It's Finally here the last HCJ exam that we will have to sit. Here are the questions and my notes taken from the preparation lecture for the exam. I find that it always helps to go back over those doodles I made, to see if they made any sense..
(1).Outline the verification principles as part of the school of thought known as logical positivism. How might this principle be applied in the day to day work of a journalist?
-Claims concerning the truth, true or false and looking into the meaningless method. If the truth can’t be verified. This follows the work of Wittgenstein ‘of that we could not speak, we are silence’ this theory is central in the practical journalism. How does a journalist know if something is true? No journalist ‘believes’. Link to Freddy air- a story would not be allowed to feature on the front page of a newspaper if they could not verify it. It is seen as an objective truth. Wittgenstein believed that the use of sentences and clarifying the truth or falseness of a statement is a problem.
(2.)What is phenomenology? Can there be such a thing as subjective reality or subjective truth. What sort of standards ought a Journalist apply?
-Phenomenology is a branch of philosophy which concerns subjective experience own personal reaction and why (link)? The origin of the term- phenomena- comes from Emanuel Kant and his theory of ‘critique of pure reason’ all objects has a jewel nature (making it a stunning theory according to Horrie). Quantum theory- A nominal object which is the unseen object for example if a tree falls and dies in a forest where no one has witnessed it, who would hear it? A naïve realist believes that objects are there when they are not seen. Imperialist such as Locke and Berkeley said that there is no way to prove that objects are there when not looking at it. This idea sounds crazy but is identified by modern science, the act of perceiving an object. An object which can be linked is ‘Shar-diggers cat’ and this is linked to modern experimental science. Phenomenology is also linked to existentialism meaning the past is beyond control, the future is unknown therefore we only have the present. We live for the present. Heidegger deals with the phenomenology nature materialism for example when you walk into a room you are creating phenomenology; this can be linked to ‘The Outsider’.
(3.)Describe in broad terms JM Keynes idea on monetary policy with an indication of how the Keynesian ‘revolution’ came about. Does ‘Keynesianism’ inevitably lead to social regression, moral failures and serfdom as Hayek asserts?
-This questions links to the economics and Anglo Saxon theory (science and objective). ‘Trying to see the world in a non-phenomenal way’. The great depression of the 30’s , in the 30s it was a completely different world. Keyneism started with and after world. The 50s and 60s ‘never had it so good’ it became the new age. Getting from the 30s- 50s this is what is called Keynesianism’. The government was just printing money (this can link to the present day and the issues of the credit crunch) and this was a cause of the war. As the government just printed money it became worthless and this is where inflation came in, in return for full employment they got inflation. Keynes said ‘Just spend the money’ it’s better to have people digging a hole and filling them, than having people unemployed. Money is transparent, new industrial and gathering quantitative data. Hayek- we are all working for the state. Hannah Arendt loss of identity and this can link to the present day talk about ‘CCTV’ taking away our privacy.
(4.)‘Facts in logical space are the world?’ – Wittgenstein. Do you agree?
-What are facts? A fact is something that can be verified… (Refer to latest seminar paper) chapter one- the world consist of facts. This links back to Kant and phenomenology and the rejection of metaphysics. Plato spoke about ideal thoughts- the rejection of this. Facts in our minds and logical space- the ways of describing and proposition against each other. The world consists of relationships of logic. Link to Kant and how we experience things physically.
(5.)Looking back at the HCJ course as a whole choose one thinker we have discussed or one movement in thought that you believe to be particularly significant in terms of journalist practice. Explain why?
Now this may take some time to decide..
