The Emphasis on Existentialisim in Lispector’s Work Due to The Traditio

The Emphasis on Existentialisim in Lispector’s Work Due to The Traditional Roles of Women The human mind often creates traumatized, twisted beliefs about the world after cataclysmic events have occurred. Picture 1920- the world has just been ravaged by bullets, bombs, and baleful butchers with malicious intent. The aftermath of World War II leaves the country of Ukraine encompassed in terror, anguish, and famine. Imagine being ravenous enough to consider devouring a decomposing relative, and then putting that consideration into action. Imagine a country where pogroms- violent attacks on ethnic groups, mainly Jews, that included the destruction of homes, businesses, and churches –are not only regular, but not surprising occurrences. Imagine suppression, repression, oppression, all the â€Å"-ions†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Now insert a nine-year old girl struggling to live in this madness, add the rape and death of that girl’s mother, and there is the childhood of the renowned Brazilian author, Clarice Lispector. These experiences, which would alter anyone’s views on life, influenced and helped to develop Lispector’s existentialist ways of thinking. In these past occurrences, gender inequalities were very much prominent, which explains why Lispector focuses on the fate of women in her writing. Due to the oppressive government, women were confined to their traditional roles and in showing the lack of freedom, both mentally and physically, that this imposes on them, Clarice Lispector justifies her existentialist viewpoints through her writings; life is pain, misery, and inevitably death. These viewpoints are imminent when discussing the overall lack of freedom in Lispector’s stories â€Å"The Chicken†, â€Å"The Smallest Woman in the World†, and â€Å"Preciousness†. Within... ...for giving birth, her obedient stay after being caught, and her sudden yet unsurprising death describes, in Lispector’s viewpoints, the natural course of an average female’s life. Although Lispector wrote these stories in the 1940’s, reflecting on the then current gender inequalities and hardships of life during the aftermath of WWII, these themes are evident in all time periods, for as Lispector has shown, the innate traditional roles of women along with the pre-conceived notion of men being more significant than women are evident even in our time. These limits reflect Lispector’s existentialist viewpoints in showing that the life of a woman is restrained; women’s lives are filled with pressure, sadness, and ultimately death.

Ordinary Or Proportionate Care

In medical terms, ordinary or proportionate care, which is beneficial, useful, and not unreasonably burdensome to the patient, is morally obligatory. On the other hand, extraordinary or disproportionate care, which may include exotic, experimental, or excessively burdensome treatments that are unlikely to benefit a patient or that include unreasonable costs relative to benefits, is not morally obligatory, though a patient may choose to accept it.The categories of proportionate and disproportionate care therefore, allow us to navigate between two dangerous extremes: the fundamentals that would have us preserve life at all costs by any means necessary without regard for the burdens imposed on the patient, and the fatalism that would tempt us to give up on gravely ill patients before their time and violate their rights to life and basic care.In the case of Roger Allen, his directive not to undergo surgery anymore if there is no guarantee that he will recover and assume a normal life is based on his right as an individual to decide what he wants to do with his body and to be protected from unwanted interference from others. In his perspective, Mr. Allen may be thinking that the burdens of treatment in terms pain, effort and costs are disproportionate relative to the anticipated benefits of the treatment.In the first place, there is no guarantee that the surgery will restore his health. If it fails, either he will die or he lives, only to be a burden to his two daughters and relatives in terms of financial costs as well as efforts of caregiving, not to mention the emotional pain that his daughters and relatives will be experiencing due to his condition. On the other hand, if we look at the daughters’ perspective, it is only natural that they will try to exhaust any means to save their father’s life.If surgery fails and in the end their father dies, at least their minds and hearts are at peace knowing that they have done their best to save him rather th an being tormented for the rest of their lives with the idea that they could have tried at that slim chance to save him. In my opinion however, the request of the daughters to monitor their father’s condition after surgery for six months is too long. I think one to two months would be long enough. By that span of time, the medical professionals would be able to assess if there is improvement and a chance that the father will recover.Also in that span of time, the daughters’ decision may also change considering the physical, mental and emotional toll that they had experienced in the care of their father. On the part of the doctor, I think that he has no other choice but to insist the father’s wish. He himself, cannot guarantee the success of the surgery and medical treatment may only be prolonging the agony of everyone concerned. Furthermore, in his perspective, discontinuing medical procedures that are burdensome, dangerous, extraordinary, or disproportionate to the expected outcome can be legitimate.No doubt, Mr. Allen’s treatment falls under this category since the diagnostic tests reveal significant brain damage and internal bleeding of unknown origin, requiring exploratory surgery. In his case, one does not will to cause death; one's inability to impede it is merely accepted. The decision is made by the patient himself assuming that he is competent and able or, if not, by those legally entitled to act for the patient, whose reasonable will and legitimate interests must always be respected.

