And the beat goes on...

As the semester comes to a close, and so much is happening at once, it is hard to sit down and completely comprehend everything that I have learned this semester in our Human Dignity course. There has been so much material covered, and so many valuable life lessons learned, I'm not sure I can take it all in at once. In order to conclude this blog, I took the time to read through each of my previous posts. It was rewarding to see how my thoughts developed over time and to realize just how much material and instances of human dignity we covered!

In my first entry, I had the thought that there was a self dignity as well as a dignity that you receive from others. I feel that this understanding was clarified over our 16 weeks together. No matter the subject material that we were working with, whether it be other cultures, women vs. men, the medical field, or the criminal justice system, I always came to the conclusion that there is a dignity that an individual holds for him/herself, and there is a dignity that seems to be put upon them by others/society. However, these two sets of dignity can be completely related. Because of the way our society works, if others see someone has dignified, he/she is more likely to feel more dignified in his/herself. This is not 100% of the time, and there are always exceptions but in general, society has a large affect on how we feel about ourselves and how we value our own life.

To give an exact definition of human dignity is still a difficult task, even after all of our readings and discussions, the idea seems so unattainable. As I was reading my first entry, I realized that I still have a lot of the same thoughts. To me dignity is still respecting others as well as yourself and being an all around good person, but something that I would add to dignity is just simply being human. We are all born equal and given the same rights, what we choose to do with our opportunities is what makes us individuals but it does not change the dignity that we are born with.

I was talking to a friend about our Human Dignity class and he became so passionate about the topic, I asked if he wanted to write me his own definition of human dignity. I thought this would be interesting because, one, he's a guy who may think of things differently than a class of majority girls, and two, he is a complete outsider to our class without any influence of our readings or discussions. Reading through his e-mail was mind blowing! His thoughts of Human Dignity were so deep and natural, and he hadn't even attended our class! His general definition blew me away and his wording really made the concept click for me. He said,

 "Human dignity is defined as "The quality or state of being worthy of esteem or respect;" however, dignity, being is a quality that is center to being human, and not a quantity as it is commonly seen, thus and cannot be properly defined, but rather understood as a general respect for the rights of people to live and lead a life of fulfillment as well as the ability for people to live in a fulfillment-based way."

Reading it in these terms made it so clear to me, dignity isn't something that can be directly defined or very clearly understood, rather it is something that should be inherent to all humans. It is amazing how having a simple, rather short, conversation with him allowed my ideas to become apparent in my mind.

Overall, I came to the conclusion that I must start small. Being in a class made up of solely honors students made me realize that I am not much of an active thinker. I tend to absorb information and not immediately create more questions or develop a complete understanding, rather I let it sink in and think about it for a few days and slowly create an understanding. Sometimes I think this comes off as me not paying attention, or holding in my thoughts, but actually, I just don't have any yet. This isn't the end of the world but I would like to become more of an active thinker and become more involved and passionate about certain topics. Personally, for me this would increase my self dignity. Therefore, I am going to start with my closest friends and family, and I want to have real meaningful conversations that really allow me to think and react, and I want to try to do this quicker than just letting it all go in, and not giving an immediate opinion. Overtime, I feel this will increase my own self-value and then maybe one day I will be able to tackle the large-scale issues such as the criminal justice system, or mental illness issues, but for now I need to see the dignity in my inner circle and have a solid foundation of treating everyone with dignity.

Thinking back to the articles that we've read, Immanuel Kant states in The Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals, "So act as to treat humanity, whether in thine own person or in that of any other, in every case as an end withal, never as means only." I see this being violated so much in everyday life that it is hard to imagine life any other way. People are constantly using other people for what they have or where they can get them. It is sickening to think that the world is losing that idea of respectful friendships and legitimate respect for others feelings, talents, and behaviors. Bringing in the idea of social networking, people become so wrapped up in how many Facebook friends they have, when they should be thinking about what the site is really for and who they should really be concerned with communicating with. That is a little besides the point, but it is important to think about when looking at the future of our society. If things don't adjust we are going to continue moving into this life where everything seems to revolve around appearance, wealth, and status. If this continues life will become a shallow instance where no real thoughts are developed and society becomes null to the possibilities that past individuals thrived for. 

