As Walker Percy explores the "dogfish" of perception and knowledge in his essay, "The Loss of the Creature," I wonder if he realizes how slippery and feisty the topic squirming on his desk is. Although anyone who has taken a guided tour will surely agree that the traditional tourist experience is necessarily divorced from that of a discoverer, the broad epistemological claims that Percy extracts from this scenario seem more complicated than Percy gives them credit, or space, for. When Percy suggests that an individual should aim to "extract the thing from the package," he insists that the individual seek out some solid bedrock beneath the surface of perception (519). In this statement, he implicitly calls the reader to believe that such bedrock exists and is accessible to humans, a controversial position in the postmodern world.
By arguing that excavation towards a static and fixed "creature" is possible, Percy echoes the voice of Plato, who argues that humans should strive to know the essential "forms" lying beneath ephemeral existence. Plato and his mentor, Socrates, devised their theory of forms in large part to reconcile a constantly changing physical universe with the criterion of permanence inherent in the Greek definition of knowledge, an important problem for philosophers of the time, and still today. In other words, the Greeks, believing that only permanent and unchanging entities could truly be "known," needed a way to attain knowledge in light of a constantly changing natural world. With the forms, Plato provided a solution to this problem, saying that "beneath" the physical world a human perceives there exists a dimension of forms, or essences, which persist throughout time, independent of human perception but ...
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...ans or dogfish. Like the physicist, they can benefit from recognizing elements of uncertainty inherent in the "creature." In a way, the postmodern knower is much like the man in Percy's essay, who takes the Grand Canyon bus tour as "an exercise in familiarity" (513). He intakes the same interpreted information as those who are on the level below him, yet he recognizes its limitations and understands what he sees all the more because of this awareness.
Works Cited
Heisenberg, Werner. Physics and Philosophy: The Revolution in Modern Science. New York: Harper & Row, 1958.
Bartholomae, David and Anthony Petrosky, eds. Ways of Reading. 3rd Ed. New York: Bedford, 1995.
Percy, Walker. "The Loss of the Creature." Bartholomae and Petrosky. 423-436.
Tompkins, Jane. "'Indians:' Textualism, Morality and the Problem of History." Bartholomae and Petrosky. 584-601.
Berger, John. "Way of Seeing." Berger, John. Ways of Reading: An Anthology for Writers. Ed. David Bartholomae and Anthony Petrosky. Ninth Edition. Bedford/St.Martin, 2011. 141-160.
In Walker Percy’s “The Loss of the Creature” he attempts to portray the idea that perspective can be skewed by another’s story, personal experience, and other factors that lead people to have these expectations of a sight or study that lessen the experience. He demonstrates this when he makes mention of the tourists at the Grand Canyon, and the Biology student getting compared to the Falkland Islander. The facts he presents are true, but Percy does not go into detail about individual cases leading to a generalized essay that does not show that each individual account is different, and not all expectations are changed from other information given to people will taint the learning environment or the experience, and because of this the points that are not mentioned as well as Percy’s thoughts will be explained and expanded on.
Griffin, Susan. “Our Secret”. Ways of Reading Eds. David Bartholomae and Anthony Petrosky. Sixth edition. Boston. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2002.
Philosophers are often tempted to find out the hidden meanings behind the apparent reality. A lot of valuable contributions to that particular philosophical topic were made by Plato. Much of contemporary philosophy is still being based upon what he had left behind. Also, many other themes developed by philosophers can be related to Plato`s vision of reality and form. William Goulding in his essay, ‘Thinking as a Hobby’ assigns three grades to thinkers based on their understanding of the world and their perceptions of truth. The truth in Goulding`s (2004) writings can, conveniently, be related to the truth in Plato`s work, as the end meaning and the thematic vision is similar in nature. Goulding argues that detachment from the popular perception of reality and the ability to create new ideas takes an individual to the grade-one level of thinking, while blindly following the norms would be an attribute of grade-three thinkers. Similarly, in the ‘Allegory of the Cave’, Plato narrates that once a prisoner had been freed, he understands the reality behind the shadows.
In this stage the parties begin the communication process, talking with one another as the mediator encourages expression (Mayer, Bernard, as cited in Folberg, Milne, & Salem, 2004, pg. 45). Here, the parties will give their opening statements, the mediator begins setting the agenda, and identify the interests and issues of the parties (Mayer, Bernard, as cited in Folberg, Milne, & Salem, 2004, pg. 45). A facilitative mediator will set a framework which allows each party to tell their individual stories and will act as a facilitator of communication. The task in this stage is to give the parties the opportunity to explain their issues and interests and for the mediator to carefully listen. This will continue throughout the mediation process. The action to complete this task is allowing the parties to meet with the mediator separately in the early stages and then moving towards group sessions once both feel prepared and comfortable enough. A facilitative mediator will also reframe and redefine the issues that are uncovered in order to get to the root or the underlying issues (Mayer, Bernard, as cited in Folberg, Milne, & Salem, 2004, pg. 45). The result of the communicating stage is all parties have the chance to share their stories, explain their interests and concerns, and feel encouraged to continue the
Mediation in the workplace can be equally beneficial to both employers and employees. It offers quick and mutually satisfactory resolutions to all parties involved. Mediated resolutions are often more effective in the short and long run, because everyone involved has a vested interested through the buy in. Moreover, mediation takes the final decision making process out of authorities who are tasked to come up with the solutions to the problem. Mediation also promotes a shared respect through enhanced communication and can relax an environment where everyone is continually on the defensive.
