Miles Franklins My Brilliant Career Essay -- Franklin My Brilliant Ca

Miles Franklin's My Brilliant Career Topic: Give a detailed analysis of a key scene or passage from "My Brilliant Career" by Miles Franklin. The focus and essence of My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin is centred on the relationships and interactions of Sybylla Melvyn (the key character of the novel), towards other characters. The ways in which she reacts to different people and why she reacts in a particular manner, are perhaps more crucial and intriguing to the reader, than any distinct event throughout the novel.   Sybylla's logic and thinking about herself, others and life, have been moulded by her very influential relationships with her mother and father.   Her view on life and the roles of men and women has also been influenced by literature she has read.   Moreover, her affinity with her parents in childhood and as a young woman has plainly made its mark on her further relationships, especially with men. The most prominent male relationship Sybylla encounters is with her lover, Harold Beecham.   Sybylla's relationship with Harold as described in Chapter 20 illustrates the influences of her parents and literature.   In   Chapter 20, Sybylla hits Harold across the face with a riding whip, when he tries to kiss her.   Yet Harold Beecham appears to be the perfect figure and the perfect man and indeed, Sybylla loves him, although she does not like to admit this.   For example, her "train of thought was interrupted by our host, who appeared in the doorway, clad from sole to neck in white" (Franklin 137).   He is her knight in shining amour, but even so she strikes him.   To Sybylla, Harold always appears somewhat 'forbidden'.   Perhaps subconsciously, he is the materialised embodiment of her father, Richard Melvyn.   In her e... ...y saying "Is this not rather sudden?   You have given me no intimation of your intentions" (Franklin 140).   Perhaps still disturbed by his manner, this is partly the reason why she hits Harold afterwards. Sybylla Melvyn is simply a confused adolescent, with all the problems and feelings of a young woman growing up.   She has a large amount of emotional turmoil in her mind and is doing what she can to adjust to her ever changing environment.   Sybylla is paranoid and neurotic and her values, beliefs and ideals have been easily influenced by her childhood relationship with her parents.   As a consequence, her actions reflect these influences, which are deeply etched in her mind.   By examining her relationship with Harold Beecham we are able to understand that her attitude towards his affections are a result of both her parents influence and her reading material.  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  

Comparison of the Theories of Sigmund Freud and Emile Durkheim on Religion

Abstract This paper examines the works of Sigmund Freud and Emile Durkheim on religion, looking at how both theorists essentially viewed religion as serving an integral role in human culture. In particular, this essay considers how both theorist consider religious believers to be mistaken in their ontological beliefs, and the rational causes for this. Introduction While both Sigmund Freud and Emile Durkheim are concerned with the study of human behaviour as it relates to culture, each does so from within distinct traditions. In terms of religion, Freud’s approach belongs to the psychological tradition, while Durkheim puts forward a sociological approach. In the Freudian view, human behaviour is largely driven by inborn and intangible â€Å"drives†, working in the unconscious. Such phenomena are not directly observable, that is, they are non-empirical; they must consequently be inferred, and as such are conjectural. Durkheim’s sociological method, on the other hand, utilises direct empirical observations of social phenomena (rites, rituals, customs, et cetera), looking to account for the impetus behind and purpose of group behaviour. Hence Freud is concerned with obscure, intangible internal phenomena, whereas Durkheim is concerned with overt and tangible external phenomena. Evidently, the theoretical positions in question to a degree divide between internal and external motivations. Different Routes to the Core of a Delusion Durkheim posits a direct connection between environmental variables, the way groups interact with such variables, and how this interaction is perceived by individual members of said group. There is a mode of cyclical reflexivity in this dynamic: this means people â€Å"living together in society generate rules which are felt by any individual member as acting on him from outside, as having a force which he feels as both uplifting and constraining† (Scharf 1970, 151). This force, Durkheim argues, is an externalisation of conventions peculiar to the group; that are perceived as exogenous but which are in fact endogenous. This tendency to externalise, Durkheim suggests, derives from the natural human desire to ascribe meaning to experience, to seek a pattern in the natural order. Thus, as Kunin states, religion likewise â€Å"is an externalisation of society and its order† and speaks to the â€Å"dialectic relationship