Overall, I think this class opened my eyes to a lot of concepts that I had never thought of before. It's made me realize a lot of things about myself and how I want to live my life and how I should treat others equally no matter their circumstance. I've realized how one's upbringing has a direct affect on how they live their life, but through education and research this can change. I've also been able to formulate a "more clear" definition of human dignity that I can live by and uphold in the future. The beat goes on, and as the world continues to evolve and change some things will be forever changing, but some things need to remain constant to keep everyone's feet on the ground and attitudes in check. The world isn't going to stop, and the issues involved with human dignity aren't going to end as this class ends so it is up to me to take the initial steps of treating everyone with human dignity to try and keep this Earth a wonderful, fair place to live.

Human Dignity in a Photo

I went out shopping this weekend and came across this display(Left) in the store Buckle. I took a second to read a few of the bracelets and then I looked at the cardboard display that explained a little bit about what the bracelets stood for.

Turns out "Humanity" is a brand that when purchased, 25% of the net profits are donated to rebuild Homes for the Holidays for families still living in temporary housing and FEMA trailers in New Orleans. After doing a little more research on it when I got home, I discovered that "Humanity" is not only bracelets but they also make shirts. Some of the shirts on the website say things like "Peace Love Japan" and sayings on the bracelets vary and include things like, "Make a Difference", "Faith", "Pave the Path", and "Unity".

I think it is great that a store such as Buckle is carrying through with this initiative because the store attracts young adults who may not necessarily have the means to donate large amounts of money, but are able to help by purchasing a bracelet. Another great thing about it being a piece of clothing/jewelry is that when worn they may get asked questions about it and can share their knowledge, and promote the cause to others. Bringing awareness to this brand/cause is what is going to make it successful! 

When capturing dignity in a picture as opposed to words or writing I think that biggest factor is that it is frozen in time, forever. This picture will always exist. In my particular example, the display may change, the bracelets may change, and the cause may change eventually but from now on when I see the word Humanity I am going to think of this brand and it's cause.

 Although this photo may not be an exact picture of Dignity, its purpose and overall mission is all about human dignity. The individuals who are still being affected by Hurricane Katrina are living with the ruins everyday while others move on with their lives and go home to their warm house and never even think about the people who don't have a place to call home anymore. This has to have a large affect on their self-dignity.Putting myself in this position, I would feel that I was able to provide a home for myself and I was doing just fine, until this tragic event happened and now I can't seem to get back on my feet. This constant struggle would surely tear at one's self dignity and maybe make them feel like less of a person. Through initiatives such as "Humanity" people will be able to build new homes and get their lives on track once again so they can live their life out to the fullest and overcome this obstacle that they were unfortunate to have to live through.

The biggest thing that hit home for me about this particular cause is that it is helping individuals right here in America. Often times you see campaigns and chances to donate to other countries when a natural disaster has happened, which is wonderful, but I think it is important to have that exact ambition to help our own people when they are in a time of need.

In general, images and media in our society can uphold or violate human dignity depending on the photograph/video. I think a large part of whether it is upholding it or violating it is whether or not the individual gave his/her consent to be in the photograph knowing that it will be showed on the television, newspaper, or whatever means it will be shown through. Sometimes I think the individual behind the camera gets carried away with trying to cover the event and lacks the thought of how it will affect the people the pictures/videos are of.

It is interesting to consider how the media connects to other issues that we've discussed in class. I feel that news broadcasts and newspapers are the main forms of media that connect to what we've covered in class material. The main problem is that without the media the public wouldn't be aware of what is going on in areas such as criminal justice, other cultures, or the health field, which are all areas that bring about issues of Human Dignity. What stems from this problem is that sometimes the media twists facts to make a "better" story which could end up hurting one's dignity even worse than it would be hurt by simply being displayed.

I'm not sure what the answer to this problem is, it seems that ethics are being pushed more now than ever, but seem to being followed less and less. By displaying dignity through a photograph/video one is taking a large chance of harming one's dignity but most times they are just trying to share the emotion, whether good or bad with the rest of the world so that we as a whole can understand just what is happening in that particular situation.



