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Realism: Royal Politics at its Best or Worst?, 2005.
Realism is a very viable International Relations theory, as it is the way that the most powerful countries operate in today's society. This essay explains the theory of realism in depth.
2,500 words (approx. 10.0 pages), 3 sources, MLA, AU$ 122.95
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Abstract
Realism, one of the two schools most predominant in the study of international relations has a long and exhausting history. Unarguably, it has been the most dominant theory of world politics since the foundation of international relations. This could be for various reasons, but many argue because of the United States' persistent use of this theory in its governance. Many politicians and scholars have wrestled over the question of the limitations and insights (if any) of realism. However, realism remains very prominent today, one reason perhaps being that the value of realism as an analytical tool seems to become more relevant to policymakers in times of crises. This essay is dedicated to examining the history and debates surrounding the theory of realism, and concludes with the authors' personal opinion of the value of this theory. This paper examines all fields of realism, from classical, to modern, as well as neo-realism.
From the Paper
"Under the idea of maximal realism, when there are two equally powerful hegemons in place like was the case during the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States, there becomes an inherently unstable situation that is destined to collapse into a more stable state where one nation is more powerful and one is less powerful. Next, the theory of minimal realism holds that non-hegemonic states will ally against the hegemon in order to prevent their own interests from being subsumed by the hegemon's interests. Under the minimal-realism theory it is possible to have two equally powerful hegemons with whom a smaller entity may ally in turn depending on which hegemon better fits with the smaller entity's policies at the moment, creating a positive sum game for both sides, rather than a negative sum game like would be the case for maximal realism."
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Realism vs. Liberalism, 2005.
An overview of realism in relation to liberalism.
1,125 words (approx. 4.5 pages), 0 sources, AU$ 71.95
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Abstract
This paper explores Realism in terms of both its classic assumptions and its contemporary revisions in the context of other theories of international relations and in particular that of Liberalism. It is argued that while there are challenges to Realism as the dominant theory of international relations, the flaws in Realism revealed by some of these challenges do not require the overall rejection of Realism and its assumptions. Rather, as is shown in this paper, no single theory can explain every situation in the international political environment.
From the Paper
"The development and analysis of theories of international relations are necessarily complicated by the social and political context in which they are developed. Although international political theory is, of course, an intellectually autonomous field of study, historically the discussion of international relations "theories are largely shaped by what happens in the sphere of practical world politics" (Haque 135). For example, while the dominant theory of international relations during the Cold War - Realism - fell into abeyance in the 1990s with the end of the Cold War, after the events of September 11, 2001 variations on Realism reasserted their predominance in the field of international political theory."
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Realism, Pluralism and Globalism, 2006.
A critical analysis of the relationship between realism, pluralism and globalism.
3,150 words (approx. 12.6 pages), 8 sources, AU$ 201.95
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Abstract
This paper examines a host of issues in order to identify the main lines of argument that writers utilize in the criticism of realism, but the core issue of the ongoing debate between realism and its critics is the foundational realist assessment that the primary task of international relations is to secure relative peace and stability. For forty years, this basic realist position has influenced every aspect of the debate between advocates of realism and their critics, for it has generated justifications and objections to nearly every aspect of realism derived from it.
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Realism, 2005.
A look at how the artistic form of Realism emerged as a result of the socio-economic changes brought about by Europe's industrial revolution.
1,147 words (approx. 4.6 pages), 2 sources, MLA, AU$ 63.95
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Abstract
This paper explains how the poverty and despondency amongst the new working class created by Europe's industrial revolution was expressed in the artistic form of Realism. The paper looks at how Realism sought to correctly portray the conditions and hardships of the poor with the hope of improving their living situations. The paper discusses some of the Realist artists of that era and describes how their works depicted the reality in the cities and countryside.
From the Paper
"To Courbet, Realism was not so much a style of painting as a philosophy. His arguments with the present French art establishment concerned subject matter, not painting technique. Juries and the public shunned the Realists' work, because the art style broke away from the official Academic art. Courbet's paintings, such as the Stone-Breakers of 1849, which featured the laboring, faceless figures of an old man and adolescent boy, was criticized severely by critics who preferred mythological or idealistic subjects."
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Larry Lauden's 'A Confutation of Convergent Realism', 2008.
This paper analyzes and supports Larry Lauden's article 'A Confutation of Convergent Realism' published in a 1981 issue of "Philosophy of Science".