between the individual and society† (2003, 82). Religion, then, provides for an externalised object onto which collective emotion can be projected; this is ultimately reflexive because the externalisation at root represents the people themselves. As a result, to honour religious custom is indirectly to honour the group. This is why for Durkheim religious experience serves to strengthen group cohesion and bonding. Freud’s understanding of religion is somewhat pejorative. Connolly observes that Freud noticed â€Å"the connection between abnormal psychological conditions and religion† (1991, 146): which observation he expanded upon in his study â€Å"Obsessive acts and Religious Practices† (1907). As the paper’s title suggests, Freud drew a connection between psychological abnormality and religious practice, noting a resemblance between â€Å"what are called obsessive acts in neurotics and those religious observances by means of which the faithful give expression to their piety† (17). In turn, Fre ud perceived religion, like neurosis, as symptomatic of deep-seated psychological issues. In the words of Gallucci, â€Å"Freud saw religion as a collective neurotic symptom, an obsessional neurosis† (2001, 76). This â€Å"neurosis†, according to psychoanalytic theory, comes about as a defence mechanism against feelings of helplessness which obtain in a dispassionate cosmos. Hence the need for a cosmic father figure, who, as a parent comforts the child, palliates the religious subject with conciliatory notions (about purpose, meaning, boundaries, rewards, and so on). This entire dynamic apparently stems from Oedipal anxieties, where â€Å"each person grows up with a sense of foreboding toward a father figure who is both feared and loved†; this, it follows, â€Å"becomes the basis for the cosmic father figure, who offers protection and salvation but in the meantime needs to be appeased by devotion and sacrifice† (Clarke 2002, 43). In Freud’s mind, r eligion therefore constitutes a surrogate parent. On the surface, Freud and Durkheim proffer two seemingly quite different explanations for religion. Importantly, while these theories are not overtly complementary, nor are they mutually exclusive. Indeed, significant parallels may be drawn between each approach. For example, both both theorists argued that religion is an important factor in community cohesion (Scharf 1970, 155); both agree that â€Å"religion is central to any cultural analysis† (Ginsburg and Pardes 2006, 220); and, thus, both hold that â€Å"that the cognitive roots of religious belief are to be found in social experience† (Spiro 1987, 202). These similarities are significant and, moreover, point to one common determinant: that the underlying basis of religious convictions are contrary to what believers suppose. For Durkheim, the real driving force behind religion is social cohesion; for Freud, the impetus is psychological assuagement. In either case, social unity and mental wellbeing obtain, only for slightly different conceptual reasons. From the above, one might argue that Freud and Durkheim share significant overarching perspectives on religion while holding markedly different structural viewpoints on how and why religion functions. Freud is concerned with psychological structures; Durkheim with sociological structures. Freud believes religion works to console believers from the ultimate anxiety of a meaningless cosmos. Durkheim believes religion provides for a canvas on which social phenomena can be externalised and then re-accommodated as an exogenous entity. Again, both modes of behaviour essentially work to the same purpose: instilling a sense of meaning in human life. At this stage, one might consider the ways in which Freudian theory could compensate for shortfalls in the work of Durkheim and vice versa. For instance, Durkheim offers little in the way of early psychological developmental insights, into the religious pr ocess; yet there is no reason that early anxiety (of an Oedipal nature) could not cohere with Durkheimian ideas. Indeed, such anxiety and the consequent potential for neurosis could suggest an even greater need for group cohesion: as a way of reifying the delusion through consensus, thus alleviating the anxiety. Again, this would chime with Durkheim’s understanding that religion is â€Å"a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things [. . .] which unite in one single moral community called a Church† (cited in Gain 2010, 39). By the same token, Freud’s limitations could perhaps be overcome with reference to some of Durkheim’s insights. Scharf notes a â€Å"weakness of Freudian theory† in that it â€Å"does little to explain [the] variety† in articulations of paternity and fraternity within religious discourse, advising that, here, â€Å"Durkheim’s structural approach has more value† (1970, 154). Accordingly we see that a synthesis of theoretical approaches may not only be possible but highly advantageous. Conclusion Freud and Durkheim take very different roads to arrive at more or less the same destination. For this reason, significant and consistent core elements may be identified between their works. These include the fundamental belief that religion serves an