Critiquing Critics Emphasis on Personal Taste A Comparison of Pope and Kant - Literature Essay Samples

The literary critics Alexander Pope and Immanuel Kant put critics to the test as they perform the task of critiquing critiques. In Pope’s Essay on Criticism, he provides the readers and critics with critique of critics in poetry form which in itself is a work of art. Similarly, Kant expresses’ his views on judgement in Critique of Judgement, in which Kant teaches one how to judge. Both authors demonstrate to the reader how to critique something through knowledge and example in that their lessons are actually critiques in themselves. Through their works, both Kant and Pope successfully prove that personal taste is not a way for someone to judge works of art when referring to the works quality but rather should be used to judge their own likes and dislikes. Pope and Kant both want to emphasize that critics should not let personal taste get in the way of their judgements. In Essay on Criticism, Pope begins by critiquing false and bad critics. While doing so, he is teaching the reader what not to do while critiquing. He explains taste, telling the reader that each person will have personal taste in things and whatnot but something that a critic personally does not like does not necessarily make it bad. This is an important distinction he makes because, for example, if a food critic hates onions and tries something with onions, he cannot say that the dish is badly made based on the onions but rather only that he personally did not like that part. Likewise, if a critic does not like allegories, he cannot say that The Pilgrim’s Progress is badly written simply because he does not like the literary device. Pope is right in making this distinction and insulting such critics that do otherwise. He tells the reader that most of these false critics are being educated by these poets whom they seem to hate: Against the poets their own arms they turn’d, Sure to hate most the men from whom they have learn’d. So modern ‘pothecaries, taught the art By doctor’s’ bills to play the doctor’ part, Bold in the practice of mistaken rules, Prescribe, apply and call their masters fools.[1] To help the critic, Pope tells the former to first know himself before he judges works of others; that way he is able to distinguish between his own personal taste and bad writing or other works of art. Similarly, Kant begins his essay in an attempt to teach the critic how to judge by also going over the importance of taste. Kant tells the reader that the perfect judge is completely indifferent about the thing, as in the previous example: the food critic that hates onions would not be a proper critic of that chef’s dish. He writes, â€Å"Everyone has to admit that if a judgement about beauty is mingled with the least interest then it is very partial and not a pure judgement of taste. In order to play a judge in matters of taste, we must not be in the least biased in favor of the thing’s existence but must be wholly indifferent about it.†[2] Kant is teaching the critic that he can never be biased if he is going to judge and like Pope he too emphasizes the problem with human’s natural response to having personal taste. Though both Kant and Pope are working towards the same goal, one thing that Pope does that is superior then Kant is when he goes over nature. Pope says the second rule of the critic is to learn nature, while Kant instead teaches about the different types of likings. While both methods work in teaching, Pope’s writing on nature is superb in its clarity. While both authors arrive at the same goal in teaching the critic, Pope teaches more how the critic should go to learn about nature and what to focus on while Kant gives more of a list of definitions on different types of likings. While everyone learns differently, one may say that it helps more when Pope says: Of all the causes which conspire to blind Man’s erring judgement, and misguide the mind What the weak head and strongest bias rules, Is Pride, the never failing vice of fools.[3] This method teaches far better than Kant’s constant definitions; Kant writes, â€Å"Interest is what we call the liking we connec t with the presentation of an object’s forgiveness.†[4] Furthermore, he says, â€Å"When [something determines the feeling of pleasure or displeasure and this] determination of that feeling is called sensation, this term means something quite different from what it means when I apply it to a presentation of a thing (through the senses, a receptivity that belongs to the cognitive power).†[5] However, this is an unfair assessment of Kant because he does write examples and explanations of these definitions but the impression left by the reader upon reading Kant is the same as one gets after a dull class lecture. Dissimilarly, upon reading Pope, one is very engaged and interested because Pope successfully critiques as he tells one to critique. Pope then begins to tell the reader what kind of character he needs to have in order to become a good critic and also he needs to know what an ideal person must be. He writes: Learn then what morals critics ought to show, For’ tis half a judge’s task to know. ‘Tis not enough taste, judgement, learning join; In all you speak let truth and candour shine; That not alone what in your sense is due All may allow, but seek your friendship too.[6] These characteristics give a person something to pursue in order to be a critic. With these virtues in mind, a person is able to know if he is lacking in anything when judging the worth of someone’s work. While Kant seems to give the reader the rules, Pope gives the direction. Both of these are necessary and while Pope’s approach might be more helpful, knowing Kant is still important. When learning a skill like a sport for example, one must be in shape and also know the rules of the game so too does one need to kno w Pope as well as Kant in order to be a good critic. This is how one can learn to not use their own personal taste when judging the worth of something, by becoming the honest and courageous person in which Pope describes along with following the rules set by Kant. Kant and Pope effectively prove that personal taste is not a way to judge works of art when referring to the works quality but rather should be used to judge their own likes and dislikes. Even though both have different styles, they both demonstrate from the start of their essays that one should never let personal taste affect their judgements. While Pope’s style appears to be superior to Kant’s in that Kant lacks in keeping the reader entertained, both successfully teach what it is to be a good critic. It is important to read both of them because upon hearing just one, one will find himself lacking in character without Pope or lacking in knowledge without Kant. WORKS CITED Kant, Immanuel. â€Å"Critique of Judgement.† In Criticism: Major Statements, edited by Charles Kaplan and William Davis Anderson. New York: Bedford/ St. Martin’s, 2000. Pope, Alexander. â€Å"Essay on Criticism.† In Criticism: Major Statements, edited by Charles Kaplan and William Davis Anderson. New York: Bedford/ St. Martin’s, 2000. [1]Alexander Pope, â€Å"An Essay on Criticism,† in Criticism: Major Statements, ed. Kaplan, Charles and William Davis Anderson (New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2000), 185. [2]Immanuel Kant, â€Å"Critique of Judgement,† in Criticism: Major Statements, ed. Kaplan, Charles and William Davis Anderson (New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2000), 234. [3]Pope, 187. [4]Kant, 234. [5]Ibid., 235. [6]Pope, 195.

