Pragmatic Literary Criticism :: Literature Essays Literary Criticism

Pragmatic Literary Criticism      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Pragmatic criticism is concerned, first and foremost, with the ethical impact any literary text has upon an audience. Regardless of art's other merits or failings, the primary responsibility or function of art is social in nature. Assessing, fulfilling, and shaping the needs, wants, and desires of an audience should be the first task of an artist. Art does not exist in isolation; it is a potent tool for individual as well as communal change. Though pragmatic critics believe that art houses the potential for massive societal transformation, art is conspicuously ambivalent in its ability to promote good or evil. The critical project of pragmatic criticism is to establish a moral standard of quality for art. By establishing artistic boundaries based upon moral/ethical guidelines, art which enriches and entertains, inspires and instructs a reader with knowledge of truth and goodness will be preserved and celebrated, and art which does not will be judged inferior, caution ed against, and (if necessary) destroyed. Moral outrage as well as logical argument have been the motivating forces behind pragmatic criticism throughout history. The tension created between this emotional and intellectual reaction to literature has created a wealth of criticism with varying degrees of success. Ironically, much like art's capacity to inspire diligence or decadence in a reader, pragmatic criticism encompasses both redemptive and destructive qualities.  Ã‚        Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Plato provides a foundational and absolute argument for pragmatic criticism. Excluding poetry from his ideal Republic, Plato attempts to completely undermine the power and authority of art. He justifies his position by claiming that "the power which poetry has of harming even the good (and there are very few who are not harmed) is surely an awful thing" (28). Because artists claim their imitations can speak to the true nature of things, circumventing the need for serious, calmly considered intellectual inquiry, art should not be pursued as a valuable endeavor. Art widens the gap between truth and the world of appearances, ironically by claiming to breach it. The artist promotes false images of truth and goodness by appealing to basic human passions, indulging "the irrational nature which has no discernment of greater and less, but thinks the same thing at one time great and at another small" (27). Art manufactures moral ambiguity, and to P lato this is unacceptable. Because it is deceptive and essentially superficial, all art must be controlled and delegitmized for all time.

Moral Courage Essay

Moral courage is a concept means doing the right thing, it means listening to conscience that what does it saying. Standing on what believe. Moral courage has three major elements witch are principle, endurance and danger. it means moral courage and doing right things make us in the risk, we may face fear and danger for example with losing o job and security, reputation or etc. But falling in the risk is not matter because we follow our conscience and it is important because I believe that conscience is based on values and show us the way to be human. Moral courage is standing up for values such as honesty, fairness, compassion, respect and responsibility but just having these values are not enough we have to try to put them into practice and we have to commitment to moral principles as well, so in the practice we may face with danger and we have to confidence to endure hardship, suffer and sacrifice. In this sense we can see moral courage in action. According to Kennedy (1956) moral courage is â€Å"the Basis of All Human Morality.† he mentioned that Courageous men do as they do because they love themselves, they respect themselves and their reputation for integrity and their personal standard of their ethics all are more important than their popularity with others or desire to maintain their offices. For having these all values they have to fall in the risk as it done with senator George Norris, with Nelson Mandela and Malala Youssafzai, that all of them stood on what they believed and what they knew that is right. They struggled for higher purpose and having greater values such as human rights and for justice and they found these straggle as their duty to fulfill their obligation. So as consequence we saw that all of them faced with challenges and danger and they endured hardship situation but they could to have significant acheivement. for World War 1 that was started in 1914, US government declared that they would remain neutral but in reality it was not like this and US supported England by carrying guns through Armed Merchant ships and was against German so after German submarines sank three American Merchant Ships in 1917, president Wilson declared for entering into WW1 and asked for congressional approval. Senator Norris was opposing of US entre into World Ward 1 so he filibustered the Armed merchant Ship bill and he faced with very hardship situation and condemned by American press but he didn’t gave up and he believed on the rightness of his course, he was not care about holding his office he just listened to his conscience and tried to say truth to people. So finally he did and informed people about the reality that is behind of this policy he said that these ships used for carrying war supplier to England and country try to enter in the war because of financial benefits of a certain groups of people. Senator Norris did a moral courage action because he said the truth to the people he knew about the terrible result of involving in the WW1 and he believed that war brings no prosperity to great mass of people so his consciences made him to make judgment although his political career was under risk but he pursued justice. Regarding Nelson Mandela, I have to say that he struggled against apartheid and racial discrimination and inequality. Many movements and protests were raised with his leadership against Apartheid and he also joint to Afghan National Congress and tried to provide equality for the black people and give them their rights but he understood that these kind of nonviolent protests or movements do not work in the society that is commanded by group of people who doesn’t follow their conscience so he decided to involve in sabotage and planned for armed struggle. When he arrested by state, he and his fellows didn’t deny his involvement in sabotage and armed struggle he said the truth and he indicted state for discrimination, for inequality, for abuse of black people’s right and freedom. He said that state should feel guilty. Mandela wanted a light future for black people and the basic rights which were neglected by state. He wanted a society that all people can live together in a peace and harmony. In the court he spoke up with integrity and truth as a result he could bring prosperity for black people. He suffered and endured 27 years of his life in prison for his vision and when he was elected as a president, he focused on fostering racial reconciliation and forgiving his oppressors in Apartheid regime. Above all show his moral courage struggle and even after he came to power as president. Malala Youssafzai also was another example who stood on women right for education as it was banded by Talban regime. First she understood that it is her right to continue her education and wanted this right for other girls as well so she tried to speak up and stand on her right. She followed and listed to her conscience and believed that this is right. She had many speeches to explain and inform others that what is happening under Taliban regime and as a result she shot by Taliban and had very hardship situation but after recovery she didn’t give up and straggled for women’s right until she could influence on girl’s accessibility to education in Pakistan.

