The Truth about Cannibalism
Typical Western thought directs people to examine the practices of cannibalism as savage and primitive. More often than not, this type of association exists because the people viewing the action are frightened and confused by that which they do not understand. In fact, some would even claim that, “cannibalism is merely a product of European imagination” (Barker, 2), thereby completely denying its existence. The belief that cannibalism goes against “human instinct”, as seen in many literary works including Tarzan, reduces those who practice it to being inhuman. (Barker, 1) However, scientific findings demonstrate that those who practice cannibalism are still human despite their difference in beliefs; therefore, not only can rationalization be extrapolated from those who practice the act of cannibalism, but also denying the fact of the participant’s very humanity has been undermined through scientific findings.
The spectrum of logic behind cannibalism is wide in scope and varies in each tribe. In Africa there are a number of cannibalistic tribes, the two most notable being the Fang and Azande tribes. The Fang tribe occupied the Gabun district north of the Ogowh River in the French Congo. According to Mary Kingsley, “The Fang is not a cannibal for sacrificial motives” and is considered by many to be “morally superior to the Negro”. (encyclopedia.org) However, despite displaying higher moral standards, the Fang tribe has been purported to be “utterly indifferent to human life.” (encyclopedia.org) Yet, it was not indifference that served as the basis of practicing the acts of cannibalism but rather they simply found nothing wrong in doing so. In the Fang “a woman who bore ...
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...that of his kind. In the Hua and Gimi tribes, there are much deeper meanings and rituals involved in the eating of human flesh. Whether Westerners view cannibalism as “primitive” does not undermine its presence. These tribes have maintained their salvation through cannibalism for centuries. In fact, some may even posit that without the existence of cannibalism, these tribes may cease to exist due to the lack of a strong underlying culture.
Works Cited
“Baker, John.” Online. Internet. WWW page.
http://www.heretical.org/cannibal.baker1.html 5 Oct. 2002.
Barker, Hulme, and Iverson. Cannibalism and the Colonial World. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998.
“Kingsley, Mary.” Online. Internet. WWW page.
http://30.1911encyclopedia.org/F/FA/FANG.htm 5 Oct. 2002.
Sanday, Peggy. Divine Hunger. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1986.
Many families in America can’t decide what food chain to eat from. In the book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Michael Pollan lists four food chains: Industrial, Industrial Organic, Local Sustainable, and Hunter-Gatherer. The Industrial food chain is full of large farms that use chemicals and factories. Industrial Organic is close to it except it doesn’t use as many chemicals and the animals have more space. Local Sustainable is where food is grown without chemicals, the animals have freedom and they eat what they were born to eat. Lastly, Hunter-Gatherer is where you hunt and grow your own food. The omnivore's dilemma is trying to figure out what food chain to eat from. Local Sustainable is the best food chain to feed the United States because it is healthy and good for the environment.
In the events preceding the selected passage of Des Cannibales, Montaigne gives several situations of events in which man’s honour has been tested and proven, citing the example of the Hungarian’s merciful attitude towards their captured enemies, whom they released unharmed after having defeated them in battle. The classical reference to Seneca with the quote, “Si succiderit, de genu pugnat” foreshadows the passage in question, in which the captured Brazilians refuse to surrender or feel fear, but rather taunt their captors and remain defiant until their last breath. The passage then develops into an observation of the polygamous culture of the New World, which Montaigne praises and later goes onto defend as natural, arguing that it was customary in Biblical times and therefore should not be condemned by supposedly superior and cultured Europeans.
20. D. Prockop, "Stem Cell Research Has Only Just Begun" (Letter), 293 Science 211-2 (13 July 2001)(citations omitted).
Holland, Suzanne, Karen Lebaqz, Laurie Zoloth. "The Human Embryonic Stem Cell Debate." Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 2001.
Among all the copious themes of fairy tales, cannibalism was indeed a more ambivalent one. Despite the obvious manifestations of good karma, positive characteristics and amiable nature, the common depictions of cannibalism alluded that fairy tales were more than stories that were “too good to be true.” Fairy tales such as The Juniper Tree and Hansel and Gretel even presented cannibalism with an attitude of apathy, as if cooking human stew were nothing churlish but ordinary. However, those vivid descriptions of cannibalism, though appeared to be too cruel and baleful for innocent children, played significant roles. It completed their coming of age journeys, providing them masculinity while“relieving their preconscious and unconscious pressures”(Bettelheim,
Every society has it’s own cultural traditions and norms. Many of the traditions are passed down from generation to generation for so long that they become the norms of the culture. The Wari’ are no different than anyone else in that their traditions become cultural norms. In Consuming Grief: Compassionate Cannibalism in an Amazonian Society, Beth A. Conklin travels to the Wari’ people in order to study illness and death from both before and after they had foreign contact. While there she finds herself going into depth on the lifestyle of the Wari’ people and how their norm of cannibalism came about and how it was phased out by the outside world.
