Friday, December 27, 2019
Banning Cigarettes Symbolic Inhalation Of Death
Deisy Dones Mrs. Nellon Am. Lit. Per.1 13 July, 2015 Banning Cigarettes Cigarettes the symbolic inhalation of death that fills our bodies with the relief of self imposed stresses of life; to make easier a journey by bringing a certain end closer with each breath; but do we even care? Do we even care about our well-being? Do we even care about the environment? Do we really want our children smoking cigarettes? Donââ¬â¢t you want to live long enough to see your grandchildren grow up. Seeing them take their first steps, Saying their first words, having the experience of having those warm embracing hugs with them? Being able to be by their side when they feel like theyââ¬â¢re alone in the world, well it seems like the majority of the world doesnââ¬â¢t, I agree with banning cigarettes because, of the dangers it brings to non-smokers, the disease increase,and death increase. With every cigarette we choose to light up, inhale we decide to trade a piece of our lives for a couple minutes of delight, on average 11 to 12 yrs of our life is taken from us. Each day more than 3,900 people under 18 smoke their smoke cigarette, and approximately 2,100 youth and young adults become daily smokers about 30% of teen smokers will continue smoking and die early from a smoking-related disease. Teen smokers are more likely to have panic attacks, anxiety disorders and depression. Smoking related diseases climb on estimated 443,000 american lives each year.Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a
Thursday, December 19, 2019
Ethics Ethical Theories, Utilitarianism, And Virtue Ethics
Business ethics assist companies to make ethical decisions. Whether they be large strategic decisions or small internal problems, ethical theories help business make the right decision in a situation. There are three major ethical theories weââ¬â¢ve examined, Utilitarianism, Deontology, and Virtue Ethics. This essay will address two of the three major ethical theories, Utilitarianism and Deontology. Utilitarianism applied to business is the ethical approach that focuses on the consequences. In dealing with consequences utilitarianism looks at the risk versus reward or pleasure versus pain. Thus striving to create the most amount of reward or pleasure for the most amounts of people. Utilitarianism is technically a sub class of consequentialism, along with Ethical Egoism. Both ethical egoism and utilitarianism view the right action as one that produces the most intrinsic good, the best outcome. Where the two diverge is when it comes to who is receiving the intrinsic good. In Ethical Egoism the agent is the one who is concerned with getting the most intrinsic good, while utilitarianism is looking at everyone affected. (Frederick source) When deciding to act, the utilitarian will first find out all courses of action they could take. Then they would consider all who would be affected by the course of action, including the decision maker (if affected). After determining who will be affected, how they will be affected should be taken into account those persons will be affected as aShow MoreRelatedThe Ethics Of Virtue Ethics925 Words à |à 4 PagesVirtue ethics is a normative theory whose foundations were laid by Aristotle. This theory approaches normative ethics in substantially different ways than consequentialist and deontological theories. In this essay, I will contrast and compare virtue ethics to utilitarianism, ethical egoism, and Kantianism to demonstrate these differences. There is one fundamental aspect of virtue ethics that sets it apart from the other theories I will discuss. For the sake of brevity and to avoid redundancy, I willRead MoreThe Similarities and Differences Between Different Ethical Theories65 1 Words à |à 3 PagesDifferences in Ethics: The main aim of any ethical theory is to do what is right and good since it involves moral rules or acting based on specific ethical values. In certain cases, the right and good as well as the ethical rules and values are sometimes common to various ethical theories. Even though ethical theories have different reasons for application, there is an overlap in these theories that result in similar conduct in an ethical situation. There are various ethical theories with differencesRead MoreEssay about Eth 316 Week 1764 Words à |à 4 PagesIntroduction Utilitarianism, deontological, and virtue theory ethics are three normative approaches to ethics. This paper will go over the similarities and differences between virtue theory, utilitarianism, and deontological principles. It will include information of the variations in how each concept details ethics, morality, and it will also discuss a personal experience to describe the correlation between virtue, values, and moral perceptions as they relate to one of the three theories. SimilaritiesRead MoreComparing Political Philosophy Theories1095 Words à |à 5 PagesAssociate Level Material Ethical Theory Comparison Chart Respond