Lecture 1 14th June 2010 The Modern world happiness & the role of humanities TU 110 Integrated Humanities Contents 1. Status and Status Anxiety 2. The Causes of Anxiety 3. The Solutions to Anxiety 4. Conclusion In the distant pasteveryone looked roughly ;like this What did we have to worry about in those times? Mans necessities were Food Shelter A Partner Today thoughthese things (the first two at least) are relatively easy to get What matters to us in the present day is not simply having food, shelter or a partner.its having: Better shelter Better food A better partner..than other people in our societyin effect, our status in relation to other people 1.Status and Status Anxiety Status: Standing, position in society Since 1776, in the west, status has been awarded in relation to financial achievement Thailand pre 1905, status was conferred by sakdina ( ) ranking since the abolishment of the sakdina system, status too has become inextricably linked to wealth Status in Thailand, the West and any other country that is part of the global capitalist system is conferred predominantly by wealth Status Anxiety: The worry that we are failing to conform or achieve the standards of success in our society As a result we are stripped of dignity and respect we have little or no status Our concept of our own success (and status) is dependent on what others think about us our self opinion is a factor of others opinions of us If we fail to convince the world of our value, we are outsiders, looking at the successful with bitterness, and ourselves with shame 2.The Causes of Anxiety a) Lovelessness b) Snobbery c) Expectation d) Meritocracy e) Dependence a) Lovelessness Vs. Where would you rather be? Vs. Where would you rather be? Within ourselves we know that we are sometimes clever, funny, important but we are also aware that at other times we can be stupid, dull and superfluous External love allows us to focus on the positive aspects Neglect leaves us no choice but to focus on the negative b) Snobbery Vs. A snob a person who displays overt social or cultural bias a person who declares a kind of person or object to be plainly better than another a person who sees a perfect equation between social rank and human worth Human life is the battle to regain the same status that we had as a baby unconditional love by acquiring whatever it is that our society considers to be the symbols of social rank, social status Orby avoiding being the target of snobbery c) Expectation ? ? ? ? In the modern world, we all have the same access to education Whether we become what society considers to be a success or failure is therefore entirely down to us If you fail to meet societys expectations, its your own fault Butit is impossible for everyone to become part of the highest social group, so instead of measuring ourselves against the highest groups, we measure ourselves against other members of our own social group If we are at the same level as others within our social groupwe feel no envy, no anxiety ButIf some of our social group raise their status, even though we do not get smaller ourselveswe feel dissatisfied and envious d)Meritocracy Feudal systems (e.g. sakdina ) were very unequalbut provided some comfort for the poor Some traditional views of poverty and wealth The poor are poor because god made them that way The poor are the most useful people in society they produce food and raw materials essential for life Poverty has no relation to personal morality The rich are sinful and corrupt they owe their wealth to their robbery of the poor The Enlightenment threw off many of the shackles of Feudalism but replaced them with a meritocracy which came with harsh social judgments Some 19 th C views of poverty and wealth The rich provide employment for the poor The desire for riches and wealth drives the progress of society The Book of Wealth: In Which it is Proved from the Bible that it is the Duty of Every Man to Become Rich (Reverend Thomas P. Hunt, 1836) In the long run, it is only to the man of morality that wealth comes. We..occasionally see the wicked prosper, but only occasionally. Godliness is in league with riches (William Lawrence, Bishop of Massachusetts, 1892) The poor are sinful and corrupt and owe their poverty to their own stupidity e)Dependence Our financial status is not independent, it depends on: Talent Luck Employment Our Employers Profitability The Global Economy These factors are generally out of our control yet they are still sources of anxiety and stress 3.The Solutions to Anxiety a) Philosophy b) Art c) Politics a)Philosophy Socrates, the ancient Greek philosopher face some challenges: He was seemingly rather ugly with a snub nose, piercing eyes, a broad nose and a wide mouth But he, along with other ancient philosophers was untroubled by lack of beauty, formal education, riches or the approval of society I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing. Look how many things there are which I dont want - On seeing a pile of gold and jewelry being carried through the streets. Dont you worry about being called names? Why? Do you think I