Buckle Website:
http://www.buckle.com/product/product.jsp?bmForm=morew&bmFormID=iYMF5L1&bmUID=iYMF5L2&bmIsForm=true&bmPrevTemplate=%2Fproduct%2Fproduct.jsp&bmHidden=formName&formName=morew&bmHidden=N&N=2221+43&bmHidden=Ns&Ns=&bmSubmit=women&women=View+More



 

Criminal Justice and Human Dignity

Take a stand regarding solitary confinement,  the death penalty, or life in prison. Tie your reasoning in with that of the theorist/theories we have studied and be sure connect it or support it with the readings.

For this blog prompt I am going to take a stand on life in prison. Like was stated in The New Yorker article often times the sentence of life in prison is given, but then reduced. Putting myself in the position of someone who has been sentenced to life in prison, I would just want to know if I really was going to spend the rest of my life in prison, or if there is really a chance of me getting out early. To me this is a little confusing. 

One idea that really caught my attention was that if individuals in prison know there is a chance that they will be released early, they are more well behaved. This makes sense since good behavior is often rewarded with being released early. Being sentenced to life in prison is pretty much ending your life right then. There is nothing more to live for, but knowing there is a small glimmer of hope that you could be let back into society keeps some prisoners from acting out.

But back to taking a stand on life in prison, I feel that a definite sentence needs to be given initially. If the chances of the individual being released early are almost certain, then just assign a shorter sentence. I think this would be a slight improvement to maintaining an individual's dignity in the criminal justice system. For a person to understand that they did something wrong, serve the appropriate time, knowing how long that is going in, and then being able to come back into society would allow him/her to maintain dignity rather than the option that seems to take place now. This way of sentencing life in prison, maybe you will get out early, maybe not is playing with the human mind, and creating unnecessary anger.  

The New Yorker article also brought up the idea of programs while in prison to help better oneself. I think this is a great idea since most of these people will ultimately be returning to society. We should be encouraging them to better themselves rather than creating this anger that is expressed when they are just released back into society and don't know what else to do rather than cause more problems. 

Relating this idea to the thoughts of George Kateb seems like a rational idea. In the first chapter of his book, Human Dignity, he states, "humanity is the greatest type of beings". This being said, people in prison should not be treated like animals. They are being placed in a correctional facility to help them, not hurt them or make their lives seem like anything less than a human. By giving someone the life sentence, and making them wonder will I or won't I get out early is taking away a certain degree of their dignity. 

Most of this reflection has been based on not knowing if one will really serve a life term or if they will get out early. To switch gears a little bit, lets assume that if one was served to a life sentence and there are no chances of them being released early. This is basically just allowing them to wither away slowly, until they ultimately die. This isn't the way one is suppose to be living their life, people are suppose to make the most of what they have and do what they can to make themselves happy. It seems that people sentenced to life with no early release often try to end their lives themselves instead of waiting for it to naturally happen. Why would anyone want to force someone to even think about that! That itself is majorly impacting that person's dignity. 

Its is clear to me that the life in prison sentence needs some adjustments. If there is a good chance one will be released early, then assign a shorter sentence, there is no need to toy with a human's mind over how they will spend the rest of their life.In the occasion that there is no chance of being released early it would be nice to have some sort of programs for prisoners to keep their minds working and still bettering themselves even though they have landed in this position. To be clear, I don't mean throwing them a concert for entertainment, but rather a class on current events, or maybe teaching them a trade they could just do as a hobby. We don't want to make the jail a better place to be than society, but by providing them with some form of happiness they can have the right degree of a normal life taken away,but still fulfill their own needs as a human to have likes and hobbies. 
 

Human Dignity relating to Mental Illness

Research a mental disorder that you are unfamiliar with or that interests you. Look at how this disorder impacts a person's everyday life, well-being, and relationships. Based on these findings, reflect on the ways in which the disorder could impact a sense of dignity or the dignity that others attribute to them.

A mental illness that I am interested in learning more about is anxiety/panic attacks. There are several disorders that fall under this category but as a whole this mental illness is interesting to me since it can affect anyone.  The hardest part about fully understanding this disorder is that there are different levels. All humans experience anxiety whether its a college student before a final exam, or an adult accepting a job offer that could change the rest of his/her life. Big decisions in life often cause individuals to be nervous or anxious and in situations where the person is mentally ill these symptoms are overwhelming. In the most severe cases these feelings of worry and fear interfere with an individual's ability to lead a normal life.  