to the prompt for each of the five ethical theories listed. One section on each chart has been filled in as an example. What is good? (1ââ¬â2 sentences) Aristotle ââ¬â Virtue EthicsMill ââ¬â UtilitarianismKant ââ¬â DeontologyConsequentialismNodding ââ¬â Care Ethicswhat would you say is our principal or highest objective by nature? According to Aristotle, it is the attainment of happiness, for it is that alone that we seekRead Moreethics Essay840 Words à |à 4 Pages Samantha St.Upery Ethics Essay ETH/316 August 7, 2014 Mrs. Mona Ristovv Ethics Essay Utilitarianism ethics accentuates that the activity that should be ethically beneficial to the group. In further terms, the outcome of any moral activity ought to be valuable for all by mass offer. This is a universal fundamental theme for ethics in industrialist economies and business as well as in all governments. Virtue Theory is also known as virtue ethics focal point on the personââ¬â¢s characterRead MoreBusinesses Are Completely Incompatible With Virtue Ethics Essay examples1010 Words à |à 5 Pagesï » ¿Businesses are completely incompatible with virtue ethics. Discuss. Business ethics is concerned with how well a business treats its stakeholders and whether a businessââ¬â¢s actions are seen as ethical. Within business ethics there are three approaches which could be adopted. The first approach is that a businessââ¬â¢s main goal could be to maximise profits and nothing more, where the ethics of the business wouldnââ¬â¢t necessarily be important. This view is supported by Milton Friedman. Secondly, some ethicistsRead MoreThe Ethical Theory Of Virtue Ethics1115 Words à |à 5 Pagescriticisms of virtue ethics. First, virtue ethics is really complicated and multiple varieties of the theory of virtue ethics exist. Hence a single summary of VE cannot completely do justice to this theory and the complexity it encompasses. Second, as VE is attempted to be used on more specific cases and is tried to be made more concise, the theory tends to become more inaccurate. The article further suggests the needs for a more comprehensive and specific explana tion of virtue ethics. Although thereRead MoreUtilitarianism, Virtue And Care Ethics930 Words à |à 4 PagesThe three ethical theories I will discuss from Chapter 1 include: utilitarianism, virtue and care ethics. First, the utilitarianism is moral standard and a theory of action by humans that are morally right in action. Utilitarianism is an action that is morally right if its consequences are more favorable. One way for businessesââ¬â¢, as our reading suggests (Fieser Moseley, 2012), is make a list of all the good and bad for any particular act. If the good outweighs the bad then that action shouldRead MoreThe Man Who Shocked The World1725 Words à |à 7 Pagesday-with some agreeing with Milgram and many others opposing the very idea of conducting such an experiment with deception. The different ethical theories within the context of the moral dilemma that the case study provides that are going to be discussed in this paper are: Utilitarianism, Universal Ethics, Ethical Relativism and Virtue Ethics. Utilitarianism (according to the classical approach) argues that the ââ¬Ëmorally right action is the action that produces the most goodââ¬â¢ (Driver, 2014). If understoodRead MoreEthic Theory and Practice1660 Words à |à 7 Pagesfirst five chapters of Ethics Theory And Practice there are four main types of theories Ethical Egoism, Utilitarianism, Kantian Ethics, and Virtue Ethics. I will be presenting and reacting to each of these different Ethics, and presenting my own approach to Ethics. In the second chapter of our book Ethics Theory And Practice It discuses ethical egoism and utilitarianism. Ethical Egoism is a theory that states that everyone should act in their own self interest. Ethical Egoism can take three
Wednesday, December 11, 2019
Discussion on Corporate Social Relationship
Question: Discuss about theDiscussion on Corporate Social Relationship. Answer: Introduction Corporate Social Responsibility can be defined as the legal, ethical, economic and flexible expectation that any society have at a given point of time (Clapp Rowlands, 2014). This concept shows the moral, ethical and charitable responsibilities along with the responsibilities for earning reasonable return for the investors and compiling it with the law. Organizations requires an adaptation for a broader view to focuses its responsibilities that, not only focuses on the stockholders but also focuses the suppliers, employers, local, state and federal governments and special interest groups. This essay contains the broad and the narrow views of the corporate social responsibility, the main reason that any business organization follows the broader views along with the Kants ethics that supports the broader view of the CSR. Corporate Social Responsibility Corporate Social Responsibility is related to the business ethics, while business ethics deals with the moral judgments, and the attitude of the individuals