Are Young People More Materialistic In Modern Society Philosophy Essay

Are Young People More Materialistic In Modern Society Philosophy Essay Materialism, in philosophy, a widely held system of thought that explains the nature of the world as entirely dependent on matter, the fundamental and final reality beyond which nothing need be sought. Certain periods in history, usually those associated with scientific advance, are marked by strong materialistic tendencies. The doctrine was formulated as early as the 4th cent. B.C. by Democritus, in whose system of atomism all phenomena are explained by atoms and their motions in space. Other early Greek teaching, such as that of Epicurus and Stoicism, also conceived of reality as material in its nature. The theory was later renewed in the 17th cent. by Pierre Gassendi and Thomas Hobbes, who believed that the sphere of consciousness essentially belongs to the corporeal world, or the senses. The investigations of John Locke were adapted to materialist positions by David Hartley and Joseph Priestley. They were a part of the materialist development of the 18th cent., strongly manifest ed in France, where the most extreme thought was that of Julien de La Mettrie. The culminating expression of materialist thought in this period was the Systà ¨me de la nature (1770), for which Baron d’Holbach is considered chiefly responsible. A reaction against materialism was felt in the later years of the 18th cent., but the middle of the 19th cent. brought a new movement, largely psychological in interpretation. Two of the modern developments of materialism are dialectical materialism and physicalism, a position formulated by some members of the Logical Positivist movement. Closely related to materialism in origin are naturalism and sensualist. Materialism is sometimes allied with the methodological principle of reductionism, according to which the objects or phenomena individuated at one level of description, if they are genuine, must be explicable in terms of the objects or phenomena at some other level of description — typically, a more general level than the r educed one. Non-reductive materialism explicitly rejects this notion, however, taking the material constitution of all particulars to be consistent with the existence of real objects, properties, or phenomena not explicable in the terms canonically used for the basic material constituents. Jerry Fodor influentially argues this view, according to which empirical laws and explanations in â€Å"special sciences† like psychology or geology are invisible from the perspective of, say, basic physics. A vigorous literature has grown up around the relation between these views. â€Å"Materialism† has also frequently been understood to designate an entire scientific, â€Å"rationalistic† world view, particularly by religious thinkers opposed to it and also by Marxists. It typically contrasts with dualism, phenomenalism, idealism, and vitalism. For Marxism, materialism is central to the â€Å"materialist conception of history†, which centers on the empirical world of actual human activity (practice, including labor) and institutions created, reproduced, or destroyed by that activity. In today’s society, materialism takes part in every person’s life, no matter what social class they are. The idea of being materialistic can be considered immoral, but there is a fine line between morality and personal interests. It is safe to say that everybody is materialistic to a certain extent, whether it be from buying the same brand of jeans because they fit nice, to purchasing a wide variety of hot rods. It is obvious that the latter of the two is the one which can be considered to cross the line. Buying some nice clothes here and there is normal for people and everybody does it once in a while. While on the other hand, buying 5 or 6 sports cars can be considered somewhat pretentious.