For me to consider how this anxiety disorder impacts an individuals everyday life is very difficult. Having the constant feelings of worry and fear would definitely tear at a person's ability to function effectively. I know myself, short periods of worry/nervous feelings are enough for me, let alone experiencing them on a daily basis.  A person's well being would most definitely be harmed through experiencing these feelings often. As far a person with anxiety attacks developing relationships, I think it would be very difficult for them. If one had feelings of worry and fear all the time, relationships with others would bring about trust issues, and broken promises could cause major problems. It seems that everyday life issues that we all combat and move on from, would cause someone suffering from an anxiety disorder much anguish.

When thinking about a mental illness such as this and the impact it would have on one's dignity it is important to consider both the dignity one holds for him/herself and the dignity that others attribute to him/her.

Not being able to conduct a normal life would cause a person to have a lower self esteem, and therefore a lower sense of self dignity. By watching others carry on with their everyday routines and live life as they wish, a persons self dignity would certainly decrease. They would probably wonder, "What is wrong with me, why can't I get over these anxious feelings." The most important thing they need to think about is that its not their fault, its just a characteristic they need to work with. This brings in the idea of dignity from other people's perspectives. Sometimes I feel that society tends to think people with anxiety disorders are "making it up." In my opinion, who, other than the individual himself, can determine how much anxiety he/she is experiencing. Overall, society has a whole views individuals suffering from a mental disorder with a lower level of dignity. These individuals are thought of to be "flawed" and not "perfect" like the vision of today's ideal individual. 

This is just one mental disorder that some individuals experience. In my opinion this is not the most extreme, and there are people that may be "worse off" in terms of their self dignity. The situations that all people with mental disorders experience in regards to dignity may be similar but how they affect each individual is very unique.

 
 

Human Dignity : Thinking about the Medical Side

I feel like it has been forever since my last blog so hopefully this is a smooth transition back into my weekly routine!

This week in class we will be discussing medical issues and their impact on human dignity. Whether it be about donating a kidney, extending one's life due to machines and medication, or using people's cells without them knowing it, there are tons and tons of issues that arise in the medical field. The hardest part about it for me is that when all of these new medications are founded, or new ways of reproducing cells and creating different things out of cells is created "they" make it sound like it is the best thing in the world! Everyone gets excited about it, but to me the biggest question is, it is improving the length of a life, or the quality of life.

After reading these articles its clear the main goal is to extend one's life. It doesn't matter to doctors if the patients spend their final days under the lights in an ICU or being so dependent on medication that they are not even conscious to remember them. It is just my opinion, but if I am alive, I want to feel alive. I want to be able to hold conversations, and have emotions, recognize my loved ones that will come visit, and be able to make lasting memories in my final days.

One of the articles that we read was "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks". This article just really stands out to me because of how unbelievable it is. To fully comprehend that this woman's cells reproduced so quickly and that there are now so many they could wrap around the world 3 times when lined up end to end is just a little too much for me to wrap my mind around!

One of the issues this specific article addresses was when someone willingly gives up their cells, maybe by having a mole removed, this mole is no longer theirs. The doctors are then able to sell it for medical research and patients are getting upset that doctors are making money off of their cells.

This is a tough idea to struggle over since money is involved in everything, even when it is not the central focus. The idea that money is being made off of these types of business exchanges isn't exactly right or fair. However I don't believe that patients should be getting paid for having moles removed because that is just silly. I think patient's should go about their lives and have moles removed only when necessary and have cells extracted in other ways just as they would on a normal basis. After the cells are gone, they shouldn't be concerned about them because they are not a part of him/her anymore. If they cells are donated to research wonderful, hopefully something great will come from that, if they are simply thrown away, well thats ok too. The medical field is too complex and has to many if's in it for me to completely understand, so everything thats going on beyond the doctors office is too much for me to know. From the prespective of a doctor, they should not be making profits from selling cells to one another. I feel that it is inappropriate for Doctors to be making money off of something they didn't create or didn't have a large part in, they are simply the person the indivdual came to, to have it removed/extracted.

One of my favorite theorist we've read is Peter Singer, so I've decided to tie in his ideas with the view's I've formed from this weeks reading. In his book, "Rethinking Life & Death", he states, "...modern medical practice has become incompatible with belif in the equal value of all human life" (189).  This gave me the thought of how do the doctors decide how much one's cells are worth. In the case where the doctor is selling a patients cells, who are they to decide how much they are worth, and in addition if someone is worth more than someone elses how can that be determined.