present in the organization, whereas, CSR circumscribes ethical, legal, economic and flexible duties towards the organizations. They are expected to be profitable and efficient (Clapp Rowlands, 2014). The ethical concern focuses on the expectation of the societies that moves beyond the law. The expectation of the organizations will perform their affairs on the particular norms that are not formally enacted in law (Ragas Culp, 2014). CSR is a concept of management on which the companies integrate the social along with the environmental issues in the operations and during the interactions between the stakeholders of the organizations. The research that was conducted past two years stated the corporate social responsibility had paid well for both the stakeholders and the companies. Corporate Social Responsibility extends for the obligation on ethical issues towards the stakeholders. On increasing influential power for the arguments of the corporations regarding the companies responsibilities towards the stakeholders beyond the profit making have also increased. CSR acts a commitment for the business organization that required for maintaining the morality and the ethical issues that can contribute the development economically for improving the standard quality of lifestyle for the workforce, families, societies and the communities. CSR is considered as the most dispute areas in the sector of business. There are existences of two extreme views as well as opinions regarding the case of social responsibilities in an organization. According to the classical views, which suggests that business enterprises has the motive of making profits and one specific responsibilities for the society is to provide the goods and the products that are necessary for the exchange and obtaining the maximum profit from the stakeholders. According to the socio economic view the business organization are the part of the larger society and therefore the responsibilities could not be restricted for the profit maximization. The view also leads emphasis on the financial structure of the company. The interest of the company is also liable for the society. Both the classical and the socio economic view is under the scrutiny and there is an extreme argument of the effect of CSR on the society. The businesses are adapting CSR only due to economic interest of the organization. The narrow view suggested the main objective of the business would be maximizing the profit. According to Levitt business has two major responsibilities towards the society. One responsibility is to apply the fundamentals of basic business and the second responsibility is to earn profit from the business. The argument of Friedmann stated that those businesses are concentrating only on making maximum profit does not contribute for any well being towards the society. The argument further stated that since the corporations are made of artificial people so they only have the responsibilities those are artificial. Since business is an artificial construction the liabilities as well as the responsibilities lies only on the proprietors as well as the executives. The narrow view also states that the business are been constructed and plans for making money and therefore the executives those are been employees for achieving the goals and the managers should act according to the proprietor. The argument of Freidmann suggested that the executives should have some corporate responsibilities besides making profits. The social responsibilities include spending the money of the shareholders for the interests of general people by spending taxes on the cause of the community. The argument also stated that the social responsibility that the business should have for the society is making profit according to the law. This will make the business more open as well as competitive without doing any fraud or deception. Broader View of CSR The broader view on the Corporate Social Responsibility says that other than gaining profits from the business the business is liable to the communities. The argument by Adam Smith is on the invisible hand. The argument states that the organizations should be independent enough for promoting the self interests by their own and in this phase they would be steered with an invisible hand for doing social good. If the organization is forced for worrying about the CSR they will not be successful in meeting up with the material needs (Preuss, 2013). The second argument is also to the support of the narrow view. The second argument stated that the government is liable to regulate the activities made by the corporations. The government should be sure that activities are done in an ethical way. However, it is not possible for the government to regulate the unethical approach of the organizations. They will also not be able for the predictions of the organizational behavior. The third argument states that the trusting on the organizations for the wellbeing of the society should not be expected. The organizations do not