Confrontation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Confrontation - Essay Example Be it the pure arts or humanities, criticism has always been there to point put any deviations from and contradictions to the ideologies and moralities, and the sets of rules, established by the actions of the people. This effort can be traced back to Aristotle, when he, in his Poetics, put forward the theory of literature that offered positive criticism to the literary works. Or the ideology of Karl Marx, called Marxism, for instance, objected to the sociopolitical conditions and offered an alternative method of approach that not only affected the social sciences, but even artists and literates grabbed on to the philosophies proposed by him. Flash forward to the recent exhibition, Art of Confrontation, and it is apparent that the struggle is far from over. In the humanities, the critical social theory, or the critical theory for short, has had an evolution, from two distinct origins and fields_ namely the literary theory, that proposes criticism purely in the arts and literature, and the social theory of criticism, that examines and analyses sociopolitical practices_ to the recent more overlapping critical social theory that combines the two fields and tries to provide a better and deeper understanding of society by incorporating all branches of humanities. Ultimately, the goal is to mold society according to the principles of Enlightenment, and to pursue it. Similarly, artists have for long seen it as their role as social scientists, and have produced work that has criticism and progression as its basis. Culture is by the people, for the people, and this medium, when tapped, can have amazing affects on the lives of the people. Sculptures, paintings and other form of art, even literature, can forever capture the thinking, feelings, and issues of the people of their time for future generations to study and learn from. As is said, it bears testimony. It stands as a reminder of the struggles of the people and their aspirations, and can send strong waves of renaissance and reform. Sometimes it has political shades to it and sometimes it provides a parallel medium to view issues, with a new light, leading, however, to the same goal_ Enlightenment. This form of art has come about to be known as critical art, and together, critical social theory and critical art, both high culture and mass culture, aim to propagate the acquisition of critical k nowledge to instill in individuals a sense of psychoanalysis and self-reflection so that society as a whole can emancipate itself from all forms of oppression, vice and domination. The underlying agenda of all activist movement has always been human rights, and the dignity and freedom that is associated with every individual. War,

ASSIGNMENT 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

ASSIGNMENT 2 - Essay Example Inventions are integral in peoples’ lives as they assist in making work and life easier. In the modern world, we disregard many things and do not concentrate to understand that most of today’s advances are based on past inventions. Such inventions have tremendously accelerated human progress and laid a concrete foundation for the basis of contemporary discoveries. The Chinese culture is one of the few worldwide cultures that can be credited for their immense contribution to the advancement of human progress. Among the Chinese inventions that I rate as the greatest of the ancient nation are gunpowder, tea, compass, paper, pasta, alcohol, wheelbarrow, kites, seismograph and printing (Challen, 2005). These inventions are among those that I rate in top ten as they are offering significant contributions and influence in the modern world. Question 2: I believe that the following four ingenious inventions are among the best innovative forms, to arise from the ancient Chinese p opulations. Gunpowder is one of the legendary Chinese inventions, the compass which is an integral directional component, tea which is a worldwide beverage and alcohol which is a prominent social drink. Although all the mentioned ten inventions are significant to society, these four inventions stand out because of their daily importance in people’s lives, both at work or at home. Question 3: The four inventions that I nominated from the selected ancient Chinese inventions are integral because of their useful contributions’ and relevance in the modern world. Gunpowder Arguably, the most recognized ingenious Chinese invention, gunpowder was accidentally invented by alchemists who were searching for a concoction to achieve human immortality (Challen, 2005). Contrary to what the alchemists wanted to obtain, which is human immortality, they ironically ended up achieving quite the opposite, an invention that could easily kill. First gunpowder was created from a mixture of sa ltpeter, sulfur and charcoal and was considered as the most significant military technique compiled by Zeng Goliang. It was used to create gunpowder explosions, which were also used for the fireworks. The Chinese used gunpowder as indicator flames and firecrackers prior to proposing it for the military use in elementary grenades. With time, the gunpowder technology spread to the other parts of the world, especially the Europe. It was used during the Mongol war. The Europeans used the gunpowder in cannons (Clark, 2012). Although the Chinese possessed early knowledge of explosives, as well as the rules of their application, they did not practice weaponry expansion to the extent which the Western nations reached. The Europeans ironically managed to overpower the Chinese by using cannons with gunpowder that were invented by the Chinese. In the modern world, gunpowder is used by the government forces to fight criminals and terrorists, to ensure the safety of the population (Diamond, 2007 ). Gunpowder is used in bullets which is a lethal weapon that can kill in an instant. The Compass It sometimes leaves me to wonder, where the world could be, if there was no compass. The compass ensures that we are always headed to the right direction and that people do not get lost. This is one of the inventions that the Chinese have helped in the world development. The Chinese produced the compass to