Interview Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Interview - Assignment Example All the children are male except for the youngest, who is a female. Her children are 40, 37, 35 and 31 accordingly. She and her husband are currently residing in their own home, which is not far from that of her children, and therefore of her grandchildren as well. The purpose of this paper is to examine the selected woman's opinions and notions of marriage, family and children as she was raised to believe, according to which she's lived her life, and then compare and contract those to those of my own. The woman interviewed, my grandmother, believes, and was brought up to believe, that marriage is supposed to last forever. It was a very different time from today, two generations ago, and this perception was much more common and popular than, in contrast to the very different one of today. Strangely enough, though, people used to get married at a young age and perhaps without even knowing their intended spouse for as long as people do today prior to marriage. This seems quite odd and bizarre for me today, but my grandmother says that that's how it was back then. If you knew the person for a year or two and thought you were compatible, you got married. Sex before marriage was also much less acceptable or appropriate. It was also common opinion that one has to do whatever he or she possibly can in order to save and preserve the marriage if it falls under a hard time (Author, Year). What she describes is very reasonable for that time, but seems quite obsolete today. Few are the people who still hold these beliefs today, and they are considered to be very unusual and the exception of the codes of behavior and norms of today. Things have changed a lot in these years between her generation and mine. Along with the emancipation of women, women's right movements and the changes in society as well as in the legislature, there's been a major shift towards living life each person sees fit. There is much less pressure today from families or others to get married quickly, an d less criticism or eyebrow-raising if a woman isn't married. This is truer for men than for women, but it also applies to women. Men are often thought to be less mature for serious relationships, commitments and marriage, let alone starting a family, while women are typically seen as more marriage and family oriented. While it may hold some truth (and women do indeed think more about relationships and the desire to be married and have children than men do), it is most definitely not true for everyone, and sometimes it is completely the opposite. Back in my grandmother's time it was quite unheard of. A woman was supposed to be married and was expected to do so until a certain age. Today it is not like that at all. Being married and becoming a mother were considered to be an inseparable part of being a woman (Author, Year). Today, there are women who opt never to get married, even though some of which are in long, committed relationships. It is now believed by some that marriage isn' t for everyone, and some do choose not to get married. Coupled with the current divorce rates, things have certainly changed in the decades since my grandmother's time and until now (Author, Year). It is interesting to note, in this context, that although marriage has become less essential to some women today and perhaps because of it, the wedding industry has grown immensely, and the wedding day is now considered to be one of life's more important milestones. In the past, while it was also significant, people didn't make such a big

Critical Review of the Olympic Cities Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Critical Review of the Olympic Cities - Essay Example It is not a new phenomenon by many cities in promoting boosterism through the holding of big events. The American cities have held show case events in attracting visitors, investors and residents. Recently, this strategy has changed in many cities because of many factors such as change in federal urban policy and the high global economic competition. At the start of the 1980 there was shorted in the funds that were given by federal government in the development of the cities. This made other cities to come up with other strategies in the development of their cities. The mega events are not only symbolic but they are also considered present a good image for the cities. This image has resulted in the growth and economic development of the cities. There is a comparison between image creation and the local government. Image creation has ensured that there is allocation of resources at different cities. Mega events are a big push to the development of economic development. These events ar e recognised as a great opportunity for growth in many different cities. The Olympic Games are considered as the major mega events. This is because they able to increase tourist attraction and ensure the host company get a lot of revenue. Most importantly is that the host city get media recognition for their effort in holding the events. Methodology As part of the survey methodology different cities were selected where the event already been held. The survey was conducted on three cities which have experienced bidding as well as staging the Olympic game in areas such as Atlanta, Los Angeles and Salt Lake City. The focus in mainly on the Olympics as it has become the mega event during the global economic competition. The survey is conducted only on US cities due to the political economy of the federal system (Andranovich, Burbank, & Heying, 2001). The American cities are in a unique position with regards to hosting large events such as Olympics. Mega events occur with multi-dimension al and multipurpose of the aspect. The events in each city are examined over three key stages which involves, bidding for the game, organising and post games legacy. The three cities differ in terms of size, political history, social consumption and economic base. Therefore by comparing the cities the main aim is to identify the features of relationship between consumption based economic development and mega event strategy in urban politics. The journal Olympic cities: Lessons learned from mega events, which aim to address the challenges and opportunities in hosting the Olympic Games and focusing on cities of Salt Lake City, Atlanta and Los Angeles. The focus is mainly on the adoption of strategy to conduct the mega event and the effect it had on urban policy (Andranovic, Burbank, & Heying, 2001). To begin with an overview of consumption on economic development has been discussed which had two dimensions which includes building convention centres and sports development. Many people aspire in learning how the mega event strategy contributes in the urban politics of the US. There are the cities in US that have high experience bidding in order to hold the Olympic Games (Andranovich, Bur