According to Schwarz and Cohen (2013), approximately 11% of children are under medication. Authors have pointed out that one boy in every five high school boys have received medical treatment for ADHD. The above mentioned prevalence rates of ADHD among children and increase in medication have raised concerns among physicians that over-diagnosis and overmedication has become common among American children. Prescription of certain stimulants such as Ritalin and Adderall for children for improvement of their lives downgraded by the disorder has led to anxiety, addiction and psychosis. Experts think that long term use of stimulants such as Ritalin leads to physical dependence. It is also clear that long term users and abusers of Ritalin leads to the addiction. Schwarz and Cohen (2013) show that close to 6.4 million children of age of 4 and 17 have been diagnosed with ADHD in their lifetime. The reports made in the past two decades show a 41 % increase of ADHD diagnosis. In addition, there is an increase in diagnosis of the disorder by 16% among children since 2007. According to Lavender (2013), North Carolina has the highest number of children diagnosed w...
Mittelman’s (2000) discussion of global development and urbanization has received attention from scholars such as Moore and Gould (2003) who note that more than half of the world’s population now live in urban settlement as the world becomes increasingly urban in nature. The authors believe that cities play a vital role and urban settlements offer opportunities for education, employment, social services, and better health care, while also suffering from such shortcomings as unemployment, marginalization, air
“The assumption that animals are without rights, and the illusion that their treatment has no moral significance is a positively outrageous example of Western crudity and barbarity. Universal compassion is the only guarantee of morality."(Schopenhauer). I always wondered why some people are not so drawn to the consumption of meat and fed up with only one thought about it. Why so many people loathe of blood, and why so few people can easily kill and be slaughter animal, until they just get used to it? This reaction should say something about the most important moments in the code, which was programmed in the human psyche. Realization the necessity of refraining from meat is especially difficult because people consume it for a long time, and in addition, there is a certain attitude to the meat as to the product that is useful, nourishing and even prestigious. On the other hand, the constant consumption of meat has made the vast majority of people completely emotionless towards it. However, there must be some real and strong reasons for refusal of consumption of meat and as I noticed they were always completely different. So, even though vegetarianism has evolved drastically over time, some of its current forms have come back full circle to resemble that of its roots, when vegetarianism was an ethical-philosophical choice, not merely a matter of personal health.
Different anthropologists such as Nowak and Laird (2010), and Butler (2006), recommended that these residents of jungles contain an exclusive background; position, morals and everyday life is entirely through big adjustment. It can be said that the Mbuti people live in their own world. This paper will discuss the kinship system and the social organization of the culture as far as how they practice equal sharing of food after engaging in hunting and gathering. This paper will also discuss how the Mbuti culture uses gender relation to determine their hunting ages.
Is it morally permissible to eat meat? Much argument has arisen in the current society on whether it is morally permissible to eat meat. Many virtuous fruitarians and the other meat eating societies have been arguing about the ethics of eating meat (which results from killing animals). The important part of the dispute is based on the animal welfare, nutrition value from meat, convenience, and affordability of meat-based foods compared to vegetable-based foods and other factors like environmental moral code, culture, and religion. All these points are important in justifying whether humans are morally right when choosing to eat meat. This paper will argue that it is morally impermissible to eat meat by focusing on the treatment of animals, the environmental argument, animal rights, pain, morals, religion, and the law.
Urbanisation is the process which has led to an increasing proportion of a country's population living within urban areas. It is impossible to say exactly when the process began, but in Britain it was around the time of the industrial revolution. Many people moved from rural to urban areas in search of regular employment. The MEDC's around the world are all urbanised now, with annual growth rates of urbanisation still increasing, but sustainably. LEDC's however are still rapidly urbanising. In this essay I am going to look at all the factors that cause urbanisation and evaluate why it is occurring.
Cohen, L. Manion, L. Morrison, K. and Wyse, D (2010) A guide to teaching practice. London: Routledge.
A mere 200 years ago, the amount of people that lived in urbanized areas accounted for less than 5% of the world’s population. Today, as many as 50 percent of the world’s population has followed the trend of urbanization, and moved from agriculture to the industrial world. Urbanization can be seen as a global challenge that has advantages and disadvantages to the world and humanity. These aspects can be explored through multiple perspectives: including its effects on international security, the political/ economical aspect, the repercussions to the environment, and even its impact on culture itself.
United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2012). World Urbanization Prospects: The 2011 Revision.