Impact of Modernism on Society

Impact of Modernism on Society What is modernism? What impact has modernism had on human society? Discuss the impact of the digital age on the social, economic and political life of societies today Modernism is a philosophical movement that, along with cultural trends and changes, arose from wide-scale and far-reaching transformations in Western society in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Among the factors that shaped Modernism was the development of modern industrial societies and the rapid growth of cities, followed then by the horror of World War I. Modernism also rejected the certainty of Enlightenment thinking, and many modernists rejected religious belief. Modernism, in general, includes the activities and creations of those who felt the traditional forms of art, architecture, literature, religious faith, philosophy, social organization, and activities of daily life were becoming outdated in the new economic, social, and political environment of an emerging fully industrialized world. The poet Ezra Pounds 1934 injunction to Make it new! was the touchstone of the movements approach towards what it saw as the now obsolete culture of the past. Nevertheless, its innovations, like the stream-of-consciousness novel, twelve-tone music and abstract art, all had precursors in the 19th century. Modernism, here limited to aesthetic modernism (see also modernity), describes a series of sometimes radical movements in art, architecture, photography, music, literature, and the applied arts which emerged in the three decades before 1914. Modernism has philosophical antecedents that can be traced to the eighteenth-century Enlightenment but is rooted in the changes in Western society at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries. Modernism encompasses the works of artists who rebelled against nineteenth-century academic and historicist traditions, believing that earlier aesthetic conventions were becoming outdated. Modernist movements, such as Cubism in the arts, Atonality in music, and Symbolism in poetry, directly and indirectly explored the new economic, social, and political aspects of an emerging fully industrialized world. Modernist art reflected the deracinated experience of life in which tradition, community, collective identity, and faith were eroding. In the twentieth century, the mechanized mass slaughter of the First World War was a watershed event that fueled modernist distrust of reason and further sundered complacent views of the steady moral improvement of human society and belief in progress. A notable characteristic of Modernism is self-consciousness, which often led to experiments with form, along with the use of techniques that drew attention to the processes and materials used in creating a painting, poem, building, etc. Modernism explicitly rejected the ideology of realism and makes use of the works of the past by the employment of reprise, incorporation, rewriting, recapitulation, revision and parody. Some commentators define Modernism as a socially progressive trend of thought that affirms the power of human beings to create, improve and reshape their environment with the aid of practical experimentation, scientific knowledge, or technology. From this perspective, Modernism encouraged the re-examination of every aspect of existence, from commerce to philosophy, with the goal of finding that which was holding back progress, and replacing it with new ways of reaching the same end. Others focus on Modernism as an aesthetic introspection. This facilitates consideration of specific reactions to the use of technology in the First World War, and anti-technological and nihilistic aspects of the works of diverse thinkers and artists spanning the period from Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) to Samuel Beckett (1906–1989) MODERISM IMPACT HAS ON SOCIETY Many modernists believed that by rejecting tradition they could discover radically new ways of making art. Arnold Schoenberg believed that by rejecting traditional tonal harmony, the hierarchical system of organizing works of music which had guided music-making for at least a century and a half, and perhaps longer, he had discovered a wholly new way of organizing sound, based on the use of 12-note rows. This led to what is known as serial music by the post-war period. Abstract artists, taking as their examples from the Impressionists, as well as Paul CÃ ©zanne and Edvard Munch, began with the assumption that color and shape formed the essential characteristics of art, not the depiction of the natural world. Wassily Kandinsky, Piet Mondrian, and Kazimir Malevich all believed in redefining art as the arrangement of pure color. The use of photography, which had rendered much of the representational function of visual art obsolete, strongly affected this aspect of Modernism. However, these artists also believed that by rejecting the depiction of material objects they helped art move from a materialist to a spiritualist phase of development. Other Modernists, especially those involved in design, had more pragmatic views. Modernist architects and designers believed that new technology rendered old styles of building obsolete. Le Corbusier thought that buildings should function as machines for living in, analogous to cars, which he saw as machines for traveling in. Just as cars had replaced the horse, so Modernist design should reject the old styles and structures inherited from Ancient Greece or from the Middle Ages. Following this machine aesthetic, Modernist designers typically