Abortion And Racism An Advocate For Men And Women...

â€Å"Abortion and racism are evil twins, born of the same lie. Where racism now hides its face in public, abortion is accomplishing goals of which racism only once dreamed. Together abortionists are destroying humanity at large†- Alveda King. In short, abortions are destroying the lives of Canadians one abortion at a time. An abortion leaves the mother in a vulnerable state, even more so when the mother is a teenager. Abortions negatively affect a teenage girl psychologically, physically and socially. The effects that an abortion leaves on a teenage girl are extremely negative and forces their lives to resentfully change. Abortion psychologically impaires a teenage mother negatively. the majority of abortions that are performed, are†¦show more content†¦As demonstrated in the quote above, teenage mothers suffer drastically from abortion’s negative psychological effects. Teenagers are more susceptible to vulnerability in times of need. Getting pregnant at a young age would be a time of need, since they are not capable of raising and supporting a child alone. As demonstrated above, teenagers have peer pressure to abort a baby from parents or sexual partners. This pressure comes from the message that society conveys that says teenage pregnancy is unacceptable and frowned upon. The parents or sexual partner pushes for the abortion, unknowingly pushing these young girls into a life of mental pain. The vulnerability pushes these young girls to go through with the abortion, opening themselves up to a changed life that affects their mental state in a negative manner. The abortion puts them at risk to depression, suicidal thoughts and other psychological problems. Thus, abortion effects a teenage girl extremely negatively. Abortion has large negative effects on a teenage girl physically. There is an extensive list of physical side effects that can physically harm a woman during and post