Thesis Should Abortions Be Legal - 6429 Words

Should Abortions be Legal? Regina Corroa PH103 Informal Logic Barri Mallin June 20, 2010 Should Abortions be Legal? Thesis Abortion is defined as intentional termination of a pregnancy after conception (O’Brien). Abortion is a very touchy subject that has been around for thousands of years. When emotions are used for reasoning this is called a fallacy. With this particular issue the fallacy â€Å"slippery slope† is very common in the persuasion of arguments (Moore, p 182). Slippery slope is when one thinks a simple action can lead to more complicated consequences in the future. There are many risks that are involved with abortion that should be deliberated very carefully before making the decision to proceed. There are many laws against†¦show more content†¦The procedures have become safer and better for all. Clinics have become more familiar to all the new products and the tools are more conformed to modern technology. The current government is now pushing to make abortion easier for women. Since President Obama was elected the U.S. government has moved swiftly to allow the use of US taxpayers money to fund abortion groups all over the world by rescinding the Mexico City Policy first instituted in the 1980: to enable China’s coercive population control program by funding the united Nations Population Fund, and :to roll back restrictions on funding for human embryo-destroying stem cell experimentation.(Smith). Synthesis One of the nine reasons found that we should not legalize abortion is the laws against abortion kill women (Kilinger). Many women are killed each year during childbirth, but almost four times more women are killed when they have an abortion (Lowen). Women need to know the health risks involved with abortions before making that choice. Having an abortion has many long lasting effects such as: emotional disorders, blood infections, and an increase in breast cancer (Lowen). The leading causes of death for the women who had an abortion are infection, hemorrhage, bowel injuries, clotting disorders. If air was to get to the amniotic fluid, or fetal tissue to get into the woman’s blood stream they would die (Kilinger).Sometimes abortions are not effective, andShow MoreRelatedRight to Live In the Article In Defense of Abortion and Infanticide by Michael Tooley923 Words   |  4 Pagesthe basic thesis of the article assigned to you. (Each has one main thesis supported by arguments, examples, and analogies). Do you think the argument is sound or unsound? Explain why you find it sound or, if unsound, what false premises and or fallacies you find. Do you think the examples/analogies strengthen the authors argument? What do you think of the After-Birth Abortion argument? (See the short article with the link on the Content page.) In the article In Defense of Abortion and InfanticideRead MoreAnti Abortion informative outline1025 Words   |  5 Pagesconvince women why abortion should be illegal. I. Introduction A. Attention Getter: (Abortion; a new generation’s way of shrugging off responsibility of their action at the cost of Human life.) B. Tie to the audience: According to the 1st Amendment to the constitution that says we have the right to freedom of speech. I’m sure most of us would agree to the fact that we can say and do what we want and choose. For it is our choice to voice our opinions. In relation, mothers then should have the rightRead MoreIs Abortion Right or Wrong?1028 Words   |  5 Pagesprocess of having an abortion has been a controversial topic for many years. Even though an abortion is legal, Americans believe abortions are only morally correct when used for medical reasons. The word â€Å"abortion† can be defined various ways depending on a person’s perspective. Abortion is defined by Oxford as â€Å"the act of giving untimely birth to offspring, premature delivery, miscarriage; the procuring of premature delivery so as to destroy offspring† (Dionisio). The National Abortion Federation definesRead