ABSTRACT: Discussed from a posthumanistic perspective this paper argues for the existence and acceptance of empathy in a posthuman world. The discussion revolves around Olamina who possesses the hyper empathy syndrome to bring all humans together in a dystopian world. This paper also examines how empathy is rooted in vulnerability of different life forms. All human beings are interconnected and there is a kinship between all. Nayar’s posthumanism and Judith Butler’s idea about precarious life are used to support the existence and acceptance of empathy. Butler offers different hyper empathy characters to establish a posthuman world. Olamina believes in the concept that God is change and she creates a community named Acorn that welcomes everyone …show more content…
Haraway in her “Cyborg Manifesto” uses the word cyborg to designate a hybrid of living organisms and machine. In this way she puts conventionally opposed things together by ascribing connection and link between all living organisms and between living and nonliving things. In parable series Olamina’s concept of Earthseed and Acorn are based on kinship and connectedness between human beings. Contemporary science fiction is crowded with cyborgs. Characters are portrayed as combination of human and animal or human and machine. The origin of cyborg is multiple. Cyborg stands for anything that demands kinship and rejects boundaries. Haraway recommends kinship among individuals that holds no boundaries on the basis of race, gender and sexual orientations. Becoming posthuman doesn’t mean to evolve into a completely new species but to become hybrid, which is more powerful than the existing one. Haraway considers humans as hybrid, always dependent and coevolved with nature and machines. Butler’s concept of Earthseed is not based on human individuality but on merging many to become one and always in a process of becoming. Human life is always changing, changing with other life forms. Butler in her works suggests different modes of kinship with human and nonhuman ‘Other’. P.k Nayar says, “By demonstrating the end of the sovereign human subject, critical humanism prepares the ground for the new form of the human, the posthuman.”
Nearly all individuals are born with a strong sense of empathy; in fact, many can hardly tolerate the thought of killing or abusing others, even when dealing with enemies. Therefore, if an individual is going through adversity, another’s empathy will drive them into helping others to become resilient. In the non-fiction novel, Into Thin Air, author Jon Krakauer utilizes character motivation to develop the ideas of which an individual’s resilience is shaped by the compassion of others. Krakauer exemplifies the Adventure Consultants head guide, Rob Hall’s empathy towards Doug Hansen a couple times throughout the book. Towards the beginning of the book, Krakauer explains that it’s Doug’s second chance for success; which is only possible if it
In Chapter 1, Haraway explores the concept of the Chthulucene as a way of understanding our relationship with the world and with other beings. Haraway argues that the Anthropocene, which marks the current geological epoch defined by the impact of human activity on the planet, is an inadequate term for describing our current situation. Instead, she proposes the term "Chthulucene," which emphasizes the interconnections between humans and other beings, both living and nonliving. Haraway also introduces the idea
The creative piece presented was written to respond to major themes developed in the film Blade Runner (1982). One of these themes presented is the moral issue regarding the creation of synthetic humans. To address this the topic question “The real or synthetic: do we even care?” was utilised. This theme is continuously prevalent in the film as the Replicant protagonists’ fight a profound battle to establish themselves as more than slaves for mankind, as it is “Quite an experience to live in fear, isn't it?
This short story wrote by Barbara Lazear Ascher a woman who describes with explicit details her thoughts and feelings of the participants in the streets of New York. The author uses rhetoric elements such as Pathos, Logos and Ethos to convince her audience that compassion is not a characteristic trait, it is developed within ourselves. The author use rhetorical elements that appeals to Pathos to invoke sympathy from an audience.
Marissa Meyer’s Cinder revamps the classic tale about a poor maiden, a blue puffy dress and a glass slipper. Incorporating androids in a world dominated by humans presents a rigid hierarchical structure that oppresses cyborgs and keeps those with beating hearts on top. Such hierarchy objectifies cyborgs as metal parts held together by screws. Their intellect and skills become disregarded yet are useful assets to their owners. Thus, placing the oppressor, humans, and the oppressed, androids, under the same roof and family, highlights the questionable morality of this hierarchal system.