explicable, material, social purpose which is essentially external to theological concerns; that religious believers are at base mistaken in their beliefs (insomuch as these beliefs are connected to cosmic phenomena beyond the rationally explicable); that, it follows, religion is the irrational articulation of an ultimately rational cause (anxiety or clan behaviour); that religion can function as a surrogate or projection of humanity – reformed with divine auspices; and that, finally, religion is an integral element of human culture. What is fundamentally different in these two authors is their methodological priorities. Each man comes from a very distinct tradition. Put simply, Freud and Durkheim were engaged in different discipl ines; as a result, their pursuits were orientated differently The reason Freud and Durkheim’s works are compared at all is that the realms of the sociological and of the psychological possess mutual territory: the grounds of culture. Both theorists have their limitations. Durkheim can be accused of being over reductive and simplistic. Social structure may not be enough to account for every aspect of religion. Psychological, cognitive and other inborn factors may also have a large part to play. Freud, on the other hand, may place too much onus on the unconscious drives in dictating religious experience. After all, religion is so varied and complex, it might be argued, to defy any wholesale theory to explain it away. What, for example, do we make of religions in which there is no â€Å"father figure† proper; or religions which proclaim no deity at allClearly there are unanswered questions on both sides of the aisle. Perhaps a hybrid methodology that adopted a syncretic a pproach to the study of religion might help answer these questions. After all, it seems to be the case that both Freud and Durkheim arrived at crucial insights into the social and psychological determinants that drive religion. References Clarke, P. J. (2002) Explaining Philosophy and Ethics. Cheltenham: Nelson Thomas. Connolly, P. (1991) â€Å"Psychological Approaches†. In: Connolly, P. ed. Approaches to the Study of Religion. New York: Continuum, pp. 135-193. Durkheim, E. (1912). The Elementary Forms of Religious Life. (J. Swain, Trans.) New York: The Free Press. Freud, S. (1907) â€Å"Obsessive Acts and Religious Practices†. In: J Strachey (ed. and trans.) Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud. London: Hogarth Press. Gain, M., 2010. On Durkheim’s Rules of Sociological Method (Routledge Revivals). New York: Routledge. Gallucci, G. M., 2001. Plato and Freud: Statesmen of the Soul. Philadelphia: Xlibris. Ginsburg, R. & Pardes, L., 2006. New Perspectives on Freud’s Moses and Monotheism. Tubingen: Niemeyer. Kunin, S. D., 2003. Religion: The Modern Theories. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Scharf, B. R., 1970. â€Å"Durkheimian and Freudian Theories of Religion: The Case of Judaism†, The British Journal of Sociology, Vol. 21. 2 (June), pp. 151-163. Spiro, M. E., 1987. Culture and Human Nature. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction.

Nuclear Physics A Scientist - 989 Words

A scientist suspects that if he or she continues to research nuclear physics, his or her country will use the findings to produce a weapon capable of annihilating thousands or even millions of innocent civilians. The scientist, however, strongly believes that a weapon of this magnitude should remain nonexistent. Should he or she continue with this research even though it could be used to create a weapon of mass destruction? The scientist absolutely should. A scientist has no moral obligations in regards to the unintended applications of his or her research because termination of scientific development deprives society of beneficial technological progress; discontinuation of potentially harmful research has no actual effect on the project’s overall timeline as another scientist will likely be willing to finish the research; and the moral responsibilities concerning the destructive use of scientific developments fall on government officials, not scientists. If a scientist ethically disagrees with the unintended applications of his or her research, the scientist should continue the work in order to effectuate the advantageous applications of the research. Cessation of research eliminates society’s opportunity to benefit from scientific progress. For instance, although some scientists may have been morally uncomfortable with creating atomic bombs during World War II, copious valuable developments of nuclear technology have emerged since the bombs’ creation. Examples of theseShow MoreRelatedThe Atomic Bomb1094 Words   |  5 PagesScientists have always strived for knowledge. With knowledge comes more power and understanding. There are many scientists and nations that can be accredited to helping create the atomic bomb. The idea of the atomic bomb with atoms and fission was not conceived overnight. The scientist from Ernest Rutherford who is from New Zealand to German, British, Japanese, and other scientist from across the globe all contributed to nuclear physics and research on the atom. Most who worked on the famous ManhattanRead MoreHow Has