2,150 words (approx. 8.6 pages), 2 sources, MLA, AU$ 109.95
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Abstract
This paper explains that Larry Lauden in his article 'A Confutation of Convergent Realism' formulates an argument against scientific realism from the perspective of pessimistic induction. The author points out that Lauden rightly states that other philosophers' suggestions that epistemological realism is an empirical hypothesis, which is authenticated by its ability to explain the workings of science, is becoming a significant problem. The paper presents Lauden's methods of attack from which he tackles this assumption of reference and demonstrates how the historical, empirical evidence simply does not exist to support the realist claims. The author concludes that Lauden's debunking of scientific realism via their epistemological dependence on reference and retention is a useful and effective method of philosophical analysis.
From the Paper
"Scientific realism is, most basically, the idea that "[m]ature scientific theories are (approximately true." Lauden delves into the meat of this basic statement by dissecting realism into bite-sized chunks that can be more easily analyzed and (in this case) refuted. While Lauden does debunk various aspects of scientific realism, one aspect of it with which he is particularly concerned is the matter of reference. Lauden lists five characteristics of convergent epistemological realism, which he has aggregated from the available resources on scientific realism."
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Realism, 2002.
This paper discusses Realism in nineteenth century painting.
1,275 words (approx. 5.1 pages), 7 sources, AU$ 78.95
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Abstract
This paper discusses Realism in nineteenth century painting as part of a broader movement which began in literature, became associated with painting, and then broadened to include theatre and later, film. In all its forms it was a rejection of the predominantly Classical vocabulary of art, and also of the Romanticism which prevailed in the 1800's. Artists wanted to paint the world as they saw it, which included warts-and-all portraits, and subjects that included peasants working the fields. However, Realist art and politics were inextricably bound up, first in the person of Courbet who founded the Realism movement and later, in the Socialist Realism paintings of Russia.
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Magical Realism, 2004.
A comparative analysis of the magical realism of Isabelle Allende?s "The House of the Spirits" and Garcia Marquez?s "One Hundred Years of Solitude".
2,927 words (approx. 11.7 pages), 6 sources, MLA, AU$ 139.95
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Abstract
This paper examines different definitions of magical realism in literature and, in particular, compares and contrasts the magic realism aspects of Isabelle Allende?s "The House of the Spirits" and Garcia Marquez's "One Hundred Years of Solitude". The books are analyzed within the context of plot, setting, characters, style, and narrative structure. It shows how Garcia Marquez takes his themes and his use of devices to explore these themes to such exquisite heights that the comparison between the two books is really an unfair one and how there really is no comparison between the masterpiece of Garcia Marquez, and Allende?s rather one-dimensional, poor attempt at magic realism.
From the Paper
"Bell-Villada (2002) acknowledges that magic realism is not an original construct of Garcia Marquez, that, rather, it came from Kafka (Garcia Marquez continually acknowledges the great impact The Metamorphosis had on his writing), and from Faulkner, and that Garcia Marquez took the ideas from these authors, and built on them to give the world his complex, enchanting magic realist masterpiece. This view, of Bell-Villada (2002), differs from the euro-centric view of Zamora and Faris? (1995) book Magic Realism: Theory, History and Community, by putting Garcia-Marquez?s achievement in its rightful place as the masterpiece of magic realist fiction, rather than downplaying this achievement, through analysis, interpretation and presentation of worldwide, magic realist texts (such as those by Toni Morrison, and Rushdie, most of which were written post-One Hundred Years of Solitude)."
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Realism Style, 2004.
Describes the style and philosophy of the class of art known as Realism.
3,295 words (approx. 13.2 pages), 12 sources, MLA, AU$ 152.95
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Abstract
This paper explains the origins of Realism, its style, its political philosophy, and the subject of Realist art. The paper also discusses three paintings by important Realist artists, Courbet, Jean-Francois Millet and Honore Daumier, in order to illuminate the techniques, political ideas, and style of Realism. Finally, the paper explores the biographies of these three artists to provide a better understanding of why they were attracted to Realism.
Gustave Courbet
Jean-Francois Millet
Honore Daumier
Biographies
Realist and Revolutionary
Avant-garde More Recently
From the Paper
"The Realist style owes its existence to the Realist concept. ?Realism is democracy in art,? Courbet believed. (Nochlin, xiii) Taking that as the credo upon which the works of the artists were constructed, the style itself can be nothing if not anti-academic, anti-historical, anti-conservative. Indeed, whether brushstrokes or pen markings or etching into stone or metal form the image, the underlying attitude is one of freedom, attention to the gross characteristics of form, dismissal of mere decoration for its own sake, and obvious celebration of anything. The self-consciousness of the finely chosen brushstroke or marking is gone, in favor of a brushstroke or marking that favors expression of the interplay between what is seen and the seer. Gone is any demand from outside the artist to make things appear lovelier, grander, more stately than they perhaps really are. It is, in short, art with the warts painted in. It is the ?attempt to render in paint that exists in three dimensions.? (Parlez-vous Web site) It is, moreover, a less light-filled art than what had gone before, the Romantic style, and what would come after, Impressionism. It used the colors of the palette that corresponded to the nature of the subject matter, and the subject matter had changed from nobility in shining satins to the peasantry in rough and dirty woolens and linens. It might be fair to say that Realism was a portrait of reality gone down market one full step, for the painters themselves were, by and large, firmly bourgeoisie. So it might also be reasonably concluded that Realism is a style depicting ?what is? from a viewpoint that could easily look down were it not rooted in an egalitarian philosophy and a compassionate attitude."