should resent it if an ass kicked me? - On being insulted in public Other people are So why should their opinions matter to us? The philosophers were not saying that we should completely ignore the thoughts of others Just that we should use our own reason to evaluate their judgments These ideas were expressed later in the 18 th C by the French writer Nicolas Chamfort, who stated: Public opinion is the worst of all opinions One can be certain that every generally held idea, every received notion, will be an idiocy, because it has been able to spread to the majority Philosophers recommend we follow our internal conscience rather than signs of approval or condemnation from outside b)Art What is the purpose of art? Artists have the desire to remove human error, clear human confusion, and diminish human misery the aspiration to leave the world better and happier than they find it ( Mathew Arnold, Culture and Anarchy) Literature Portraying the rich, the aristocratic, the snobs in a negative light Portraying the poor, the common, the unimportant in a positive light: People who have a high status in life are given low (moral) status in novels, and visa versa The value system of the real world is turned on its head by concentrating on particular character traits Published in 1814 Tells the story of the poor Fanny Price who is sent to live with her rich aunt & uncle at their stately home, Mansfield Park The book highlights the snobbery, greed, lovelessness and anxiety of the Bertram family as observed by Fanny Fanny by contrast is virtuous, if nothing else due to he splendid ordinariness in comparison to the Bertrams Painting - Jean-Baptiste Chardin Beauty exists everywhere not just in paintings of the rich and the famous but in the poor, the normal people and objects and all of them have dignity and value in society Theater Tragedy Summed up by Aristotle as requiring a: change in the heros fortunes not from misery to happinessfrom happiness to misery Also required: A hero who was not good, not bad but someone whom we can all relate to A mistake made by the hero, caused by a lapse of judgment, that would lead to his ultimate downfall Oedipus Killed his father Married his mother Plucked out his own eyes Can you relate to his story? (hopefully not) But the play is supposed to highlight: Aspects of our own characters (e.g. pride, arrogance, haste) How small errors can have drastic consequences Our ignorance as to the effect of our actions Our presumption that we are in control of our own destinies The speed with which we can lose all that we love The overall purpose of Tragedies was to make us recall certain universal truths: Every disastrous venture in human history can be traced back to aspects of our own nature, our own personality We too might be capable of anything Once we realize that the sufferings of others, could just as easily be our own suffering, we should have enhanced levels of humility and sympathy and lower levels of pride and arrogance Comedy Allows us to appreciate the ridiculousness of society Comedy is a criticism of life attempts to show how unappealing the symbols of status that we strive for really are People: Fashion Work & Corporate Life 3. Politics The dominance of wealth as the measure of social status dates back to the 18 th C It is a human construct, a matter of politics Wealth has become the conventional basis of esteem. Its possession ahs become necessary to have any reputable standing in the community. It has become indispensable to acquire property in order to retain ones good name (Thorstein Veblen, 1899) Wealth has become synonymous with human decency something which humanists have been arguing against for the past 200 years Jean-Jacques Rousseau ( ) Argued that a study of history shows that we have not been progressing, but actually regressing From a state of having limited choices, but freedom To a state where we are full of envy and desire for objects that do not reflect our own true desires Modern advertising creates demand desire and perpetuates the myth that our status relies on having certain objects or certain lifestyles Butdoes the indispensable acquisition of property that we need to ensure our status actually provide any release from anxiety? No in reality, the quickest way to stop noticing or appreciation something is to buy it. Just as the quickest way to stop appreciating a person is to marry them Stage 1 Stage 3 Stage 2 Stage 4 Butconsumerism and materialism are fundamental tenets of capitalism Our politicians tell us we need to consume more and more in order to support their political economy 4.Conclusion Modern life has overcome many of our challenges from the past Food Shelter A Partner But, these have been replaced by a new set of challenges related to our status within society These problems are essentially man-made, it is consistent therefore that the solutions are man-made as well. If we view these modern anxieties with a view to the humanities, we mnay be able to find some relief. Causes of Anxiety Lovelessness Snobbery Expectation Meritocracy Dependence Solutions Philosophy Art Politics