have the suitable expertise for exercising these duties to the society as they are material and project oriented. However, many private organizations have shown their capabilities of providing well being to the society as well as their own interests have been achieved successfully. The fourth argument stated that the most of the executives in the corporate world lacks the moral or the capabilities of taking decisions regarding social welfare and are ineffective in the field of CSR. The final argument stated that if the organizations are given the power of the social responsibilities they might use the power as well as the influence to a bad effect that might affect the society to a high level. This argument is not at all right as the business organizations has the power to commercialize and materialize the society if they have not give the power of social responsibilities. Narrow View of CSR The above arguments become baseless as every organization have suitable power to materialize, commercialize or manipulate the society. Proceeding towards the broader view, the total number of the contention, which claims the broader view, is more acceptance than that of the narrow views towards CSR (Pedersen, 2015). Firstly, the company should follow up the duties towards the stakeholders, employees. Suppliers, te customers and the required environment. Secondly, greater responsibilities come from the great power. Large business organization is more influential on the customers than the smaller ones and they need to shop some responsibilities towards the local people and the society (Broad, 2013). Thirdly, a contract between the society and the business exists that can make and follows the rules, responsibilities and the guidelines on which the business organization will run. When society focuses with the sustainable development, the business organization follows and abides by the preset up rules and norms. Finally, every organization is considered as a self-individual under the law. As per to the law, every organization have the particular right to speech, right to enter the contracts. Rights is always followed by the duties and therefore it can be stated that every organization have duties towards the society (Ghoul, Guedhami Kim, 2016). Broad View vs Narrow Vew The main difference between the broader and the narrow views of CSR can be explained more elaborately by the ethical and the application theory in the practical field. According to the stakeholder theory, they are the most communicative persons in any business organization, so they are mostly affected by any norms, policies or rules of the organization. In some cases, the stakeholders have more of moral and legal rights with the organization (Deng, Kang Low,2013). For an example, most of the large organizations have multiple stakeholders, in which, few are primary and few can be secondary. At these peculiar situations, the particular organization may or may not have any legal rights towards the organization, but they do have some moral rights for knowing the policies related to the environmental facts. The stakeholders, who are known to be the primary ones, have more duties and many responsibilities towards the customers. Delivering services that functions properly towards the goods. Delivering the goods and the services to the customer are the main duties of the primary stakeholder (Deng, Kang Low 2013). The company head would definitely consider the broader view of CSR because the narrow approach or the narrow view focuses on the rights of the stakeholders, which cannot be ignored. Any organization faced criticism for the vast for the unpleasant environment that wasted the natural resources that contributed greatly towards the environment (Preuss, 2013). The broader approach of any organization even proves the responsibility towards the environment. For the protection of the environment, many groups were formed for it. The secondary stakeholder forms environmental groups for the protection of the environment. Kants Theory The application of the Kants ethics can be in a broader aspect. For an instance, the company must not misinterpreting any kind of the deliberate about its product. It must publish its reports on time to time; so that the consumer can be aware of the service sand the goods that is provided by the company. The business organization must respect the dignity of the human by giving proper respect towards its employees (Korschun, Bhattacharya, Swain, 2014). The employees must be given proper working environment and health plans for the well-being of the employees to increase the profit. Kant Theory Supports Broad Views of CSR The broader view is much better in the case of business organization as it creates a link between the societies with the business (Flammer, 2013). An organization when adopts the CSR is able to realize and recognize the benefits of the business in a particular community in a proper adopted manner than to remain flexible that can intersect with with the personal