William James once said, “Whenever you’re in conflict with someone, there is one factor that can make the difference between damaging your relationship and deepening it. That factor is attitude.” Mediation is a process that can help parties resolve conflict. Even though mediators are not supposed to change the attitudes of parties they can show them the situation in a different light, thus causing the parties’ attitudes to change and the conflict to be resolved. Mediators need to understand there is a lot that goes into conflict and by understanding these concepts and theories they can mediate the dispute in a more thorough and proper way. Some parties might be trying to save face and that is why they are not being honest or telling the truth. Parties could be dealing with the tensions of connectedness and separateness, certainty and uncertainty, or even openness and closedness. The parties’ conflict styles could be avoiding, accommodating, competing, collaborating or compromising. It is important for mediators to be aware of all these different concepts and theories that can affect mediation. Through a thorough examination of conflict management styles, Face Negotiation Theory, and Relational Dialectics Theory it will be shown how important these theories and concepts are to effective mediation.
Schakel, Peter J., and Jack Ridl. "Everyday Use." Approaching Literature: Writing Reading Thinking. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008. 109-15. Print.
There are various features of both the litigation and mediation processes, each affecting the parties to a dispute. Determining these effects depends on the process, what approach is taken by the third parties, the role of the third party, the subject of the disputes and the binding nature of the final outcome. The objectives of each process also play a vital role in determining the impact that is felt by parties.
He argues that non-physical forms or ideas represent the most accurate reality. There exists a fundamental opposition between in the world like the object as a concrete, sensible object and the idea or concept of the objects. Forms are typically universal concepts. The world of appearance corresponds to the body. The world of truth corresponds with the soul. According to Plato, for any conceivable thing or property there is a corresponding Form, a perfect example of that or property is a tree, house, mountain, man, woman, Table and Chair, would all be examples of existing abstract perfect Ideas. Plato says that true and reliable knowledge rests only with those who can comprehend the true reality behind the world of everyday experience. In order to perceive the world of the Forms, individuals must undergo a difficult
Mediation is essential in the workplace because it affords an opportunity for employees in dispute to communicate their position as well as consider the perspective of the other party ("Mediation in the Workplace – A Proactive Approach to Preventing Litigation and Promoting a Healthier Work Environment," 2011). The mediation process helps improve employee engagement and reduce the number of issues referred to a higher authority. The Employment Practices website (http://www.epspros.com/news-resources/whitepapers/2013-prior/mediation-in-the-workplace.html) provides useful information about the importance of mediation in the
Traditionally the word knowledge conjures thoughts of comprehension, intelligence, discovery, realization and information. The following essay is aimed at exploring the notion that knowledge develops through time as well as the way reasoning and perception make the knowledge humans have today much more advanced. Throughout the decades disagreements and curiosity were key for new findings, which eventually led to the discarding of other realizations made in the past. Knowledge is defined as “facts, information, and skills acquired through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject” (Knowledge). In my opinion, I would also interpret that; knowledge is regarding the accuracy of our acquaintance with existence, more importantly how accurately our concepts and statements represent existence. I believe that the two ways of knowing, reason and perception have greatly helped the development of knowledge in both history and the naturals sciences, but to what extent has knowledge been discarded due to new findings?
...ad the effect of minimalizing the amount of concrete and verifiable detail that deceivers supplied and of disassociating deceivers from what they were saying. Other linguistic patterns were contrary to predictions but also had the effect of making deceptive answers more pallid and less personal that truthful ones."
Though, the mediators have been trusted and allowed to the political, business, cultural and academic mediation process. However, the process of mediation integration still requires deeper attention and required more actions. It is argued that conflict resolution tools, concepts, techniques, process, steps, and inclusive policies are needed to assess the overall conflict resolution integration of the conflicting parties in the resolution process.
Mediation is a flexible process and is a form of Alternative Dispute Resolution. It has many advantages, such as allowing parties to improve communication, and assisting in decision-making and problem-solving by the parties themselves. It is also a beneficial form of dispute resolution as it is intended to be an empowering process, founded on respect, the need to recognise parties’ emotions, and to allow for exploration of ideas between the parties. It is an impartial, non-judgemental, and confidential process where the parties work together alongside a mediator to come to a voluntary settlement. This encourages the parties to cooperate with one another to reach a mutual agreement, rather than to attend court and have a decision made for them,