Week 8 assignment: essay – interrelationships reflection apa format | Applied Sciences homework help
- How might historians of medicine interpret Eakins’s The Gross Clinic? 5. What might a medical student learn from this painting that could make the student
a better doctor? 400 jac16871_ch16_397-406.indd 400 12/11/17 8:53 PM 401
THE INTERRELATIONSHIPS OF THE HUMANITIES
proper conditions are likely to stimulate the interest of a valuer. The subjectivist would say that this painting has no value whatsoever until someone projects value on it. The objectivist would say that this painting has actualized value inherent in it whether any- one enjoys it or not. The relationalist would say that this painting has potential value, that when it is experienced under proper conditions, a sensitive, informed participant will actualize the potential value. To describe a painting as “good” is a recognition that the painting has positive potential value. For the relationalist, value is realized only when objects with potential value connect with the interests of someone. Values are usually studied with reference to the interaction of various kinds of po- tential value with human interests. For example, criticism tends to focus on the in- trinsic values of works of art; economics focuses on commodities as basically extrinsic values; and ethics focuses on intrinsic-extrinsic values as they relate to moral standards. Values that are described scientifically as they are found we shall call value facts. Values that are set forth as norms or ideals or what ought to be we shall call nor- mative values. Smoking cigarettes is, for some people, a source of satisfaction, both physically and socially. The value facts known about smoking cigarettes tell us that they damage one’s lungs and ultimately cause heart attacks and several forms of can- cer. Smoking cigarettes conjures a conflict between the intrinsic value of satisfaction and the extrinsic value of early, painful death. Normative values tell us what our behavior should be. An ideal position on the smoking of cigarettes would tell us that good health in the future is to be preferred to pleasant satisfaction in the present. The arts and the other humanities may clarify our normative value decisions, thus clarifying what ought to be and what we ought to do. We are beings who must con- stantly choose among various value possibilities. Paradoxically, even not choosing is often a choice. The humanities can help by revealing consequences of value choices that scientists do not consider. The other humanists help by clarifying consequences of value choices that escape both artists and scientists. For example, the historian or sociologist might trace the consequences of value choices in past societies. More- over, the other humanists—especially philosophers—can take account of the entire value field, including the relationships between factual and normative values. CONCEPTION KEY Value Decisions 1. You may have made a judgment about whether or not to smoke cigarettes. Was there any evidence—other than the scientific—that was relevant to your decision? Explain. 2. Reflect about the works of art we have discussed in this book. Which of them clari- fied value possibilities for you in a way that might influence your value decisions? If so, how? Be as specific as possible. Do some arts seem more relevant than others in this respect? If so, why?