beliefs, values and the policies (Christensen, Mackey Whetten, 2014). A business organization must understand the result of the society and with the community that leads to the decision-making, that affects the society or the particular community in a positive way. If any business ignores the moral ethics and the principles, the success can be delayed in that case. Organizations often focus the engagement in the specific CSR activities; it can help in the reduction a proper inefficient capital growth and more of exposure to the risk factors. The most important activities of CSR that any organization maintains ethically or morally includes, opportunity for employment in equal policies and practices (Servaes, Tamayo, 2013). Environmentally sound production and the energy saving practices can be adopted. Managements towards the community relations are needed to take up in consideration. Understanding Kants ethical theory focuses on the essential part of the ethical system. Any organization, that implements on the basis of the Kants theory will always remains sound ethically and can be able to operate within itself (Vaughn, 2015). Kants provides these practices in his theory for its readers on trusting the ethical views. It relies on the main motive and the good will on the back of the particular action that is not the result of the action (Shafer-Landau, 2014). Organization must use these views for the foundation of the conducting the ethical issues on the platform of right or wrong. This implementation will leads to the positive ethical stability within the society, organization or in a particular community on that particular platform that the company serves (O'Neill, 2013). Conclusion It can be concluded that CSR is a type of a duty that every business organization must follow to perform in the particular society where they can function properly in a very responsible manner (Albuquerque, Durnev, Koskinen, 2014). On the general aspects, business organizations must not be forced to perform those duties. In some organizations, Corporate Social Responsibility is not being maintained as such. Many a times, civil societies, social media, the government forces the business organization to practice CSR. From the above discussion, it is clear and it is quiet significant for the activation of CSR is helpful to not only the company, employees, the government but also for the society as well. Hence, CSR must be considered within the values and the basic concepts of the organization and in this way the business organization would stop exploiting the society or the community. This concept will lead the organization more responsible without giving any stress to the employees. References: Albuquerque, R. A., Durnev, A., Koskinen, Y. (2014). Corporate social responsibility and firm risk: Theory and empirical evidence. Broad, C. D. (2014). Five types of ethical theory (Vol. 2). Routledge. Christensen, L. J., Mackey, A., Whetten, D. (2014). Taking responsibility for corporate social responsibility: The role of leaders in creating, implementing, sustaining, or avoiding socially responsible firm behaviors. The Academy of Management Perspectives, 28(2), 164-178. Clapp, J., Rowlands, I. H. (2014). Corporate social responsibility. The Essential Guide to Global Environmental Governance. Routledge: London, 42-44. Chicago Deng, X., Kang, J. K., Low, B. S. (2013). Corporate social responsibility and stakeholder value maximization: Evidence from mergers. Journal of Financial Economics, 110(1), 87-109. Deng, X., Kang, J. K., Low, B. S. (2013). Corporate social responsibility and stakeholder value maximization: Evidence from mergers. Journal of Financial Economics, 110(1), 87-109. El Ghoul, S., Guedhami, O., Kim, Y. (2016). Country-level institutions, firm value, and the role of corporate social responsibility initiatives. Journal of International Business Studies. Flammer, C. (2013). Corporate social responsibility and shareholder reaction: The environmental awareness of investors. Academy of Management Journal, 56(3), 758-781. Korschun, D., Bhattacharya, C. B., Swain, S. D. (2014). Corporate social responsibility, customer orientation, and the job performance of frontline employees. Journal of Marketing, 78(3), 20-37. O'Neill, O. (2013). Acting on principle: An essay on Kantian ethics. Cambridge University Press. Pedersen, E. R. G. (Ed.). (2015). Corporate social responsibility. Sage. Preuss, L. (2013). Corporate social responsibility. In Encyclopedia of corporate social responsibility (pp. 579-587). Springer Berlin Heidelberg. Ragas, M. W., Culp, R. (2014). Corporate Social Responsibility. In Business Essentials for Strategic Communicators (pp. 109-122). Palgrave Macmillan US. Servaes, H., Tamayo, A. (2013). The impact of corporate social responsibility on firm value: The role of customer awareness. Management Science, 59(5), 1045-1061. Shafer-Landau, R. (2014). The fundamentals of ethics. Vaughn, L. (2015). Doing ethics: Moral reasoning and contemporary issues. WW Norton Company.