reject decorative motifs in design, preferring to emphasize the materials used and pure geometrical forms. The skyscraper, such as Ludwig Mies van der Rohes Seagram Building in New York (1956–1958), became the archetypal Modernist building. Modernist design of houses and furniture also typically emphasized simplicity and clarity of form, open-plan interiors, and the absence of clutter. Modernism reversed the nineteenth-century relationship of public and private: in the nineteenth century, public buildings were horizontally expansive for a variety of technical reasons, and private buildings emphasized verticality—to fit more private space on more and more limited land. In other arts, such pragmatic considerations were less important. In literature and visual art, some Modernists sought to defy expectations mainly in order to make their art more vivid, or to force the audience to take the trouble to question their own preconceptions. This aspect of Modernism has often seemed a reaction to consumer culture, which developed in Europe and North America in the late-nineteenth century. Whereas most manufacturers try to make products that will be marketable by appealing to preferences and prejudices, High Modernists rejected such consumerist attitudes in order to undermine conventional thinking. IMPACT OF SOCIAL CHANGES ON EDUCATION Social change refers to an alteration in the social order of a society. It may refer to the notion of social progress or socio cultural evolution, the philosophical idea that society moves forward by dialectical or evolutionary means. It may refer to a paradigmatic change in the socio-economic structure, for instance a shift away from feudalism and towards capitalism. Accordingly it may also refer to social revolution, such as the Socialist revolution presented in Marxism, or to other social movements, such as Womens suffrage or the Civil rights movement. Social change may be driven by cultural, religious, economic, scientific or technological forces. More generally, social change may include changes in nature, social institutions, social behaviours or social relations. EDUCATION AND SOCIAL CHANGE The role of education as an agent or instrument of social change and social development is widely recognized today. Social change may take place when humans need change. When the existing social system or network of social institutions fails to meet the existing human needs and when new materials suggest better ways of meeting human needs. Education can initiate social changes by bringing about a change in outlook and attitude of man. It can bring about a change in the pattern of social relationships and thereby it may cause social changes. Earlier educational institutions and teachers used to show a specific way of life to the students and education was more a means of social control than an instrument of social change. Modern educational institutions do not place much emphasis upon transmitting a way of life to the students. The traditional education was meant for an unchanging static society not marked by any change. But today education aims at imparting knowledge. Education was associated with religion. EDUCATION AND CULTURE Education encompasses teaching and learning specific skills and also something less tangible but more profound: the imparting of knowledge good judgement and wisdom. Durkheim sees education as the socialization of the younger generation .It is a continuous effort to impose on the child ways of seeing,feeling and acting which he could not have arrived at spontaneously. Education has as one of its fundamental goals the imparting of culture from generation to generation. Culture is a growing whole. There can be no break in the continuity of culture. The cultural elements are passed on through the agents like family, school and other associations. All societies maintain themselves through their culture. Culture here refers to a set of beliefs, skills, art, literature, philosophy, religion, music etc which must be learned. This social heritage must be transmitted through social organizations. Education has this function of cultural transmission in all societies. The curriculum of a school ,its extra-curricular activities and the informal relationships among students and teachers communicate social skills and values. Through various activities school imparts values such as co-operation , team spirit ,obedience ,discipline etc. Education acts an integrative force in the society by communicating values that unites different sections of society. The school teach skills to the children which help them later to integrate within the culture of the society. Education in its formal or informal pattern has been performing this role since time immemorial. Education can be looked upon as process from this point of view also. Education has brought phenomenal changes in every aspect of mans life. TYPE OF SOCIAL CHANGE Civilization change It refers to the dress, food habits, production technologies, communication system, etc. Cultural change It is associated with new knowledge. Religion, rituals, arts, literature etc. Change in social relationship. It is the relationship between the father and son, teacher and student, husband and wife, etc. FACTORS RESPONSIBLE FOR SOCIAL CHANGE Geographical factors like climatic conditions that influence the climatic conditions. Psychological factors like motivation, individualisation etc Sociological factors like social conflicts, social oppressions, modernization etc. Explosion of population The environmental factors like newly built cities, industrialised