● Do you believe in the rationality, perfectibility, and mutability premises? What social institutions and practices are based on these beliefs?
This is a tricky question because yes I do believe that everyone possesses the capability to discover the truth through logical analysis, however, not everyone uses the best judgment when called upon to make a decision. Take for instance our judicial system that makes a rape victim defend themselves as if they were the guilty party. (And yes, there are the few instances where a person cries rape and it is proven that it wasn’t rape.) Another example is how corrupt some police officers are like when they beat Rodney King and were acquitted a year later.
The perfectibility premise is completely absurd and based on religious beliefs that state that humans are born in sin and can achieve goodness through effort and control. I guess if you hold these values than you would agree, but for me I do not believe humans are born in sin. The institutions that uphold this belief would be Catholic and Christian churches, and individuals who personally hold this value in their culture.
The mutability premise is one I do believe in and have spent many years working in the Social Service sector to enable all human beings to improve their lives and circumstances. Public schools are also based on these beliefs and allow anyone to get a free education for their children; however, there are flaws because many public schools in poor neighborhoods do not get the same funding as wealthy neighborhood public schools.
Happy Blogging:)
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2 comments:
The court system is supposed to be a place where the "rationality premise" should be flourishing. Learned men and women advocates offer their beliefs in front of members of the community to determine along with the judge the innocence or guilt of an accused.
My experience with interviewing over 300 rape victims has been that they are looking for help with resolution; understanding over the circumstance; recollection of events to help in the apprehension; looking for compassion from family and friends. The fact that the rape victim needs to testify in court shouldn't be seen as a negative. The judicial system has been structured to allow the accused to meet the accuser, so that the community can hand down its verdict.
Every attempt to make the victim feel supported through this process is the goal of every person involved.
Cherry,
I appreciated your response to the question regarding rationality, perfectibility, and mutability premises? What I perceived as most interesting was the comment that “the perfectibility premise is completely absurd and based on religious beliefs that humans are born in sin and can achieve goodness through effort and control.”
What I see here is a prejudice, a “special kind of stereotype, a negative social attitude held by members of one group towards members of another group, an attitude that biases perception and provides a rationale for discrimination” (p. 356 – 357). The comment you made would have worked better is you left the word “absurd” out of the sentence. One should not consider another’s beliefs as absurd. Your connotation regarding Catholics and Christians was poignant. I do not believe that I should consider you absurd because you don’t have similar beliefs as Catholics of Christians. You have a right to your own opinion and I not going to degrade or diminish you because of your own truth.
It was wonderful to see that you do believe in the mutability premise and have actively participated in improving the lives of others through your work in the social service sector. I also agree that improving the physical and psychological circumstances of people is one of the most rewarding facets of life.
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