Tuesday, December 3, 2019
Laocoon and his Sons â⬠An Anthropological Analysis Essay Example
Laocoon and his Sons ââ¬â An Anthropological Analysis Paper An Anthropological Analysis of Laocoon and his Sons The famous Laocoon and His Sons statue that is also called the Laocoon Group is a colossal marble sculpture situated in Rome in the Vatican Museums. The effigy was attributed to three sculptors: Athenodoros, Polydorus and Agesander by Pliny, a Roman author. The statue was a life size work measuring about 1.74 meters that displayed Laocoon, a Trojan priest and his two sons Thymbraeus and Antiphantes who were entwined by marine serpents. The historical background of the Laocoon and His Sons statue states that Laocoon was murdered after trying to expose the fraud of the Trojan Horse by attacking it with a lance. Being experienced and wise, Laocoon was skeptical of the strange ââ¬Ëgiftââ¬â¢ horse left by the Greeks after the war. However, his opposition to the idea of taking the horse as spoils of war was interpreted by Trojans as a punishment by the gods for defying destiny. The Laocoon itself is a multifaceted and authoritative work of art that attracts the eye with the extensive, flowing lines of the serpentsââ¬â¢ bodies. The serpents wind and pull slyly against the menacing bonds and the hurting and anguish of the priest is very apparent and touching. The sons seek their fatherââ¬â¢s assistance and he is incapable of helping them, or himself. Laocoonââ¬â¢s wide-open mouth is so superbly detailed one can almost hear his livid scream. The pain of betrayal, by both the Trojans and his gods, is splayed all over Laocoonââ¬â¢s face as clearly as fright is written on his sonsââ¬â¢. We will write a custom essay sample on Laocoon and his Sons ââ¬â An Anthropological Analysis specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Laocoon and his Sons ââ¬â An Anthropological Analysis specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Laocoon and his Sons ââ¬â An Anthropological Analysis specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The Roman cultural Context in which the Laocoon existed Ancient Rome was typically considered one of the largest empires globally that existed for about twelve centuries. In terms of organization, The Roman society was greatly advanced in warfare, engineering, politics, law, art, language, architecture, technology, government, religion and literature (Smedley 21). Apart from this, the Roman cukture was deeply anthropocentric. The people were te main focus within society. Romans had begun to enjoy advanced technology such as asphalt roads, storied buildings and other public facilities such as monuments and art galleries (Smedley 19). It is against this backdrop of advanced civilization that the Laocoon was sculpted in honor of the rich religious and mythical history of Rome. The Roman society was well organized into urban centers and military settlements having large populations. However, within these settlements there were distinct class structures that divided people into slaves, freedmen and freeborn citizens. The Roman culture was rich in various elements of interest for example, the Colosseum, the Pantheon and other facilities for example, theaters and public baths that were not affected by acculturation. Most of the social activities within Rome happened within these locations and the constant use made them quite significant. The Laocoon held a religious and social significance upon the people of Rome and this made it an even greater sculpture as compared to other works of art (Smedley 16). This emic behavior by the Romans was vital in shaping the global perception on the Laocoon (Smedley 25). This is because in other parts of the world, acculturation played a major role in changing peopleââ¬â¢s cultures and tastes. The development of Roman sculpture was influenced chiefly by contact with other neighboring societies. Romans initially focused on producing life-size replicas of prominent and victorious personalities within their society. Religious deities were part of this description. Portraiture and religious art were the two main specialties of Roman sculpture (Gupta Ferguson 11). Most entrance halls of Roman architecture were decorated with life-size sculptures and portrait busts. Concerning religious art, the Roman temple was the center for display of several statues of deities and gods. Roman altars in backyards and gardens also had similar statues. Another secondary form or art related to the two was funerary art that displayed the everyday activities by Romans such as agriculture, war and other games. The statue of Laocoon and His Sons was therefore a significant part of the Roman history and heritage that served as a constant reminder of the belief system and great gods that ruled over R ome. In general,., the level of cultural relativism was very low as most Roman artists focused mainly on