and urbanised natural environment. The scientific and technological factors like technical advancements, new inventions, modern machineries, tools, etc. The ideological factors like social philosophy, political philosophy and religious philosophy. The legislative factors like legislation on temple entry, banning child marriages etc. The impact of western civilisation and cultural diffusion Contact of people with different countries The level of education and literacy attained by the society Modernisation of the society New attitudes to wealth, work, saving and risk taking War, natural calamities, revolutions, migration of people, etc RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EDUCATION AND SOCIAL CHANGE According to V.R.Taneja Education and social change is a two way traffic. While education preserves, transmits and disseminates the whole culture, social change is the instrument and precondition of educational thought. 1. EDUCATION AS A CONDITON OF SOCIAL CHANGE. It is noted that social change is impossible without education. Education makes the people aware of the inadequacies of the existing system and creates a craze for social reform. Many of the old superstitions, beliefs and outdated customs. Which is retard social progress, can be prevented by education. It is to be noted that many progressive reforms like Hindu Code Bill and Untouchability Removal Act remained ineffective due to the illiteracy of a large number of Indian people. 2. EDUCATION AS AN INSTRUMENT OF SOCIAL CHANGE. Education is considered as a powerful instrument for social change, because it deals mainly with the thought patterns and behaviour patterns of younger generation. The axe of education can cut down the thick roots of traditional superstitions, ignorance and the backwardness. Education prepares the people for social change. 3. EDUCATION AS AN EFFECT OF SOCIAL CHANGE. In the wake of social change, people become aware of the need for educational progress. The changes caused by the political upheaval, industrialisation, technological progress and religious reform movements naturally demands more education in order to maintain social equilibrium. In India the enrolment in educational institutions has increased enormously since independence. We can summarize the following relationship between education and social change in the following way: Education initiates the social change and gives them direction and purpose. Education creates the social reformers and leaders who consciously make all the efforts to bring about social changes. Education prepares the individual for social changes. It brings a change in the need dispositions and also creates frustrations with the status quo. Education determines the nature of social changes, which ought to be brought about.

Memes Shaping the Blogosphere :: Memetics Science Genes Brain Essays

Memes Shaping the Blogosphere The science of memetics – the scientific and systematic study of memes and their propagation – is not quite considered a science yet. People will concede that memes are a key factor in cultural evolution, but they are too difficult to track, too unpredictable to study closely. Unless we "someday discover a striking identity between brain structures storing the same information, allowing us to identify memes syntactically" (Dennett 354), it would seem that there is little hope for a science of memetics. How can we explore and apply memetics to culture if we cannot isolate and investigate the memes themselves, and their behaviors and effects? While memes' motion and influence through culture at large is perhaps impossible to analyze using a precise methodology, memes' virus-like spread on the internet – most notably throughout the so-called "blogosphere" – is easier to follow. Consequently, it is also much easier to highlight how memes have directed the evolution of the "blogosphere," and, indeed, of blogging and internet itself. Richard Dawkins, who is credited with coining the term "meme," defines it as: ...a unit of cultural transmission, or a unit of imitation... Just as genes propagate themselves in the gene pool by leaping from body to body via sperm or eggs, so memes propagate themselves in the meme pool by leaping from brain to brain via a process which, in the broad sense, can be called imitation (Dennett 344-5). Since the blogosphere can be defined as the internet space populated by weblogs, memes travel through it not from brain to brain, but from page to page, leaving a trail that can be monitored and analyzed. Memes have been an important part of the blogging world since at least 2001, when "Best Meme" first appeared as a category in The Bloggies, the annual Oscars of weblogging. The winner in the "Best Meme" category that year was "A Day Without Weblogs," which suggested that each December 1st, people use their weblogs to link to information and resources about AIDS, in memory of those who had died. "A Day Without Weblogs" had in fact begun with only fifty blogs in 1999, but by 2001, over 1,000 webloggers participated (Link and Think, 2003). The success of "A Day Without Weblogs" was one of the first demonstrations of the power and reach of the blogging community. The success of the project helped bring crucial attention to a serious issue, and mobilized many casual web surfers to donate time and money to the cause. Memes Shaping the Blogosphere :: Memetics Science Genes Brain Essays Memes Shaping the Blogosphere The science of memetics – the scientific and systematic study of memes and their propagation – is not quite considered a science yet. People