Newcomers to Arts and Humanities

Hello Readers!

Finally, after such a long gap, I have found an insightful topic to share. Today's topic is about the class of people who feel bored, tired, and sick of the rat race of chasing after money, mindless scrolling, disturbed social relations, and a meaningless, stressful life. Many of us suffer from anxiety, and stress and seek out the best resort in watching films, listening to songs, and sharing funny short videos and reels with friends. Amidst this practice, there lies a wonderful factor of creativity. A person always finds some songs, films, and stories quite relatable because of the deep charm of creativity behind the content.

Now let me put a debatable topic here.

"People from non-arts backgrounds appreciate the creative and philosophical aspects of enjoyable content, feeling that, despite having all the luxuries and wealth, something meaningful is missing from their lives. Meanwhile, individuals in creative arts and philosophical fields tend to broaden their current knowledge and go beyond the available content."

There are two premises here.

1. People from the STEM field

2. People from creative arts, humanities, and philosophical branches.

There are two points of view as well.

1. People from the STEM field enjoy the depths of all arts and creative materials such as films, songs, and stories, and at one point in life, they think they could have pursued arts and humanities.

2. People from arts and humanities, and creative pursuits undergo a rigorous process of ego clashes with the truth and redefine their understanding while creating anything new and original. This philosophical churning in mind makes them more refined thinkers and clean creators. They think that the world has to see things from their own perspective and think about life with a completely different dimension.

Whoever wishes to make a career in arts and humanities must understand the following things.

1. It is not just a branch of academics but a life-defining pursuit. It is deeply connected with all other branches such as science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Indeed there is a value of rankings and grades but this branch is more than just academic accolades.

2. The majority of people give very little value to philosophies and stories in their daily lives and they keep talking about money, percentages, and major statistics. If one wants to study arts and humanities with a deeper knowledge, one may go deeper into the nuances of human behavior, the inner areas of the human psyche, and thought processes.

3. This also leads a person to a spiritual dimension and makes him/her rethink all the behaviors and endeavors of human beings. The key questions such as what, why, who, how, when, and where will become the drivers of the human mind rather than having a mind full of numbers that keep thinking about money all day.

4. Those who are not in arts and humanities may think that the people within this field are "lucky" and enjoying all the "luxuries" of life; but here is a myth buster: the real learners, thinkers, and creators don't enjoy the materialistic aspect of life and never expect to live like that. They consume only what they need the most and do only what is the most necessary at the given time and in situations. The only thing they enjoy is the clarity of their wisdom and life.

5. To study arts and humanities, one must be aware of the deeds of past figures and have a sharp historical and political sense to study whatever is happening in today's time. Because students will always have to see things of today with the pastness of the past.

6. During the study the students may get frustrated and tired of the rigorous thought process and discussions he/she has to go through. But no need to worry, to create a new understanding one must have a breakthrough of their own ego and pre-established beliefs. Once the mind is free from all the past conditions, a great highway is there to study further.

7. There should be readiness to leave the ego aside and know something new and fresh. Because no creative field is free from biases and mental conditioning. There might be a few aspects that may affect you directly at the personal level but it is the demand of this discipline that people go through this process and ask questions at deeper levels.

These points will be fruitful to the students and aspirants who want to study arts, humanities, languages, literature, and philosophies. This would definitely establish new perspectives and understanding of the entire world.

Change is inevitable, so the mind, so the body, and so the life. Embrace with all your power and spirit.

Happy learning.

Thank You!

Discipline and Punish: Birth of the Prison by Michel Foucault

Michel Foucault's Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison (1975) constitutes a critical intervention in the genealogy of disciplinary mechanisms that shape modern societies. This text delineates the historical trajectory from overt sovereign acts of punishment to the pervasive and insidious modes of social control embedded within institutional frameworks. Foucault’s primary thesis asserts that power operates not merely through spectacular violence but through the minutiae of daily practices and the structuring of institutions, effecting a transformation of individuals into compliant and regulated subjects.

Key Themes and Concepts:

1. The Spectacle of Punishment:
   Foucault opens his analysis with the vivid account of the execution of Robert-François Damiens in 1757, underscoring the performative and ritualistic nature of sovereign power. This display of punitive excess functioned as a reaffirmation of sovereign authority, wherein the public visibility of punishment instantiated the sovereign’s dominion over both body and community.

2. Disciplinary Power:
   Foucault contrasts sovereign power with disciplinary power, which crystallizes in the 18th and 19th centuries. Unlike sovereign power, which manifests through episodic violence, disciplinary power infiltrates social institutions, deploying surveillance, normalization, and corrective practices. This power articulates itself in the structuring of prisons, educational institutions, medical establishments, and military apparatuses, transforming individuals into "docile bodies" that internalize regulatory frameworks.

3. Panopticism:
   Central to Foucault’s exposition is the concept of panopticism, drawn from Jeremy Bentham’s architectural design of the Panopticon. This architectural model—featuring an omnipresent observer invisibly positioned at the center—epitomizes the asymmetry of disciplinary power. The mere possibility of surveillance engenders a state of self-regulation, embedding disciplinary power within the very consciousness of the observed. Foucault extrapolates this principle to society at large, revealing how pervasive surveillance structures engender conformity and social order.