The Effects Of Afrique Engagee On Africa - 1083 Words

The term â€Å"Afrique Engagà ©e† is generally a dynamic of the impacts of other continents and countries outside of Africa that played a big role in the Atlantic Slave trade and in the long run caused Africa to have a huge delay in it’s development. This concept includes exports of slaves by sex and age, prices of exports, changes in quantity of slaves, and the products/resources that were big in trade. Afrique Engagà ©e caused Europe to have so much power and success over Africa based on Africa’s goods and people. Emergent Africa, which includes the issue of Africa was just an effect of Afrique Engagà ©e. Population in Africa decreased at astonishing amounts due to the slave trade between Europe and Africa. The population decrease was not just due to slave trade which some African kings were said to have agreed to but Europeans would come into Africa and capture citizens forcefully. Historian Patrick Manning, makes the claim that â€Å"the coastal exports of young adult slaves, twice as many men as women, tended to transform the structure of the population and the organization of society†. Manning believes that if Europe didn’t take so much of the people of Africa, Africa could have been sufficient enough to support itself in advances. Walter Rodney, another historian that sides with Manning notes that â€Å"Europeans obtained slaves by trading rather than raiding† (Northrup, 89). The used violence, such as, warfare, trickery, banditry, and kidnapping to force these people out of there homes