will concede that memes are a key factor in cultural evolution, but they are too difficult to track, too unpredictable to study closely. Unless we "someday discover a striking identity between brain structures storing the same information, allowing us to identify memes syntactically" (Dennett 354), it would seem that there is little hope for a science of memetics. How can we explore and apply memetics to culture if we cannot isolate and investigate the memes themselves, and their behaviors and effects? While memes' motion and influence through culture at large is perhaps impossible to analyze using a precise methodology, memes' virus-like spread on the internet – most notably throughout the so-called "blogosphere" – is easier to follow. Consequently, it is also much easier to highlight how memes have directed the evolution of the "blogosphere," and, indeed, of blogging and internet itself. Richard Dawkins, who is credited with coining the term "meme," defines it as: ...a unit of cultural transmission, or a unit of imitation... Just as genes propagate themselves in the gene pool by leaping from body to body via sperm or eggs, so memes propagate themselves in the meme pool by leaping from brain to brain via a process which, in the broad sense, can be called imitation (Dennett 344-5). Since the blogosphere can be defined as the internet space populated by weblogs, memes travel through it not from brain to brain, but from page to page, leaving a trail that can be monitored and analyzed. Memes have been an important part of the blogging world since at least 2001, when "Best Meme" first appeared as a category in The Bloggies, the annual Oscars of weblogging. The winner in the "Best Meme" category that year was "A Day Without Weblogs," which suggested that each December 1st, people use their weblogs to link to information and resources about AIDS, in memory of those who had died. "A Day Without Weblogs" had in fact begun with only fifty blogs in 1999, but by 2001, over 1,000 webloggers participated (Link and Think, 2003). The success of "A Day Without Weblogs" was one of the first demonstrations of the power and reach of the blogging community. The success of the project helped bring crucial attention to a serious issue, and mobilized many casual web surfers to donate time and money to the cause.

Contract Law – Intention to Oontract

Contract Law 1 Intention to Create Legal Relations In order for a contract to be valid there must be intention to create legal relations. Enright notes ‘the requirement of intention to create legal relations is a final doorkeeper in contract. It determines which agreements supported by consideration shall be covered by contract law and which shall merely be morally binding. ’ This requirement was expressly stated for the first time in Heilbut, Symons & Co V Buckleton.Friel notes that important as there are a great many agreements and arrangements that, though possessing many of the characteristics of contract, probably are not intended to attract legal consequences. Intention to be legally bound operates on the basis of presumptions. The test for intention is objective. The court will impute intention to create legal relations to the parties on the basis on external factors rather than on the workings of the parties’ minds. Intention and Presumptions There are two presumptions in this area: 1.There is a presumption that agreements between family members or friends are not intended to be legally binding. 2. There is a presumption that agreements which are made in a commercial context are intended to be legally binding. Social and Domestic Arrangements A close family of social relationship raises a presumption of lack of intention to create legal relations. The seminal case, Balfour V Balfour involved maintenance payments to be sent home to his wife while he was working abroad. The court held that agreements between husband and wife are not intended to be legally binding.The closer the blood relationship the more readily the presumption will be raised and the more distant the degree of blood relationship, the more likely the courts will infer an intention to be legally binding. This can be seen in Simpkins V Pays where an informal agreement between a landlord and his lodger, to enter into a weekly competition, held lodger entitled to share of winnings, despite landlord’s evidence that there was no intention to be legally bound. Rogers V Smith shows the same principal in Balfour V Balfour applied to other family relationships. It was held in this case that the agreement between a mother nd her son did not attract legal relations. Likewise in Mckay V Jones where a nephew had worked on his uncle’s farm for some years without payment, claimed that the uncle had promised to the farm when he died. Deale J. Ruled that it was nothing more than a statement of intention or wish by the deceased†¦.. no promise was made as the agreement was between family members. In contrast to this case is McCarron V McCarron where a child worked without reward for 16 years. The child was said to have lost out more in McCarron and therefore had a greater detriment or reliance on the compensation promised.The dates between this cases may explain the different points of view. In Leahy V Rawson found that an agreement between her no n-marital partner’s brother, did not attract the presumption as it only applies to the closest family kinships, such as parent and child and spouses. The courts also held the same principal in social arrangements as was shown in Hadley V Kemp. In this case the court raised the presumption