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Realism and Modern Drama, 2008.
This paper discusses Gertrude Stein's and Bertolt Brecht's criticism of realism in drama.
1,081 words (approx. 4.3 pages), 1 source, MLA, AU$ 60.95
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Abstract
In this article, the writer looks at the issue of realism in drama, according to Gertrude Stein and Bertolt Brecht, in relation to Stein's play "Dr. Faustus Lights the Light" and August Strindberg's "The Ghost Sonata". The writer focuses on their views regarding realism and concludes that perhaps both Stein and Brecht are advocating alienation as a way of bridging the initial gap between the stage and the spectator in order to bring realism into sharper focus. The writer maintains that Brecht did it epically, while Stein did it psychologically.
From the Paper
"Since there is an unavoidable gap between what one experiences in real life and what one anticipates on the stage, the actual present can never be really done on stage. Therefore realism isn't really real, only a fiction of reality. What one sees in the realism of "The Ghost Sonata" is a staid, set environment rather than an acting platform. The plot is very well set out, it leads us on without giving anything away, there are expected and logical reversals (and vice versa), the characters conform to the dress and modes of the period, the characters evoke our empathy or revulsion, and there is usually a social or moral message implicit in the play. We recognize those emotions and values to which we can relate or have experienced."
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Positivism and Realism, 2002.
An analysis of Schlick's reconciliation of positivism and realism.
1,150 words (approx. 4.6 pages), 1 source, AU$ 71.95
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Abstract
This essay examines Schlick's argument that logical positivism and realism are not in opposition. In his view, this is so because opposition only exists between the consistent empiricist and the metaphysician. The consistent empiricist does not deny the transcendent world; he only shows that there is no meaning to denying or affirming it. Thus, positivism cannot be put into opposition with realism because it does not deny the existence of the external world; it only says that propositions about its existence are meaningless. Schlock has a credible point, although it must be emphasized that there are great differences between positivism and realism.
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The Theory of Non-Realism, 2007.
This paper applies the theory of non-realism, which is an emerging international relations theory, to the Iraq Wars.
1,855 words (approx. 7.4 pages), 5 sources, MLA, AU$ 96.95
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This paper explains that the theory of non-realism argues that the international structure acts as a constant constraining force on nation state behavior; therefore, nation states all act in a rational manner to protect their own self-interest, which results in a predictive model of behavior. The author points out that, according to neo-realism, the key international structural principle is anarchy, power on the international arena is decentralized and there is no overall structure to govern international politics. Thus, the international structure is decentralized with each state pursuing its own self interest. The paper relates that the central conflict over the invasion of Iraq from a neo-realism perspective did not occur in the actual landscape of Iraq but rather in in debates that took place in the United Nations.
From the Paper
"Some would argue, however, that the thirty nation joint coalition that ultimately destroyed the Iraqi army and took back Kuwait would imply that an international presence did exist to enforce a set of international rules and regulations. This would appear to contradict the position of anarchy stated within neo-realism theory. The real answer is much more complex; the formation of the United Nations meant that member nations do enjoy a certain set of privileges in terms of conflict resolution. However, no member are actually subject to act according to UN provisions, they are not a regulatory administration."
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International Relations - Realism, 2002.
Discusses the theory and lthe imititations of "Realism" as an approach to the study of international politics.
2,150 words (approx. 8.6 pages), 22 sources, AU$ 129.95
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Abstract
Realism is an approach to the study and practice of international politics. It emphasizes the role of the nation-state and makes a broad assumption that all nation-states are motivated by national interests, or, at best, national interests disguised as moral concerns. This paper discusses Realism and the intricacies involved in this detailed topic. Theory development is also addressed as well as the critical limitations of Realism.
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Literary Realism and Poverty, 2008.
An analysis of the literary realism in Hamlin Garland's short story 'Under the Lion's Paw" from his book, "Main Travelled Roads" and Theodore Dreiser's work, "Sister Carrie".
