C. S. Lewis and Christian Apologetics

C. S. Lewis and Christian Apologetics: In 1952, C. S. Lewis published Mere Christianity as a literary adaptation of various radio talks he gave to the British public during World War II. Considered a seminal work in Christian apologetics, which defines the rational basis for Christian belief, the book defends Christian morality as a fundamental precipitant of reasoned judgment. In effect, Lewis claims that Christian morality consists of three basic levels. The primary level concerns social interactions among individuals and followed the Golden Rule of doing unto others as you would have them do unto you. The secondary level entails the creation of a balanced relationship between one's body and one's soul while the tertiary level involves the nurturing of a faith-based relationship between oneself and God. For Lewis, many people, Christian and non-Christian alike, do not think of morality beyond the primary level. But as Lewis argues, if one's personal relationship with God, soul, and body is non-existent, then deep-seated insecurities and a lack of self-respect can end up negatively affecting his or her interpersonal relationships. In short, the secondary and tertiary levels of Christian morality are often as important as the primary level for building a wholly just society.

Los Angeles: City of the Future?

Los Angeles: City of the Future?: While its earliest promoters dubbed Los Angeles a "city of the future," most of the city's history can be defined in terms of ethnoracial tensions. Founded by the Spanish Empire in 1781, the town (pueblo) became controlled by the United States at the end of the Mexican-American War in 1848. At that time, it contained a deeply-rooted Mexican community who had established huge haciendas for ranching and other agricultural purposes. As the twentieth century dawned, however, Anglo Americans began moving to Los Angeles in droves, especially since the city's Mediterranean climate and cheap land proved appealing. Yet this mass influx of Anglo Americans began to alter many of the local Mexican-American cultural customs. Sonoratown, which was one of the city's first Mexican-American barrios, became racially isolated and spatially separated due to de facto segregation. And when African Americans started migrating to Los Angeles in large numbers, particularly after World War II, the city's ethnoracial tensions exploded into race riots (Watts - 1965). Even though Asian Americans constituted an important demographic in Los Angeles' social history, it was the racial tensions between the trifecta of blacks, Mexicans, and whites that often brought the city to Hell and back. And in addition to its ethnoracial tensions, much of the city's form (8-lane freeways, large-scale tract housing, etc.) might one day inhibit its general functionality.

On Healthcare Philosophy

On Healthcare Philosophy: As a fundamental social institution, healthcare seeks to maintain and improve the well-being of people. Healthcare philosophy, therefore, centers on the study of how the healthcare process achieves its objectives in caring for patients. It also questions the general viability of healthcare's various sub-structures including, medical ethics, health economics, health politics, clinical trials, and quality assurance. In effect, there are two basic philosophical paths to understanding healthcare as a social institution: existentialism and phenomenology. From an existential perspective, the individual (patient) is at the center of the healthcare process. That is, he or she effectively controls the extent of their medical treatments from birth to death. From a phenomenological perspective, however, the individual can never account for all of the internal/external forces (phenomena) acting on his or her mind/body. Thus, phenomenologists like Heidegger would suggest that patients ought to approach healthcare from the potential consequences of the absolute negative. In other words, the possibility of entering "the Nothing" (or the total negation of tangible reality) should always be present in the patient's mind when receiving healthcare.

Existentialism in Trainspotting

Existentialism in Trainspotting: As a philosophy, existentialism is purposefully ambiguous. It seeks to emphasize the primacy of individual choice, and that, through choice, individuals can either add or subtract meaning in their lives. External forces acting on individuals are important, but an individual's existence ultimately cannot be defined by them. Thus, if individuals are the final determinants of giving their lives meaning, then they ought to scrutinize deeply their choices. Yet there are elements of transience and permanence in existential philosophy that manifest themselves lucidly in the industrialized world. These elements are certainly present in the hobby of trainspotting. For example, when a train passes a trainspotter, there is a unique self-reflective response that occurs in which the trainspotter realizes the transient nature of his existence on Earth. But through the use of a camera, the trainspotter is able to create an aura of permanence from his particular vantage point. So whereas the train represents the impersonal passing of time, the trainspotter signifies the personal supplier of meaning to the event. And at bottom, existential philosophy is only meaningful if one takes it personally.

1 9 6 8

1 9 6 8: If there was one year in the twentieth century that historians could designate as the most tumultuous, 1968 was it. Aside from the societal impact of World War I & II (and their immediate aftermaths) on the twentieth century, 1968 represented the apex of a worldwide counterculture movement. This movement generated both liberal outbursts and conservative backlashes in domestic politics (RFK assassination/Chicago Seven/Nixon election), racial integration (MLK Jr. assassination/Fair Housing Act), labor rights (French student strikes), liberation theology (Medellín Conference/Humanae Vitae), foreign immigration (Enoch Powell's "Rivers of Blood" speech), and guerrilla warfare (Tet Offensive). It also signified the early unraveling of Soviet-style communism in Second and Third World countries, and likewise, Western efforts to contain it. For example, when Alexander Dubček became the Premier of Czechoslovakia in January 1968, he attempted to reform the communist regime (Prague Spring) by relaxing state control in socio-political areas like economic planning, speech censorship, administrative authority, and intrastate travel. These reforms ultimately elicited disdain from the Soviet Union, as it would later invade Czechoslovakia in August 1968 with help from its Warsaw Pact comrades.