"The major effect of the Panopticon: to induce in the inmate a state of conscious and permanent visibility that assures the automatic functioning of power."

4. The Birth of the Prison:
   Foucault meticulously traces the emergence of the prison as the preeminent locus of punishment, marking a transition from corporeal torture to the sequestration and reform of individuals. The prison, far from merely confining bodies, functions as an apparatus for the production of disciplined subjects, aligning with broader societal mechanisms that seek to normalize deviance and reinforce hegemonic order.

"Is it surprising that prisons resemble factories, schools, barracks, hospitals, which all resemble prisons?"

5. Normalization and the Carceral Network:
   Foucault expounds on the extension of disciplinary techniques beyond the prison into the social body, constituting what he terms the "carceral continuum." This expansive network encompasses a range of institutions that perform regulatory functions, rendering judgment through medical, educational, and administrative processes. The proliferation of these mechanisms produces subjects who are categorized, measured, and corrected, reinforcing societal norms and perpetuating hierarchies of power.

"The judges of normality are everywhere. We are in the society of the teacher-judge, the doctor-judge, the educator-judge, the 'social worker'-judge."

Key Quotations:

• "The body is directly involved in a political field; power relations have an immediate hold upon it; they invest it, mark it, train it, torture it, force it to carry out tasks, to perform ceremonies, to emit signs."

• "Power is not an institution, and not a structure; neither is it a certain strength we are endowed with; it is the name that one attributes to a complex strategic situation in a particular society."

• "The soul is the prison of the body."

Influence and Criticism:

Discipline and Punish catalyzed a paradigmatic shift in the analysis of power, knowledge, and social regulation, profoundly influencing the fields of sociology, political theory, and critical cultural studies. While Foucault’s articulation of pervasive disciplinary mechanisms has been lauded for its incisiveness, critics contend that his emphasis on the ubiquity of power underplays the potential for resistance and agency within such systems. Despite this, Foucault’s text remains indispensable for comprehending the subtle yet omnipresent modalities through which contemporary societies orchestrate compliance and maintain socio-political order.

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The above blog post is created with the help of ChatGPT.

Situating the Self: Gender, Community, and Postmodernism by Seyla Benhabib

Explain the quote written below.

"Transcendental guarantees of truth are dead; in the agonal struggle of language games there is no commensurability; there are no criteria of truth transcending local discourses, but only the endless struggle of local narratives vying with one another for legitimation."

– Seyla Banhabib, Situating the Self (1992)

Explanation of the Quote:

This quote by Seyla Benhabib reflects a postmodern critique of universal truth and the fragmentation of knowledge. Here’s a breakdown:

• "Transcendental guarantees of truth are dead" – Traditional notions of absolute, universal truths (rooted in Enlightenment ideals, metaphysics, or divine authority) are no longer valid. This suggests skepticism toward overarching systems that claim to offer objective truth.

• "In the agonal struggle of language games" – The term "agonal" refers to conflict or contest. "Language games," a concept from Ludwig Wittgenstein, imply that meaning and truth emerge from specific contexts and discourses. There is a competitive interplay of different narratives and ideologies, each vying for dominance.

• "There is no commensurability" – Different discourses or "games" cannot be directly compared or measured against one another because they operate on distinct assumptions and internal rules.

• "There are no criteria of truth transcending local discourses" – Truth is not universal but is confined to specific contexts or communities ("local discourses"). Each discourse sets its own standards for what counts as true or valid.

• "Only the endless struggle of local narratives vying with one another for legitimation" – Society is composed of competing narratives or voices, each attempting to assert its legitimacy without appeal to an overarching framework. This reflects the pluralism and relativism characteristic of postmodern thought.

In essence, Benhabib critiques the erosion of universal truths in favor of localized, competing narratives, aligning with broader postmodern perspectives on knowledge and truth.

About the Book: Situating the Self (1992):

Situating the Self: Gender, Community, and Postmodernism in Contemporary Ethics addresses the intersection of feminist theory, ethics, and postmodern critique. Benhabib explores the relationship between individual identity (the "self") and broader social and political structures. She challenges radical postmodernism, advocating for a more nuanced view that balances universal moral principles with cultural and contextual sensitivity.

The book critiques postmodern relativism while engaging with thinkers like Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida, and Jürgen Habermas. Benhabib argues for a communicative ethics grounded in dialogue and democratic participation, which allows for difference while pursuing mutual understanding and justice.

About the Author: Seyla Benhabib

Seyla Benhabib is a Turkish-American philosopher and political theorist, known for her work in feminist theory, critical theory, and ethics. Born in 1950, she studied under Jürgen Habermas and has contributed significantly to debates on democracy, multiculturalism, and cosmopolitanism.

Her work often focuses on reconciling universalist ethics with the complexities of cultural diversity and identity politics. Benhabib’s contributions lie in fostering dialogue between Enlightenment ideals and postmodern critiques, advocating for inclusive, participatory democratic practices.

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