In Barbara Lazear Ascher’s essay titled “On Compassion” Ascher considers the concept of compassion by utilizing her own encounters with the homeless as a vehicle to make her argument. In her argument, she interprets compassion as an abstract concept, and portrays empathy as a building block to compassion; making the argument that to be a more tolerant society one must first learn empathy in order to demonstrate true compassion. When analyzing Ascher’s rhetoric, her style, diction and rhetorical devices reveal a skeptical tone and serve a greater purpose in appealing to the reader’s sense of ethos and pathos. Namely, Ascher’s use of first-person narrative and word choice like “we” appeals to the reader’s sense of ethos, which eventually builds
Moor: “Should We Let Computers Get Under Our Skins?” In the argumentative essay, “Should We Let Computers Get Under Our Skins?”, Moor argues that the era of cyborgs-part human and part computer-is coming whether we like it or not, but we should accept a policy of “responsible freedom” along with it. He argues against the thoughts of not allowing cyborgs. He thinks that instead of trying to fight and go against this coming of computer help, we should accept it but be aware of the things that come along with it. We should approach it with having the freedom to be able to decide whether we want computer implants or not, but also by being responsible in knowing the harms that could come with it.
Many of the topics we discussed throughout the semester highlight the influences on how a person forms empathy and to what level of complexity and depth a given individual experiences empathy. Mainly, in the film Life’s First feelings, which discusses studies on empathy in infancy. Empathy is cultivated
Not only can we learn from the characters in To Kill a Mockingbird, but also in the poem Sympathy because we can relate to what the author is talking about. Through these examples, it is clear that authors can best create empathy in their readers by developing strong characters that go through problems that the reader can relate to or learn
Where would modern civilization be without empathy? Empathy allows us to relate to others in a way that is meaningful during tragedies. Empathy is what makes people human. Without it, humans would act in ways that are closer to zombies or robots. A scary depiction of a world without empathy is “Beggar in the Living Room,” by Bill Watkins.
¬¬¬¬¬The Wars Essay The concept of resilience is often described as being able to recover from difficult experiences or pasts, where one’s resilience could be impacted by drastic changes that occur in their lives. It is something that guides one’s decisions and often defines their morals and what individuals perceive to be right or wrong; depending on the situation they are encountering. Resilience is highly dependent on the thought of empathy, where the resilience of people who have experienced empathy will be different from others who haven’t. How individuals deal with these differences determines one’s level of empathy and also impacts their resilience.
Poetry is an effective means used to convey a variety of emotions, from grief, to love, to empathy. This form of text relies heavily on imagery and comparison to inflict the reader with the associated feelings. As such, is displayed within Stephen Dunn 's, aptly named poem, Empathy. Quite ironically, Dunn implores strong diction to string along his cohesive plot of a man seeing the world in an emphatic light. The text starts off by establishing the military background of the main protagonist, as he awaits a call from his lover in a hotel room.
In George Saunders’ essay from The Guardian, he states, “We often think that the empathetic function in fiction is accomplished via the writer’s relation to his characters, but it’s also accomplished via the writer’s relation to his reader” (The Guardian). In Kurt Vonnegut’s story “Harrison Bergeron”, we can see this idea shown through the reader’s connection with Harrison. Vonnegut uses the main character of the story, Harrison Bergeron, as a symbol of empathy by allowing the reader to relate to his desire for individuality.
Empathy is one of the things that bonds us as human beings; being able to feel for somebody else’s problems when they clearly do not affect us at all is why valuing literature is so important.
Environmental ethics refers to the relationship that humans share with the natural world (Buzzle, 2011), it involves people extending ethics to the natural environment through the exercise of self-discipline (Nash, 1989). Herein the essay will give examples of anthropocentrism and non-anthropocentrism as forms of environmental ethics, criticizing anthropocentrism in contrast with a defence of non- anthropocentrism precedents. Anthropocentrism also referred to as human-centeredness, is an individualistic approach, a concept stating that humans are more valuable, and the environment is only useful for sustaining the lives of human beings (MacKinnon, 2007). The practise of human-centeredness is associated with egocentrism (Goodpaster, 1979), by contrast non-anthropocentrism is a holistic approach