Existentialism and Phenomenology Essay

Existentialism and Phenomenology Essay Free Online Research Papers To describe the historical development of Continental philosophy’s existentialism and phenomenology as a response to Hegelian idealism one must first define Hegelian idealism. Hegel thought that â€Å"†¦what is most real- the Absolute- is thought thinking of itself.†(Moore-Bruder, 2005 P. 143) He also thought that it was not an independent group of ideas, but that all the ideas were interconnected. He would propose a thesis, then an antithesis, and together they would form the synthesis. Meaning the thesis and antithesis were the foundation for the synthesis, which would become a new thesis and antithesis forming a new synthesis until the synthesis reached the apex. Hegel thought the highest triad was the â€Å"synthesis of ‘Idea’ and ‘Nature’ in ‘Spirit’.†(Moore-Bruder, 2005 P. 145) Idea meaning self-conscious thought, Nature meaning the external expression of Idea, and Spirit meaning thought to recognize itself as both thought and an object. Sà ¸ren Kierkegaard, the first major existential philosopher, disagreed with Hegel. He thought that individuals and their will and needs impacted their decision-making process. He thought despair was the result of an individual having to make ethical and religious choices alone, and that the only relief one could be granted was that from a belief and trust in a higher power or God even if it went against the universal norms. Friedrich Nietzsche also disagreed with Hegel’s idealism and all similar rationales. He thought man, as a whole, was irrational and would do what they were told, without question, like a herd of animals. He thought the rare Superman was able to overcome the slave mentality and have thoughts of his own. The Superman was able to create his own values rather than looking toward God as their source of values. The existential movement was not only embraced by philosophers but by artists and writers as well. Albert Camus believed that many people lived their entire life in a sort of haze. Our two basic needs, the need for clarity and the need for social warmth and contact, usually go unmet because we go about our lives fulfilling what we perceive as important needs instead of what actually are. Jean-Paul Sartre believed that there was no God, and that thought had four basic philosophical implications. He believed that you are what you make of yourself, that there is no reason for existing, that our choices are made of our own free will and that we all establish our own values. He believed that by making choices about one’s life and future we give meaning to our lives and that how we act is a true vision into what kind of person you are. Edmund Husserl’s work is the starting point for what is now known as phenomenology. Phenomenology states that one should look at the objects that are actually present and not concern oneself with the second world that metaphysics presents such as Plato’s forms. Martin Heidegger thought that humans had forgotten about Being, the ultimate source, because of human-made logic. He believed that â€Å"†¦it is both arrogant and destructive to assume that humans are the masters of nature or to follow Protagoras’s dictum that man is the measure of all things.†(Moore-Bruder, 2005 P. 175) He thought that speech was a useless flood of words without any true meaning. Emmanuel Levinas believed that humans could not study Being and try to explain beings, he thought beings had to study themselves first in order to explain Being. He thought that one’s primary responsibility is for the Other and it is more important than their responsibility to themselves and to the world. He thought that true freedom is only attained by obedience to God and His commandments. The historical development of Continental philosophy’s existentialism and phenomenology as a response to Hegelian idealism has basically been one of disagreement. Philosophers seem to disagree with most of Hegel’s ideas. There is also some disagreement among the existentialists and phenomenologists both within their own categories and between the two. Most of Continental philosophy’s ideas are based on ideas that were previously stated. References Moore-Bruder: Philosophy: The Power of Ideas (6th ed.). The McGraw-Hill Companies, 2005 Research Papers on Existentialism and Phenomenology EssayLogic and Perception EssaySociology EssaySociology is a ScienceDeontological Teleological TheoriesEssay on â€Å"I have a Dream† Dr KingJoel Kovel’s The Enemy of NatureIntentism The Resurrection of the AuthorHomer The Great Greek PoetGlobal Distributive Justice is UtopianThe Gnostic Jesus