“Being born into any society and any social
group means that members of this particular society and social group must learn
about and practice the norms and rules of that particular society and social
group. This is the process called ‘socialization’. Normally, different sets of
norms and rules apply to
different groups of people (one fundamental division being that between men and
women). Accordingly,
learning about and practicing norms and rules is tantamount to two distinct
sets of behavior. On the one hand it means knowing, practicing and expecting a
certain set of norms and rules; on the other it means knowing and expecting,
but not practicing the same set of norms and rules – in other words, in-group
and out-group behavior. “ -Agnes Heller.
Agnes Heller was born, May 12, 1929 in
Budapest Hungary. She is currently a
professor at the new school of social research in New York. She has a Ph.D.
from the Lorand Eotvos University and her concentration is ethics and political
philosophy, Marx, Hegel. Jewish, Agnes and her family were in constant danger in the 1940’s. In 1947 she started her studies at the University
and joined the communist party. She openly criticized the soviet suppression of
the Prague spring of 1968. She was expelled several times for her candid views.
She won the Lessing prize for Philosophy activity in 1981, the Szeehenyi
national prize in Hungary in 1995, the Hannah Arendt prize for political
philosophy in 1995 and the Sonning prize in 2006.
It seems if you are rich, you follow one set of rules and if
you are poor, you follow a totally different set of rules. Clearly Agnes spoke
for people in general, not a particular group but in general for all. She spoke
out against the oppression/suppression of people in society constantly, and was
always punished for it, causing her expulsion from the university which she
worked for on and off over the years. Also
in that era the 1940’s, women were oppressed, not considered strong, not allowed
to speak out, and existed about several steps behind the man of the house, yet
she still held her ground and stuck with her beliefs, among them, freedom of
expression. There will always be social conflicts because we are all
individuals who live with different rules and ideologies. She was constantly exposed /faced with
authoritarianism in her social circle as well as at work. It is clear she is trying to make a difference
in society, maybe change the world. She challenged restrictions against the
people. Maybe, she was trying to follow
the Marxist theory as Praxis. The fusion
of theory and practice (Murdaco). Well there
is a saying practice what you preach and she certainly did. This shows how
compelling and strong her character is as a woman and a feminist.
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari was illusive, consisting of
foreshadows, until the murders of course, clearly portraying how people in power or of a higher status use
it to influence or abuse others , in most cases for their own gain and to
achieve power. In the movie, things are not what they seem or what you see is
not what you are going to get. However the
movie shows the good, the bad, and the oppressed, the justice verses the injustice.
I liked the double edged meaning of the movie, even though it was crafty and absolutely insane.
·
Agnes Heller (2000) The
Frankfurt School, 2 December 2005
·
[11] Copyright: Agnes Heller;
First published: 1987 by Basil Blackwell Ltd;
HTML Mark-up: Andy Blunden, 2003.
First published: 1987 by Basil Blackwell Ltd;
HTML Mark-up: Andy Blunden, 2003.
"It seems if you are rich, you follow one set of rules and if you are poor, you follow a totally different set of rules."
ReplyDeleteIronically your first sentence really struck a chord with me. I do believe that for the most part most people within a society follow the same sort of rules (Culture) or try to to the best of their ability. But there is always that fringe element, the more extreme spectrums of people who have certain morals they follow by virtue of their being something particular, such as rich or poor. We are ironically born into one social norm, which is greater society, but as we move zoom into our own microscopic worlds, our homes, our neighborhoods, our workplaces, ourselves, "social norm" changes drastically or sometimes not so drastically but noticeably still.
As for your synopsis of the Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, I do find it sort of interesting that the character of Dr. Caligari was posing as a magician throughout the movie and then it turns out that he is in fact the doctor of the psyche ward. In pretending to be the magician, even just in his mind, he actually makes his patient's mental condition worse. He completely turns topsy turvy everything his patient believed was real. So the consequence for discovering his fear was in fact giving him entirely new ones.