that an agreement as to the sharing of songwriter’s loyalties with other members of his band (Spandau Ballet) was not intended to create legal relations.Enright notes that a degree of intimacy is required between the parties in order to raise the presumption. The issue is not of status but closeness. We can contrast Balfour with Merritt V Merritt. As in Balfour, the parties were husband and wife and the agreement concerned an allowance, yet, in Merritt, the court chose to enforce the agreement. Merritt is distinguished however, on the grounds that the husband and wife were separated, so they were not in a close relationship any longer and so the presumption of lack of intention to cre ate legal relations could not be raise.For the same reason, and as it appears in Courtney V Courtney, a separation agreement will not attract the presumption of lack of intention to create legal relations. It is the parties’ relationship at the time of contracting which matters. That is clear from the mother-daughter case of Jones V Padavatton. In this case, the mother agreed to maintain her daughter if she came home and studied for the Bar. Over time their relationship broke down but the presumption of lack of intention to create legal relations stood because of their close relationship at the time. Rebutting the PresumptionThere is some authority to the effect that the courts are more likely to find that the presumption of lack of intention to create legal relations has been rebutted where one party has relied on the agreement. This is seen in Parker V Clarke, involved two couples who were close friends. The Clarks told the Parkers if they sold their cottage they could move in with them, that the Clarks would leave some of their considerable estate to the Parkers on his death. Sometime after the couple moved in they fell out and the Parkers were forced to move out. They sued the Clarks for breach of contract.Because of the parties close relationship at the time of contracting, the presumption was that it was not intended to be legally binding. However, the court found that the Parkers’ detrimental reliance on the agreement in leaving their home was a factor strong enough to rebut the presumption, and intention to create legal relations was thereby found. The party alleging that a family agreement was intended to be legally binding bears the onus of rebutting the presumption that it was not so intended. It is significant that in a family agreement was made in a business context.So, for example, an agreement made in connection with a family business, such as that between brothers, directors of the company in Snelling V John G Snelling Ltd, is unl ikely to fall foul of the presumption of lack of intention to create legal relations. The words used by the parties in setting out their agreement and, in particular, the level of certainty attaching to the agreement were also important. The fact that the parties have taken time to set out their agreement with formality and precision suggests that they intended it to be legally bound.On the other hand, where an agreement is expressed in vague terms, it tends to suggest that the parties did not intend to create a legally binding agreement. This is clear from Vaughan V Vaughan. This case concerned a couple who were no longer living in amity. They had agreed that the wife could stay in the matrimonial home. However, they had not decided how long she could stay for, or on what terms. Accordingly, their agreement was so vague in its essentials that the Court could not confer intention to create legal intentions in it.Commercial Agreements Commercial agreements raise the presumption that intention to create legal relations is present. It is difficult to rebut this assumption. The burden of proof is on the party seeking to deny it and that burden, according to Edwards V Skyways, is a heavy one. Vagueness on the essential terms of the contract tends to suggest an absence of intention to create legal relations. For example, the courts will rarely be able to find intention to create legal relations in so-called sales puffs.Thus, in Lambert V Lewis, no contract arose from a manufacturer’s statement that his product was ‘foolproof’ and ‘required no maintenance’ because his statements were ‘not intended to be, nor were they, acted on as being express warranties’. A lot depends on the facts of the case at hand. In Esso Petroleum V Commissioner of Customs and Excise, a binding contract was deemed to arise from a transaction in which football tokens were offered to anyone who purchased four gallons of the plaintiff’s petrol .According to Lord Simon ‘†¦. the whole transaction took place in a setting of business relations†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢, the purpose of the offer being commercial: Esso wanted the public to buy its petrol. Rebutting the Presumption Cadbury Ireland Ltd V Kerry Co-Op shows how a number of factors can operate to rebut the presumption of intention to create legal relations. In this case, a clause held not intended to be legally binding despite its solemnity: it was an argument to draw up a detailed agreement, but could not be relied upon itself.Even in a commercial context, the presumption in favour of the intention to create legal relations can be dispatched by a very clear expression of lack of intention. A classic example of this is in Rose and Frank Co V Crompton Bros. In this case, the parties had agreed that the plaintiff would be permitted to distribute the defendants’ goods in the US. The agreement however contained an ‘honourable pledge