their type of art. Influence of the Laocoon statue The statue is a major part of the Roman culture that dates back to 50 BC and having close similarity to the Alcyoneus statue dated 160 BC. On the day of discovery, the statue was slightly destroyed with Laocoonââ¬Ës right arm missing as well as one arm on the child. Finally, the whole sculpture was torn down and restored with the arm properly in place (Gupta Ferguson 29). During the course of disassembly, the engineers were able to scrutinize the cuttings, breaks, dowel holes, and metal tenons that suggested that in antiquity, a more solid, three-dimensional pyramidal assembly of the three sculptures was used or at least considered. The discovery of the Laocoon statue made a great impact on Italian artists and extensively influenced the development of Italian Renaissance art. The great Michelangelo was particularly influenced by the colossal scale of the work and its sumptuous Hellenistic aesthetics, particularly its representation of the male figures. The discovery of the Laocoo n was a very important finding for educated Renaissance artists and clients who were bent on restoring the ancient Roman culture (Gupta Ferguson 19). The sculpture managed to raise significant religious attention in Rome. At one point, Pope Julius II procured the sculpture for his own collection, after which he paraded the sculpture through the streets of the Rome where the citizens showered it with flower petals. Within art circles, there was a flurry of contests hosted by Donato Bramante to develop a replica of the spoilt parts of the sculpture. The ancient Laocoon also exerted a strong aesthetic power on the High Renaissance artists. The unearthing of the sculpture also speeded up the rediscovery of the classical aesthetic. The Laocoon became a benchmark against which Renaissance art was evaluated, thereby instituting a standard of beauty that influenced art for the next 500 years. By far, Michelangelo was the artist most influenced by the Laocoon, whose representation of the human figure in motion was fundamentally changed by his study of the Laocoon. The work also intensely influenced the development of the western art. Raphaelââ¬â¢s painting the Galatea was a response to the sculpture as well as the efforts of Titian in Venice and his Greek apprentice, El Greco. Rubens sketched the Laocoon based the foundation of most of his paintings on the prehistoric sculpture. Even Gericault, the French artist included Laocoon -like elements into his prominent political work, The Raft of the Medusa. Apart from artists, the unearthing of the sculpture was of great importance to political figures. Historically, Francis I, king of France had shown interest in the marvelous work of art and had requested the Pope to give him sculpture as a spoil of war. Therefore, the Pope had a fake replica made in case King Francis became persistent. However, this did not happen but later on, during Napoleonââ¬â¢s reign, the Laocoon soon found itself in France where it stayed for several years until he was defeated. The Laocoon is however not exceptional. Without a doubt, it has been applied too often as a model. Indeed, the creative and chronological life of historical sculpture in contemporary times has probably been based on uplifting individual projects to paradigmatic ranks, and not only the Laocoon. One of the influential people surrounding the Laocoon, El Greco was an academic that had experience in Venetian ââ¬Ëcoloritoââ¬â¢ and Renaissance compositional methods. Later on, he developed his eclectic fashion, becoming a principal artist in the Mannerist faction and embracing the Spanish artistic Renaissance. These two styles were evident within Laocoon; El Grecoââ¬â¢s solitary painting on a mythological theme. While classical in nature, Laocoon mirrors the artistic, religious, and political revolutions of post-Renaissance society. The Laocoon originated from the Hellenistic Era when Greek art transformed from the quite stiff and motionless art and the romanticized forms of earlier periods, into a more innate free flowing art full of zeal and sensation, whilst keeping a number of the features of preceding periods. Most Hellenistic works of art did not survive the journey to present day, and most instructors depend on Roman replicas for their teaching needs (Gupta Fergus on 62). George E. Marcus multi-sided strategy Multi-sited ethnography is a technique of data collection that tracks a theme or social issue through diverse field sites socially or geographically (Kuhn 12). While different methods can be applied independently, multi-sited ethnography typically demands the use of supplementary techniques like surveys, planned interviews or other data collection methods. Marcus stated that in the research process, scientists could pursue a ââ¬Å"thingâ⬠. In the case of the Laocoon, following a ââ¬Å"thingâ⬠would offer the best results in