Why is ‘security’ such a contested concept? The foreign, military and economic policies of states, the intersections of these policies in areas of change or dispute, and the general structure of relations which they create, are all analysed in terms of aspirations to achieve national and/or international security. Security is most commonly associated with the alleviation of threats to cherished values (Williams; 2008). However this is a definition that is undesirably vague and a reflection of the
term “essentially contested topic” at the 1956 meeting of the Aristotelian Society. Gallie believed that while words like justice have a positive connotation in society, they have no legitimate basis as a word. Freedom is one of these words. Freedom is traditionally defined as the ability to act, think, or speak without being restrained. However, freedom is much more than the definition humans have given to conceptualize the meaning within a Webster’s dictionary. Freedom as a majorly contested topic
Is “State terrorism” a valid concept? The threat of global terrorism continues to rise with the total number of deaths reaching 32,685 in 2015, which is an 80 percent increase from 2014 (Global Index). With this said, terrorism remains a growing, and violent phenomenon that has dominated global debates. However, ‘terrorism’ remains a highly contested term; there is no global agreement on exactly what constitutes a terror act. An even more contested concept is whether to broaden the scope of terrorism
This week we delve deeper into the concept of authorship, particularly around what and how we understand authorship to exist. The theorists of week two provide examples of authorship that do not entirely coincide with the auteur theory, more so they present ideologies that challenge the atypical notion of auteurism. John Hartley’s three headings of authorship (God, No-One, Everyone), Jonathan Gray’s pluralistic authorial view, and Walter Benjamin’s conceptualization of the author as producer. John
ignored the systemic properties of language’ (1991: 39), thus, concurrently suggesting with May, a disagreement from the social sciences over the role of language in terms of identity and national identity. Similarly, circa the French revolution, the concept
Therefore it is quite clear that class is a contested concept as there is no exact definition, thus making it more difficult for historians to come to a conclusion with evidence to prove it. The Making of the English Working Class is according to Kaye and McClelland, ‘the obligatory starting point for any contemporary discussion of the history of the working-class formation.’ This gives us the indication that Thompson had not just written another piece on the concepts of class but that his book ‘opened interpretive
particularly relevant to the primary concept of the film. Dr. Mike Callaghan had explained Mary Douglas’s work on cultural purity and pollution in a unique way. He used to example of a cup. The cup was on the table and had been considered in a
share the truth between them. Mill’s argument is then later broken up into four separate grounds, which can be found on page 50 of On Liberty, which allows for us to better understand the overall argument. The first ground of his argument is the concept or idea of “infallibility.” Here he says, “... ... middle of paper ... ...finally, I think the biggest upside to Mill’s argument is that it’s always to one’s advantage to know the truth. While the argument that Mill makes could be very beneficial
theories can be described in various ways. Walter Bryce Gallie describes it as an “essentially contested rhetorical concept”. (Goertzel) Meaning that the term is generally accepted across many intellectual groups, but the exact definition is not agreed upon. One definition for conspiracy theory describes it as “a secret plan on the part of a group to influence events in part by covert action”(Goertzel). Which essentially means when an influential group is accused of using their power to cover up an action
be defined as a form of government, where a constitution guarantees basic personal and political rights, fair and free elections, and independent courts of law. Democracy has affected Canada in different ways but, although Democracy is a general concept for a governing process but can have quite different manifestations because of the exercising of decision-making, subject to rule of law and rights and freedoms of individuals. Representative democracy is known as a type of democracy which is founded
He claims that the only differentiation between magic and religion is the lack of unity of people living the same life in magic, as he expresses ‘the magician stands aloof’. The concept of the ‘Church’ is the communal faith and the similar view towards the relations between the sacred and profane. This is a popular belief among sociologists of religion. Northcott, who supports Durkheim’s religion definition, expresses that ‘religion
five key concepts in relation to curriculum theory and practise. Firstly, the intended curriculum, what teachers want students to experience (Blaise and Nuttall, 2011, P. 82). The enacted curriculum, what the educators teach. The hidden curriculum, what students learn without teachers realising. The null curriculum, what teachers do not want students to learn (Blaise and Nuttall, 2011, P. 82). Lastly, the lived curriculum, which is what the students actually experience. These five concepts sum up the
The Sociological Imagination The concept that became Mills’ Sociological Imagination were deeply rooted within his understanding of psychology and environmental influences upon human behavior. Mills based his theoretical framework upon the assumption that “individual personality attributes are acted out within environments that greatly impact personality development”, and subsequent behavior into later adulthood (Wozniak, 2009, 199). From this perspective, Mills argued that there was a deep-rooted
they both require water to prepare. It consists of dried noodles, spices and also soy meat. Although the advent of instant noodles seems many years before the use of SpagBol, the two are very similar concepts. Add water and your meal is served. The antecedent instant noodles are inexpensive and essentially ubiquitous in our times and in the story’s setting it is most likely even more convenient. Looking past the evident congruency, Spagbol is seen by the Smokes in a higher respect, due to its rarity
making processes of that society as a whole. (Hague et al, 1992, p.20) It is however the definition of politics that poses the greatest difficulty in the question because, as McLean states, the definition: “is highly, perhaps essentially contested.” (1996, p.388) This contested nature of politics is key in respect to the question because the conceptual model of assumptions and beliefs with which a person tackles politics will influence the interpretation of politics that they attain. (Hague et al,
One might wonder how different the world would be if everyone had the genetic mutation and were colorblind to the biological color of race. Michael Omi and Howard Winant defined race as “a concept which signifies and symbolizes social conflicts and interests by referring to difference of human bodies. Race has had a big factor in the history of the United States and even into present day it can decide who gets educated and who gets a quality education. One should not be ignorant to race, as not
Thomas Hobbes, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and John Locke are all great thinkers who were greatly influential in forming philosophies that would affect the future of politics. By analyzing each philosopher’s ideology, we can identify which thinker’s theory reflected modern era liberalism the most. For this paper I will be arguing that, John Locke provides a more compelling framework of modern era liberalism because of his perception of the state of nature, the social contract and the function of government
apart from the political realm was influenced by the view, expressed by Pictet, that political struggle is invariably futile (Leebaw, 2007, p.227). It refers therefore more to a “passive impartiality”. He contrasts this passive way to the active concept of Médecins sans Frontières (MSF). The MSF movement has sought to emphasise that impartiality need not be passive or condone human-rights violations, and chose a more refined expression of the principle: the notion of “active impartiality”. This refers
In its simplest definitions, the concept of multiculturalism having its roots in theories of cultural pluralism and diversity, can be defined as a normative response to manage the challenges arising from the ever growing multicultural make up of urban population caused by immigration or de facto plurality of cultures in both plural and mono cultural societies. The challenges of multicultural urban societies have been attributed to the politics of cultural differences characterized by the difference
the ontological level. To the minor premise, he objects that existence is not a concept predicate. Finally, I will show how Hegel criticizes Kant's refutation. To the former, Kant's critique is naïve as he could prove that existence is not inherent to a finite being's concept, which is not the concept of God. I. The Ontological Argument Kant's refutation of the ontological argument-which states that from the concept of a being containing every perfection it is possible to infer its existence-is