clause’. The cour t held that the agreement could not be enforced because of this clause. The court also found the wording precise enough to rebut the presumption in Jones V Vernon’s Pools Ltd.Collective Agreements Where a trade union negotiates an agreement with an employer on behalf of its members, does this agreement attract the presumption of intention to create legal relations? In the English case of Ford Motor Co Ltd V Amalgamated Union of Engineering and Foundry Workers, it is said that the presumption in relation to collective agreements is that they are not made with the intention to create legal relations. However, Irish Law takes a contrary view, tending to favour the enforcement of collective agreements via contract.So in Ardmore Studios V Lynch, it was suggested that a collective agreement which is set out in a clear specific manner will take legal effect. The Supreme Court took up this thread in Goulding Chemicals V Bolger. For the purposes of Irish Law, it seems safe to say that collective agreements can be enforced in the same manner as any other commercial agreement and attract the presumption that the intention of legal relations is present. In O’Rourke V Talbot Ireland, Barrington J treated a collective agreement as a commercial agreement.Similarly, in King V Aer Lingus the Supreme Court took the view that some of the commitments given by Aer Lingus to its employees as part of a collective agreement were binding. A problem that continues to afflict collective agreements, however, is their characteristically vague language – the majority of collective agreements will be void for uncertainty. Letters of Intent V Letters of Comfort Enright notes that a letter of comfort is a document designed to reassure the person to whom it is provided about certain matters while stopping short of making any binding promise.A good example of the effects of a letter of comfort arose in Kleinwort Benson V Malaysia Mining Corp. Bhd. In this case, the plaintif f bank had agreed to lend money to the subsidiary of the Malaysia Mining Corporation. In the course of negotiations for the loan, the bank received a letter of comfort stating that: ‘it is policy to ensure that the business of our subsidiary is at all times in a position to meet its liabilities to you under the above arrangements. ’ Despite this reassurance, the Court of Appeal concluded that this statement did not bind the defendant.The letter was not, in fact, purporting a binding promise. It was simply stating that company’s policy, a policy that might be changed or adjusted in response to novel circumstances. It is important to note, however, that there is no concrete rule precluding a letter of comfort from giving rise to legal relations. Whether or not such letters creates a legally binding promise is a matter to to be discerned primarily from the language used. The simple fact that the words ‘letter of comfort’ have been used, while evidently relevant, may not conclusively prevent the agreement rom having legal implications. There is a lot of uncertainty in this area as in seen in the case of Wilson Smithett & Cape (Sugar) Ltd V Bangladesh Sugar and Food Industries Corporation. A letter of intent, in contrast to a comfort letter, is one in which a person or company seeks to induce another entity to undertake work to incur expenditure, while denying or limiting liability to that other entity, often by insisting that liability turned on concluding a formal contract at a later date.In AC Controls Ltd V BBC, the court summarised the principals in relation to letters on intent. The general principal on letters of intent that seek to authorise work, materials or services pending the conclusion of a later contract is that such letters will be viewed as contracts in themselves as long as objective is present. In ERDC Group Ltd V Brunel University, the Court held that the work done prior to September had all been on the authority as set out in the series of Letters of Intent.The judge thought that the usual requirements for a contract were all there (intention to create a legal relationship, certainty, etc) and had all been there until 1 September. He therefore found that there had been a contract until then. Accordingly, ERDC was to be paid on the basis specified in the letters – the JCT rules. Conclusion It is contended that the requirement of intention to create legal intentions largely makes sense.Social and domestic agreements have the presumption as not having intention to create legal relations as there is a belief that such formalities are not required in this type of relationship. Enright notes that there are two reasons why this is employed. Firstly, if the rule were that social and domestic agreements were always legally binding, the courts might be flooded with petty disputes and the second is because it is felt that people should have the freedom to make certain types of private, persona l agreements without drawing the interference of the law into their lives.It is also understood that Commercial Agreements are correct as they do have the intention to create legal relations as there is the acceptance that such formalities should be required in this type of relationship. The ways to rebut this assumption also makes sense as it can be rebutted if the essential terms of the contract are vague or if the party seeking to deny it can prove that there was no intention. Enright notes the burden of proof is on the party seeking to deny it and that burden according to Edwards V Skyways, is a heavy one.

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