733 words (approx. 2.9 pages), 2 sources, MLA, AU$ 43.95
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Abstract
The paper examines Chapter XLV of Theodore Dreiser's "Sister Carrie" and describes the literary realism that depicts how the character of Hurstwood must survive the grim reality of poverty in the city. The paper also looks at Hamlin Garland's short story "Under The Lion's Paw" from his work "Main Travelled Roads", which uses literary realism to reveal the grim reality of farm life.
From the Paper
"The first reason why literary realism exists in the work of garland's "Under the Lion's Paw" is the way that he defines the life of farmer's, and the often brutal conditions that they must work within as poor workers of the land. The reality of the farmer's life is apparent in Mrs. Council's narrative:
""Yes, I do my own work," Mrs. Council was heard to say in the pause which followed. "I'm getting purty heavy t' be on m'laigs all day, but we can't afford t'hire (Garland, p.491)."
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Magic Realism, 2002.
A discussion the magic realism literary style of Cristina Garcia's novel "Dreaming in Cuba".
1,575 words (approx. 6.3 pages), 2 sources, AU$ 89.95
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Abstract
Discusses the magic realism literary style of Cristina Garcia's novel DREAMING IN CUBA. Traces concept of magic realist to Cuba and Cuban novelist Alejo Carpentier. Critical review of characters, and their interaction in Cuba and New York. Themes of family, politics, love, dreams, visions, memory. Author's attitude toward magic realism.
From the Paper
"It is altogether fitting that Cristina Garcia should plunge us into a world defined by the always shifting definitions of the world of magical realism, for Garcia?s books are essentially Cuban, and the concept of magical realism itself was born in Cuba. Although this style of writing is perhaps best known through the work of Argentine writers like Jorge Luis Borges, the term itself and the literary style that this sometimes elusive phrase refers to were the children of Cuban novelist Alejo Carpentier. Carpentier was seeking for a literary style (and concept) broad enough to accommodate both the events of everyday life as he saw it unfolding before him in the years after World War II in Cuba and the fabulous nature of Latin American geography and history (Zamora and Faris, 1995, p. 36).
Carpentier?s ideas about the kind of writing that could span such..."
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Magic Realism In Photography, 2008.
An analysis of how magic realism can be applied to the medium of photography.
2,127 words (approx. 8.5 pages), 7 sources, MLA, AU$ 107.95
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Abstract
This paper discusses the history of the definitions of magic realism. It specifically focuses on magic realism within photography and if the term can be applied to specific forms of photography. The paper discusses the medium of photography and how the writer uses this medium. It also looks briefly at digital photography, as well as black and white photography.
From the Paper
" It is very difficult to apply the term magic realism to photography of any kind; perhaps because it seems that every kind of photography may be capable of being magic realism. Since the meaning of the term has come to encompass so many definitions, there is an argument for many kinds of photographs to be considered as magic realist photographs. In my photography, I truly want to infuse the logical even "normal" world with something as illogical as a state of mind, an imagination. By still using a representational language to do so, I believe my photographs can fit into the Roh and Hartlaub description of magic realism as well as the Carpentier and Uslar-Pietri description. It is possible to use objectifiable or representational art rather than abstract art to express a part of human reality. It may seem that the objective world is "crystallized" by a photograph, but the crystalline structure of a real external situation is easily fractured by the tiniest suggestion of an internal or psychological reality; the latter is in fact strengthened by the cold and certain detail of the former."
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Scientific Realism, 2002.
This paper looks at scientific realism and its critics.
1,490 words (approx. 6.0 pages), 8 sources, MLA, AU$ 80.95
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Abstract
This paper explores the fundamentals of the faith-based scientific ideology, scientific realism. The author takes a close look at the ideas and opinions of realists and anti-realists concluding that anti-realists, though many of their criticisms are valid, are often as likely to fall prey to the same lack of critical evaluation that they claim to plague scientific realism.
From the Paper
"Mach?s argument could have been improved if he failed to accept contemporary arguments for the existence of sub-molecular particles until evidence existed that proved him wrong. In doing so, he would evoke a methodology in modern thought that many find credible: that which holds that scientific realism lacks the weight of true evidence and is more the matter of opinion than of critical inquiry and objective thought.
Scientific realism is a faith-based scientific ideology, one that maintains that we are warranted in believing in the unseen if it is posited by best explained and most popular scientific theories, which dominate by sheer weight of authority. In this sense it creates a mutualistic error - in trusting the consensus of beliefs among others were are most likely to emulate their mistakes. While mired in dogma, we can?t purport to achieve paradigm changes in thought or in reaching a new and better methodology with which to evaluate and comprehend phenomena both material and immaterial. Although the discourse of empiricists remains of interest to us, it must be remembered that every new scientific idea that is posited as contrary to existing beliefs of the nature of science and existence faces not only critical inquiry but also the inertia maintained by generations of adherents that revere even the least factually justifiable ideologies."
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