People Watching

Today I spent some time people watching on campus while walking to class and these are the three people I decided to write about.

I saw a guy who was wearing a black jacket, I did not notice if there was any logos on the jacket but there was some white writing on the front that I was unable to make out. He was wearing an nba logo cap that was backwards and to the side. This told me that this person enjoys sports, and was rooting for the Portland Trail Blazers in the playoffs. The fact that it was meticulously in the back and to the side position told me something about his age, and that he valued a certain since of style and wanted to appear to the outside world in a certain youthful way. He also wore sweatpants, but they were the type of sweatpants that seem to be part of popular culture today and are worn by celebrities, this again pointed to youth and a value to be “in style” with popular culture.

I saw another person, this time a girl, who was dressed in leggings with wild patterns. They had bright colored stripes that went all the way down the legs. This told me that this person valued standing out, to dress in a way that would be a bit outside the norm. This was accentuated by the fact that she had gage style earrings, which I think certainly make a statement about style in the since of going against the grain or willingness to modify appearance to create a certain look. She also had a flower tattoo that running down her right arm. This told me that she values art, maybe even that she was an artist. For her to have art physically put a permanent form of art onto her body must say something about her opinions on art, specifically the type of art she likes, there is also the possibility that this had a deeper meaning to her.

The third person I decided to write about was a bit more unassuming than the first two. While the first two people seemed to have some value in standing out and wanted to make a statement of some kind in terms of style, this person seemed to care a bit less about outward appearance. This person was wearing shorts that were gray, and a plane t-shirt that was white with bear company logo on it. While the first two seemed to be a bit more effortful in what they wanted to represent with there clothing and style options, this person clearly valued comfort, telling me he may be bit more pragmatic than the first two. The fact that he was wearing sunglasses on a sunny day that were not necessarily any recognizable name brand only furthers this assumption. I will say that making all these judgments based on clothing and appearance seemed a bit odd, I understand that this happens constantly on a subconscious level, but to actively notice these judgments and to try and make assumptions about values without any further knowledge seemed a bit off-putting. I suppose this says something about my values.

Food As Art Research

Is Food Art?

Is food a form of art? My reaction to that question is yes; food can certainly be a form of art. In particular food that is crafted. The video presentation of this week made a distinction between fast food and slow food, in which they discussed the merits of these foods and which is intrinsically better, however economically I don’t think there is a real problem with fast food, of course there are problems when antibiotics are introduced into meat and other situations where the public good is not taken into account. In general having cheap food readily available given a certain amount of concern for health should not be a bad thing. The question at hand however is whether food is art, and although the video presentation did not specifically make a case for food as art, the video about slow food and the story about the process of making the food made me think about how food can be art and without the intention of it, illustrated a story of craftsmanship and togetherness that can make food a form of art. It is “species-centered art” a coming together of people, with traditional food that is artfully crafted from a recipe that has been culturally established and handed down from generations. This is the aesthetic that Elizabeth Telfer talks about, the will of the master chef to bring his creations to life were presentation is taken with just as much care as the taste of the food. “This is the approach of the cook who is designing a work of art”(15) This is really what makes food art, like Jiro the world famous sushi chef, when the processes of crafting the food, and the constant desire to perfect his craft with beautiful presentation, the master chef is in this case creating art.

Telfer, E. (2002). Food as art. In Neill, A. & Ridley, A (Eds.), Arguing About Art: Contemporary Philosophical Debates (2 ed., pp. 9-27). New York: Routledge.

Is Art Cultural?

In the Ted talk video that was assigned for this week Denis Dutton, an art philosopher, looks at what beauty really is and what makes art. He gives us a “theory of beauty” in which he tries to give an explanation for why some forms of art and expression are cross culturally considered great like Shakespeare or American Jazz. He takes a Darwinian approach looking at how we have evolved to enjoy art and beauty. This sort of flies in the face of the idiom “beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” he is instead saying ideas of beauty and art are programmed into us the same way other emotional reactions like fear and disgust are. This is a very interesting way to look at art and one that I have never considered. The ideas he is presenting even transcend the human experience, pointing out the mating rituals of animals that use beauty to attract mates like the peacock; this is a really amazing concept, the idea that animals can understand beauty and react to it is “natures way of acting at a distance.” What I think this means is that beauty is forcing our biological action. Then the distinction is made that this does not only apply to natural beauty but also artistic beauty, he cites the fact that artistic objects have been found along with the entire span of human history, going back as far as the homosapien and hand axes that were strictly for beauty.   The only real question I have is that all other animals may be able to notice beauty, but why do they not then create art? If beauty and art is not at all cultural and completely biological, then it would seem that close relatives to the homosapien like other primates would also create art.

Life Values

Family

Health

Friendship

Personal Development

Enjoyment

Wisdom

Service

Independence

Loyalty

Integrity

Community

Personal Accomplishment

Location

Security

Wealth

Leadership

Power

Expertness

Creativity

Prestige

Today I went on a run and I try to run everyday, I think that personal health is very important because without our health we would be unable to do any other thing that we value on this list.  Our time on earth is finite and for us to be able to do more and contribute more to those we care about we must first be able to take care of ourselves.  I also worked on homework today which is gaining my own personal development.  Our development as people is essential, would continuing  to develop ourselves and strengthening who we are as people we would stagnant.  Enjoyment is also important as what is the point of living if we do not enjoy our own lives, I spent time today interacting with friends as true friendship is important for our mental health and it also provides a great deal of enjoyment.

I think that for me Family had to be the top of the list, as those who are most important to me and I know will always accept me are my family.  I grew up on a farm so I was instilled with a since of the value of hard work and determination.  I also learned from my parents the value of kindness to all people and to always try to treat others with kindness without giving up your own personal power.  I can not really think of a value given in me by my family that I no longer think is valid, in fact I think I am still learning new valuable lessons from them on a daily bases.  A goal that I have for myself that have yet to accomplish are to learn German, I was born in Switzerland and forgetting the language of my birth is something I deeply regret.  I think that a stronger since of discipline will help me achieve this goal.

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A Question of Values

In “A Question of Values” I think that the general framework of “mental modes” is one that seems to be intuitively correct and it is clear in human behavior that not all humans process decisions in the same way, be it by nature or nurture. Also the different ways in which one could arrive at a value is robust.  However I take issue with the some of the claims of finding a “Primary mental mode.”  First I don’t think anyone can have a “primary mental mode,” people react to things situationally and the modes that are in use are always in flux, when he asks us to assign different percents to each mode adding up to 100 I don’t think that this should be seen as a static binary condition that makes up the way that “human x” uses each mental node but instead each individual decision or action we make is influenced by our mental and subconscious state at that time, and this is in constant change.  Any person is capable of making an implosive decision out of anger or sadness no matter how much they respect an authority or value logic.  This is where my biggest problem with the article lies.  To say that a Philosophy professor would give advise based on structure or logic, or that a Catholic Priest would hold the authority of the church as the answer, or even that a family member would be an emotional voice is all narrow and simplistic.  Is a Philosopher only concerned with logic?  Of course not, there are philosophies of intuition, the logos is not all of philosophy.  Is a Catholic priest not capable of making any other argument than that of authority?  Of course not, a priest is far more complex and a thinker beyond just church authority.  So while I do think the general ideas are sound the simplistic nature that some things are presented seems flawed.