MoreWhy Killing An Ordinary Adult Is Morally Wrong1485 Words   |  6 Pa ges Therefore, according to Marquis, a new strategy should be adopted to develop the argument o abortion. In this case, the author starts by illustrating why killing an ordinary adult is morally wrong, and tries to apply same reasons to the case of abortion. Therefore, if similar reasons can be applied to the context of abortion, then decision of it being immoral will be made. The wrong aspect in killing relates to depriving the victim life which is inherently valuable. In this case, killing deprivesRead MoreThe Controversies Regarding Abortion798 Words   |  3 PagesAbortion With the subject of abortion, it seems that no consensus will ever be reached. Those who argue in favor of choice will never see from the perspective of the pro-lifers and vice versa. The major difference is that those who are pro-choice have never been responsible for the deaths of the opposition. Before the Roe v. Wade case made abortion legal in this country, abortions were unlawful in the United States. Anyone who needed or wanted an abortion for any reason, physical or emotional, wouldRead MoreShould Abortion Be Made Illegal? The United States?937 Words   |  4 PagesCon Side of Debate Summary: â€Å"Should abortion be made illegal in the United States?† Imagine, over 53 million people are killed in the worst case of genocide ever recorded in the history of mankind. What should be done to stop those terrible atrocities? Should someone be hold accountable? What about the senseless slaughter of innocent fetuses? Abortion has affected us all in one way or another since Roe vs. Wade, and it s legalization. The morality issue is one, which will have a hauntingRead MoreAbortion Thesis Essay1250 Words   |  5 PagesVersion Thesis Abortion is a totally unacceptable, cruel and unethical practice and should be considered illegal except under some special cases and medical circumstances that indicate a danger to the mother. Our judicial system must consider the ethical and moral aspects of abortion as an intrinsic part of the problem when approaching this social issue. The recent banning of the partial birth abortion is a huge stride in the positive direction. Introduction Abortion is theRead MoreThesis: Is Abortion Morally Permissible?851 Words   |  4 PagesAbortion Thesis: Abortion is morally permissible in which a fetus is not a person which deprives the fetus to its right to life, circular reasoning is an ineffective to oppose abortion, abortion only risks the fetus not society, and deprivation from a fetuss future and suffering of a loved one has no affect on the argument towards anti-abortion. Mary Anne Warren in On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion stated the characteristics which are central to the concept of personhood which are â€Å"sentienceRead MoreThe Issue Of Abortion On The United States Essay1280 Words   |  6 Pagespaper is the issue of Abortion, My thesis in this paper is to analyze the history of abortion in the United States prior to the Roe vs. Wade decision and afterwards, and to demonstrate the ways in which our two major political parties’ views on this issue have shifted over time along with the public’s view on the issue. Abortion has been practiced for most of human history. The ancient Greeks and Romans practiced it, although not all ancient thinkers had the same views on abortion. Ancient Greek â€Å"fatherRead MoreThe Coats And Houses The Mother s Womb1543 Words   |  7 Pagesany all actions that pertain to her property and all of its intrinsic value. To this, she makes the case that a woman’s womb is her property and that the fetus is merely intruding upon her property – giving her the right to expel the fetus through abortion. In the third scenario she presents the â€Å"Famous Violinist† thought experiment. Here Thompson poses the question of when a person is subjugated against their will in order to prolong someone else’s life, is it not permissible to end this person life