The Virtues of Apathy Essay - 3588 Words

The Virtues of Apathy â€Å"I just dont think I can continue to live in a place that embraces and nurtures apathy as if it was virtue.† Morgan Freeman speaks these words in the movie Se7en after declaring that he is going to quit his job as a detective. His character sees crimes of hate, aggression and murder every day, and he also observes the public’s reaction to them. People turn a blind eye; they no longer care. What has happened to society? Why has what used to be considered incredibly shocking dissolved into what is considered an everyday and usual activity? Apathy has become the common response of American society towards what should be considered shocking because these activities have become unshocking and â€Å"everyday†. In†¦show more content†¦Crying and vomiting, love making and dying, and beauty and sickness are paired together and stressed in his novel Blue of Noon. Bataille’s main character is almost a complete opposite to what is considered a normal human being. The character loves what is evil and debaucherous. He even finds the dead more sexually attractive than the living. Bataille uses this estranged character to perform actions that should be everyday; however, the nature of the character performing the actions unfamiliarizes them. A perfect example of this is when the character is sitting down for an evening meal at a pleasant restaurant. Instead of finishing the meal and his conversation with the woman sitting next to him, the character violently stabs the woman in the leg with his fork (Bataille 39). Such an action is completely out of place, yet it happens as though it is ordinary and everyday. Looking back from a modern perspective, Highmore states that â€Å"Surrealism’s attention to everyday life stands the everyday on its head† (Highmore 49), meaning that the Surrealists accomplished their task of upsetting the normal and confusing the ordinary. However, Highmore also notes the second accomplishment of Surrealism when he says, â€Å"There is a danger that Surrealism’s attempt to make the familiar (the everyday) unfamiliar has itself become all too familiar†Show MoreRelatedIs Sloth Not A Common Problem?1025 Words   |  5 PagesDiligence in itself can become sloth, yet it is also the virtue that protects against sloth. Diligence is a careful effort in work and actions, it is our work ethic- honest labor with diligence in labor, and the scheduling of our time. If work is done in this way, it will guard against slothfulness. Historically, â€Å"acedia tempts the monk toward apathy regarding his commitments or toward avoidance, escape, and distraction from them. Apathy and avoidance comprise two telling symptoms of the vice ofRead MoreThe Fall and Rise of the Roman Empire Essay637 Words   |  3 Pagesits collapse through challenges that would be cataclysmic to the governments of world powers today. Rome’s descent was mostly from the inside out. Internal issues of Rome such as political turmoil, social apathy, weakening military, and over taxation fueled this country’s decline. Social apathy was beginning to spread throughout the empire. The majority of citizens were neglected forcefully excluded from political participation, rejected from the army and had no other choice but to live off theRead MoreElie Wiesels Speech On Apathy923 Words   |  4 Pagesmagnificent speech about apathy. In this speech, Wiesel thanks his fellow supporters who helped him and his people when they were in danger. Wiesel talked about his own experiences and uses history that he knows and supports his concern about not taking action. He focuses on those who stay back and watch others take action, which they could as well. In the speech, he repeats a significant amount of words that have a purposeful meaning towards the reason of why being apathy is unacceptable. In Wiesel’sRead MoreHamlet As An Anti Hero998 Words   |  4 PagesPeripeteia in its depiction of Hamlet as an anti-hero? Hamlet is a Shakespearian tragedy written and published in approximately 1603; this play depicts the protagonist Hamlet as a gritty anti-hero with human flaws and qualities such as arrogance, apathy and paranoia. He is driven to fuel his revenge against King Claudius without regard to the others consideration because of his selfishness. Hamlet is frustrated with his mothers haste marriage and believes he is responsible to avenge his father’sRead MoreAristotle s Theory Of Virtue Ethics1095 Words   |  5 Pagesdifferent theory, the theory of virtue ethics (Statman: 1997). It can be argued that, of the ethical stances considered over the course of this subject, Aristotle’s Virtue Ethics as defined in his Nicomachean Ethics, is the most comprehensive. Unlike the other theories presented, which focus on principles or rules of action as the basis for morality, Aristotle presents us with a classic formulation, an alternative basis for ethical reasoning (Baker: 2013). In vir tue ethics, the emphasis is on cultivatingRead MoreEthics in Society Essay678 Words   |  3 Pagesconnection to me. So, while my friends and family show me the goodness of the world, they also inspire to contribute to society as a whole. When I come to define my core ethical beliefs and motivations, I find that I now rely on a mixture of duty and virtue. Duty is not meant in the militaristic or authoritarian sense. It is not something someone is told to do. Rather, it is an ideal, based on a self-evident and rational view, of what should be done in a given situation. Imannual Kant once definedRead More7 Deadly Sins: Essay1073 Words   |  5 Pagesadultery, stealing, etc., have root causes, like Pride. Pride was the devils great sin, as he wanted to be like God, and rebelled. There are 7 basic kinds of sin that lead to all others, known as the Seven Deadly sins. It takes heroic virtue in most cases to overcome these. Most of us are afflicted greatly with at least one or two of these. And once you give in to one of these sins, the spirits of the other 6 will be only too glad to come into your soul also. All of these sins willRead MoreA Rhetorical Analysis of â€Å"The Death of Honesty† by Wil liam Damon991 Words   |  4 Pages In â€Å"The Death of Honesty,† William Damon raises the concern that current apathy towards increasing dishonesty threatens democracy. In this essay taken from the online volume â€Å"Endangered Virtues † published by the Hoover Institute in 2012, Damon initially concedes that there are situations where lying could be considered acceptable. However, with that being acknowledged, he transitions to his main premise that honesty is losing its importance in society and will lead to its downfall, and he citesRead MoreArgument Against The Common Definition Of Patience1500 Words   |  6 Pagesconcentrate the mind on the present moment† (Buddha). The French sculptor Auguste Rodin claimed, â€Å"Patience is also a form of action†. While enlightened thinkers realized the virtuous depth of patience, numerous people don’t. I inquire its time to study the virtue of patience in a different way and redefine what it means to be patient. Understanding the reality of what patience truly means, can remind us how significant being patient can be. Especially in the time period we live in. There are a growing numberRead MoreThe Romanization Of Marriage And Sex913 Words   |  4 Pagestoo good, but that it doesn’t really know how good sex is† (Cloutier, 211). In addressing society’s disheartened apathy towards the benefits of sex past its immediate pleasurable sensations, West invites people integrate their marriages and sex lives through the TOB providing them with the abilities to fully give themselves to another, discern the desires of the heart and grow in virtue through self-discipline. West has many critics. Cloutier and Mattison, theologians, argue that â€Å"[West] makes the