Characteristics of Great Strategic Leaders

Question: 1. Why are some managers only managers and not true leaders?2. Complete the leadership assessment and perform a candid self-assessment of your leadership skills. (Do not include the actual assessment in your paper)a. Explain your career goals in regards to becoming a leader.b. Do you feel that a title is required in order to be a leader? Explain.c. What are the areas that you feel you have strong leadership skills based on the assessment?d. What are the areas that you feel you need to gain more knowledge on to become a better leader?3. How will having leadership qualities, even if you do not have a leadership title, help you in your IT career?4. Discuss a CEO or CIO in a previous organization you have worked for and their leadership skills. 5. Did you find them to be an effective and good leader why or why not? (If you do not have organizational experiences write about a CEO or CIOs leadership style that you would follow. Explain why you admire that CEO). Answer: 1. The leader can be defined as someone who aims at creating more leaders put of the members whom the leader is assisting rather than keeping them as mere leaders. A leader should possess the traits like honesty, communicative and passionate about the work (Farell, 2011). A leader should be truthful in whatever work he or she is delivering. The team members should always know about the situation of the work. Finally, rather than taking the work just another work, the leader should be passionate and the passion will help in making then team members like the work that they carrying out (Hargreaves, Fink, 2012). Some of the managers remain manager and could not because they are not able to build the relationship with the leaders. It has been said the employee should want to with the leader rather than just because they have to work with the leader (JohnMaxwellCo, 2013). A leader should want to serve the company rather than just work for the company and take the salary. A person who wants to make the member follow him or her will remain a manager. A true leader is the one who would like to work with the people (Schoemaker, Krupp, Howland, 2013). 2. To become a leader, the career goal should be to make the people who are working under a person to love Mondays rather than feel disgusted of Mondays. A person might handle a small group or people, handle an entire department or run a company, but the main career goal for the person should be work with people. The members should enjoy working with the leader not juts work to be paid for the job (Ulrich, Zenger, Smallwood, 2013). A title is not necessary to become leader. At times, title means that the employees should follow the person because the hierarchy of the organizations asks the employees to do so (Cosgrove, 2016). A person can become a leader in a group who are either working together or playing a match together. Teamwork is the greatest attribute of a leader (Cosgrove, 2016). If a person working in the similar designation with the co-employees but have the capacity work in a team can become a leader as well. Based on the assessment, the strong leadership skills are based on the areas like constant communication with the team members and taking the feedback of those people on a regular basis (Liu, 2016). When the team members will see that they are being heard by the leader, they will be able to build relationship with the leader. A strong and positive relationship of the employees with the leader will help in proper delivery of work in the organization (Farell, 2011). More knowledge is required as far as developing the budget for the department (Liu, 2016). A leader should know the exact amount of expenditure required to carry out a work. If any task is going over the budget, the work needs to be controlled by the leader (Hargreaves, Fink, 2012). A leader should know when to start a work and where to control it so that the entire organization will not have to suffer for the overshoot of the budget. 3. In an IT career, the most important part is the knowledge and insight about the work. As the field of technology is always growing and full of innovation, hence, the person with a career in the field of IT should be open to ideas and keep the eyes open about any new software or technology in the field. One of the characteristics of a leader is keeping on raising the bar and aim on success (Chad Barr, 2010). Hence, a person who is working an IT company but not working in any leadership position can enhance the leadership qualities by gaining more knowledge in the field. In addition to this, software piracy is one of the moist common problems in the field of IT. Another attribute of a leader is to decide between what to do and what not to do. Thus, a person working in the IT field should get a proper knowledge regarding accessing a software and using the software in the proper manner. It is necessary to acquire the leadership qualities at an early stage because once the person will get to work in a leadership role; he or she should be able to solve the problems of the junior employees (Schoemaker, Krupp, Howland, 2013). 4. Brian Gleason, who was named the new CEO of Xaxis portray great leadership skills to manage the employees in the organization (Xaxis.com, 2016). It can be said that the appointment of Gleason is one of the best decision made by Xaxis, located in the New York City. Gleason aims at motivating the employees. In addition to this, it aims at giving hands-on training to the senior and the junior employees that will help in the growth of the business of the company. He aims to create more leaders (.linkedin.com, 2016). Gleason is strongly committed to the mission and the visions of the organization. He is well acquainted with the latest development in the field of technology and is never behind in giving the required tools and resources to the employees that will help them to carry out any work effectively in the organization. Thus, the employees never face any problems due to unavailability of resources or lack of training. They are always motivated to perform well in the organization. 5. Brian Gleason can be called an effective leader for the company, Xaxis. The best part of Brian Gleason is that he does not believe in making the employees followers of instructions and wants them to gain knowledge about the work (Ulrich, Zenger, Smallwood, 2013). He wants to create more leaders in the organization who can develop their own career. The act of Brian Gleason to create more leaders will help Xaxis in a better manner as the leaders will help the organization to fare well in the market. In addition to this, he makes sure that the employees get the resources to carry out the work well. Moreover, rather than giving and order to the employees and commanding the employees to do the work, he aims at giving training to the employees (Schoemaker, Krupp, Howland, 2013). Another good part of the leadership style of Brian Gleason is that works with the employees and makes sure that they get the required training to work properly (Hargreaves, Fink, 2012). References 8 Characteristics of Great Strategic Leaders. (2010). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37tp3dxNRE8feature=related. Cosgrove, T. (2016).Four Behaviors that Define Healthcare Leadership.linkedin.com. Retrieved 16 September 2016, from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/four-behaviors-define-healthcare-leadership-toby-cosgrove Farell, R. (2011).23 traits of good leaders.Edition.cnn.com. Retrieved 16 September 2016, from https://edition.cnn.com/2011/LIVING/08/03/good.leader.traits.cb/index.html Hargreaves, A., Fink, D. (2012).Sustainable leadership(Vol. 6). John Wiley Sons. John Maxwell The 5 Levels of Leadership. (2013). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPwXeg8ThWI. linkedin.com,. (2016).Brian Gleason.linkedin.com. Retrieved 16 September 2016, from https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-gleason-307b934 Liu, B. (2016).The One Secret to Being a Great Leader.linkedin.com. Retrieved 16 September 2016, from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/one-secret-being-great-leader-betty-liu Schoemaker, P. J., Krupp, S., Howland, S. (2013). Strategic leadership: The essential skills.Harvard business review,91(1), 131-134. Ulrich, D., Zenger, J., Smallwood, N. (2013).Results-based leadership. Harvard Business Press. Xaxis.com,. (2016).Xaxis Names Brian Gleason Managing Director, North America | Xaxis.Xaxis.com. Retrieved 16 September 2016, from https://www.xaxis.com/press/view/xaxis-names-brian-gleason-managing-director-north-america