My thought is automatically, the price varies on the characeristics the cell has and the characterists of the human from which the cell came from. Maybe it is their hair color and body type, or maybe it is more of their genetic traits that allow them to ask for a higher price. Either way the idea of putting a price on human cells is ridiculous. Singer would agree that " the worth of human life varies" Whats interesting is that he would say someone who is not possible of mental, social, or physical interacion with other human beings is not worth much. But in the medical field, this would be the type of cells that would probably be worth the most. Research is constantly being done to control diseases and improve conditions so these are the cells that researches want, just like in Henrietta's case because her's were cancerous.

I understand that modern medicine is all about new findings and that is how we got to where we are today, but there is a certain level of ethics that should be maintained throughout this process.  I am looking forward to hearing other people's thoughts in the class and seeing the conclusions we've pulled from reading this week's articles!

Meditation Reflection

After attending class last night I would just like to reflect on the mediation that we took part in. I myself have never practiced meditation, and the closest I've came to taking a yoga class is Wii in my living room!

Taking those 30 minutes of my day to forget about all of the other things going on, and really focus on the leaders instructions was so relaxing. I admit I may have dosed off at some point, but that absolute relaxation was truly amazing. Listening to other students describe their emotional experiences was different to me because the meditation didn't necessarily make me extremely happy or extremely sad, I came out feeling very mellow.

I'm sure it has the possibility to affect everyone differently, but I would like to try it again someday to see if my response is any different.

I really enjoyed the experimental learning, it was a nice change in the format of the class and I look forward to doing more of it! I am also looking forward to the coming weeks discussions as I glanced ahead in the syllabus!

I hope everyone has a nice spring break and tries to squeeze in that 1 hour of solitude!

Student Progress : Carlow University Core Value

 "We educate, challenge, and expect all students to uncover, expand, and realize their potential."

This is the Student Progress Core Value of Carlow University.The above definition was taken from the university's website.


I chose to practice and blog about this specific core value because it is something that I can easily relate to. To me, the college experience as a whole makes up the concept of student progress. I am definitely not the person/student I was when I arrived on Carlow's Campus in August of 2008, and I will probably not be the same person when I graduate in May 2012.

As the definition states, this core value is the idea of students going above and beyond what they think they are capable of and developing and finding new skills and talents that they didn't even realize they had.

 I have spent the last week really focusing on this core value, and thinking about how exactly the idea of Student Progress has related to me. What I've found is that, I work on expanding and pushing myself by taking on roles, and signing up for clubs even when I know I'm busy to begin with. I know that it is important to make time for everything, and by making myself extremely busy I am pushing myself harder then ever to make sure I accomplish everything that I need to. By keeping up with my work load, as well as working on outside projects with clubs or my job on campus, my mind is constantly working.

This is interesting, because the readings for this week discussed the need for solitude, and my idea of student progress eliminates my chance of absolute peace and quiet. In today's society, as pointed out by the article, solitude is rather hard to come by, and I myself can't imagine thinking of only the moment, and not about what is to come.

I guess the best thing one can do is create a balance between pushing to move forward and taking a minute to relax and gather his/her thoughts. I believe that in order to move forward you have to have a good idea of where you currently stand, therefore in order for me to progress forward and realize new potentials I must  make time each day for a minute of quiet. This is something that I don't currently do, but I am going to try and do from now on. The perfect place for me to do this would be in the Student Progress Garden on campus, taking 10 minutes out of my day to just sit, and not think sounds like something I am definitely interested in!

Now, to discuss the idea of how practicing this core value relates to human dignity. I feel like it has a lot to do with the concept of self dignity. By pushing myself to complete tasks, and achieving them, I am maintaining my self dignity. Keeping promises and meeting deadlines to me is a way of maintaining my dignity. As far as the way my dignity would be affected for others viewing me, as long as I did what I said I would do, my dignity would stay consistent with how they see me already. If I started to slack or not fulfill what I said I would do, they might start to view me in a different away. I'm not completely sure they would think I am any less dignified but if  I let them down enough it could come to that!