7 in 10 people saying that America’s morals have gotten worse over the years, 5 of those people will also bet that values will continue to take a downward spiral (Cohn). The broadness of this poll could very well be portraying any value, big or small. By “America’s values”, it could mean anything from as little as the style changes, to as big as respect for the government. One of the more effective representations of this negative turn is the influence religion has on the average American family. Atheism in this country has increased from 1% to 11% in the last 45 years. In this same amount of time, two-thirds of this country says the economy has gotten to be “uncontrollable, and on the wrong track,” (Cohn). These studies have exposed the values of the average U.S. citizen who is raising the next generation of beliefs. It is only them who c...
Schwartz, S. H. (1992). Universals in the content and structure of values: Theoretical advances and empirical tests in 20 countries. In M. Zanna (Ed.), Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, New York: Academic Press, 25, 1-65.
In Oscar Wilde's novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, beauty is depicted as the driving force in the lives of the three main characters, Dorian, Basil and Lord Henry. Dorian, the main character, believes in seizing the day. Basil, the artist, admires all that is beautiful in life. Lord Henry, accredited ones physical appearance to the ability of achieving accomplishments in life. Beauty ordains the fate of Dorian, Basil, and Lord Henry. The novel embodies the relationship of beauty and morality. Beauty is not based on how attractive an object is to everyone, but how attractive it is to one.
The picture of Dorian Gray. The Electronic Classics Series, The Pennsylvania State University. p. 3/ Retrieved January 3, 2014 from http://www2.hn.psu.edu/faculty/jmanis/oscar-wilde/dorian-gray.pdf
In analyzing Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, concepts such as influence and the origin of evil in Dorian Gray play an exceptionally valuable role in understanding the motives of the characters. Although some critics argue characters such as Lord Kelso significantly influence Dorian’s corruption, Lord Henry Wotton’s toxic personality undeniably impacts Dorian the most. Throughout the course of the novel, Lord Henry remains the ultimate source of evil and uses deception and persuasion to poison Dorian from a naïve boy to a destructive monster.
Soin, Raj. Clarifying and Applying Personal Values: Priorities and Integrity Retrieved. April 1, 2006 from http://www.wright.edu/~scott.williams/skills/values.htm