multi-sited ethnography, and this involves tracing the geographical journey and social implication of the statue through Europe. When this type of strategy concentrates on tracking the statue, examiners trace signs and representations, or symbolic interpretations of the Laocoon in the lives of the Roman people and any other societies it may have met on its journey (Gupta Ferguson 67). The Laocoon statue was initially sculpted at around 40-20 BCE by three artists: Athenodorus, Agesander and Polydorus. While it was originally situated in Rhodes, the next valid account of its whereabouts placed the statue in Emperor Titusââ¬â¢ palace at around 70 BC. It was in his palace that the fancy description written in Latin was born. The description displayed the Laocoon as being ââ¬Ëâ⬠¦sculptured from a single block, both the main figure as well as the children, and the serpents with their marvelous folds (Kuhn 28).ââ¬â¢ In January 1506, the same statue was discovered in a vineyard on the Oppian Hill. This discovery was made by Guiliano da Sangallo and Michelangelo working under the instructions of Pope Julius II (Gupta Ferguson 24). After this unearthing, the statue fell in the hands of the Pope who elevated it to the level of a deity. This discovery also triggered interest among other European artists for example Giovanni Antonio da Brescia, Marcantonio Raimondi and Jacopo Sansovino who experimented with wax, canvas and stone. By 1770, Raphael Mengs had already sculpted a replica of the Laocoon that was being displayed in Florence (Gupta Ferguson 22). The original Laocoon was also shifted to Paris under immense political pressure from the Treaty of Tolentino. There, it underwent several restorations. The sculpture had traversed through France, Italy, parts of Germany and Romania. Therefore, the sculpture has had several contact with different societies and been used for its aesthetic beauty, religious relevance and architectural complexity. However, the Roman influence has greatly overwhelmed all the other aspects of the statue (Kuhn 25). Roman perception of the Laocoon The statement made by Pliny when he was rating the sculpture was a summary of the perceptions of most Romans and art enthusiasts across the globe. Pliny commented that the Laocoon was ââ¬Å"â⬠¦a work that must be considered superior to all other products of the arts of painting and sculptureâ⬠(Turner 19). This figure was a very passionate dramatization of the anguish of Laocoon and his sons, portraying in complete practicality the pain that can befall human beings. The serpents fuse the three people, taking the viewer from one person to the next. Every area of Laocoonââ¬â¢s visage portrays his anguish, from his furrowed forehead to the half-shut eyes and parted mouth. All the three individuals are illustrated as being in a reminiscent state of pain. Every single inch of the sculpture exhibits torment and suffering. Among the Romans, the Laocoon statue represented an amazing illustration of the methods that artists used for instance, the dramatic baroque effects. Laocoon cocked his head, as he stared at the heavens with a wrinkled temple and his facial hair in complete disorder. Laocoonââ¬â¢s facial appearance communicated certain misery, agony, and surprise at the basis for such an atrocious attack. Meanwhile, his sonââ¬â¢s head was tilted backward from the sting of the beast biting into his upper body (Turner 26). The features contained in this group of sculptures particularly the facial expressions and the complexity of the bodily fine points portray emotions of fright, agony and disbelief as the family struggled to understand why the gods and their fellow men would betray and feed them to serpents (Turner 27). Conclusion In conclusion, the beforehand arguments and illustrations have managed to demonstrate the main reasons as to why the Laocoon statue was considered a significant element of the Hellenistic baroque, a religious deity and an informative piece of learning material. The illustration of feats and emotions, the pleasure of triumph and the anguish of loss all coalesce to deliver a much more practical, naturalistic and aesthetically satisfying work than those from the previous periods. The motivational influence that it had on later artists, for example Michelangelo makes the Laocoon even more significant to the future generations (Turner 21). Work Cited Gupta, A, and Ferguson J. Beyond ââ¬Å"cultureâ⬠: Space, Identity, and the Politics of Difference. Culture, Power, Place: Explorations in Critical Anthropology. 1999. Print. Kuhn, Thomas S. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1996. Print. Smedley, A. Race and the Construction of Human Identity. American Anthropologist. 100.3. 1998: 690-702. Print. Turner, Victor. Process, System, and Symbol: a New Anthropological Synthesis. Daedalus. 106.3. 1977: 61-80. Print.
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