Nuclear Medicine Propagated Science And Society?922 Words   |  4 PagesHow has nuclear medicine innovated science and society? Within the last century, science faced several discoveries that caused the scientific community and society to change one another. When evaluating the scientific discoveries during the twentieth century, the decisive advancements took place in the study of nuclear physics. Affecting both science and society inquires formed around medical uses for nuclear materials. Advanced research in nuclear science with radioisotopes allowed doctors to treatRead MoreFear Of The Known : True Dangers Of Nuclear Waste1685 Words   |  7 PagesFear of the Known: True Dangers of Nuclear Waste The 9/11 attacks were among the deadliest attacks ever committed against the United States, whereby nearly 3,000 people where killed instantly. Yet what’s more shocking is that these atrocities were committed without the use of nuclear material. Fear of biochemical nuclear waste attack and its potential to cause unimaginable harm are among the biggest concerns in the nation. As a professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley RichardRead MoreEinstein Report1660 Words   |  7 PagesAlbert Einstein is possibly considered to be the greatest scientist of all time. He is well known for coming up with the theory of relativity described by the formula e=mc2, where energy is equal to mass times the speed of light squared. His accomplishments in physics helped start the nuclear age with nuclear weapons and power. Like most famous people he changed the world in a variety of ways. The most significant ways Einstein made the world a better place were his achievements in science, pacifismRead MoreNuclear Physics Of The Society Development1374 Words   |  6 PagesNuclear physics in the society development Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies atomic nuclei and their constituents and interactions. The most commonly known application of nuclear physics is nuclear power generation, but the research has led to applications in many fields, including nuclear medicine and magnetic resonance imaging, nuclear weapons, ion implantation in materials engineering, and radiocarbon dating in geology and archaeology. Nuclear physics has a lot of importanceRead MoreCh 1 Each different scientist made an impact in some way to the origins of an atom. Lucretius’s1700 Words   |  7 PagesCh 1 Each different scientist made an impact in some way to the origins of an atom. Lucretius’s work, De Rerum Natura, was the basis for many future scientists. Robert Boyle was a very religious man and people believed that was the reason for him not marrying. Boyle constructed the idea that the air was made up of different particles with each having different functions. Huygens first thought of the idea that waves of light moved in a spherical shape. His wave theory is still used today along withRead MoreThe Higgs Boson : The Standard Model Of Physics1443 Words   |  6 PagesThe Higgs Boson. The Higgs boson is the particle that gives weight to other particles. The Higgs Boson is a particle within the standard Model of physics. It creates weight by interacting with other particles; the more it interacts, the heavier it is. We have a tendency to consider mass as ingrained   importance of all things, however the majority of   physicists consider that without the Higgs boson, mass fundamentally doesn’t exist. Without the higgs boson nothing would exist, this is due to theRead MoreNuclear Engineering1086 Words   |  5 PagesNuclear engineering is the practical application of the breakdown of atomic nuclei and/or other sub-atomic physics, based on the principles of nuclear physics. It includes, but is not limited to, the interaction and maintenance of nuclear fission systems and componentsÂâ€" specifically, nuclear reactors, nuclear power plants, and/or nuclear weapons. The field may also include the study of nuclear fusion, medical and other applications of (gen erally ionizing) radiation, nuclear safety, heat/thermodynamicsRead MoreNuclear Weapons And The World War II1145 Words   |  5 PagesNuclear weapons were a crucial aspect throughout the history of the Cold War. Scientific and military development in the early 20th Century had demonstrated the potential of atoms and other properties to create large-scale nuclear weapons. The developments of the arms race within the context of World War I and World War II further led to the emergence of nuclear weapons for combat. Countries such as the United States, USSR, and Britain also sought to create effective nuclear weapons. SubsequentlyRead MorePavel Alekseyevich Cherenkov and the Cherenkov Effect1078 Words   |  4 PagesThe 1958 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Pavel Alekseyevich Cherenkov, Ilya Frank and Igor Tamm for the discovery and the interpretation of the Cherenkov Effect. Cherenkov radiation is the electromagnetic radiation emitted by particles moving through a medium faster than the speed of light in the same medium. It was fist a detected by Soviet scientist Pavel Alekseyevich Cherenkov, of who the effect is named after and a theory was later developed by Ilya Frank and Igor Tamm. Cherenkov’s contributions