yehudi webster
  • Male
  • Los Angeles, CA
  • United States
Share on Facebook
Share on Facebook MySpace
 

yehudi webster's Page

Profile Information

When it comes to peace, how would you describe yourself?
I'm just a peaceful person
What do you believe are the 'burning issues' today?
Hunger, Education, Violence
So what is it?
Note that war is a species of violence, which is facilitated by poor education.
What must we overcome to achieve peace?
Religion
More
Violence is to war as nonviolence is to peace. I think the issue of violence has been poorly dealt with and for this reason nonviolence (peace) is difficult to conceptualize much less practice. It seems to me that there is tremendous confusion regarding how to define violence, describe its manifestations, explain it, and eradicate it. Peace appears to be Utopian and illusory because violence has not been adequately analyzed, in particular, its roots in certain Greco-Roman and religious notions about nature, human nature, and violence.
Can we change the world?
Definitely
More about me
Religions separate human beings, metaphysically, that is, according to their religious beliefs, endorse violence, promote ideas that we are born to suffer or experience pain, that our nature is innately flawed (the Abrahamic religions), that a god rules the world, and that human reasoning is impotent to create harmonious or peaceful human relations.
Promise to respect others and refrain from spamming?
Yes
Defining Violence and the Prospect for Nonviolence
How can human society get to peace? Above all, we must be clear about “violence,” for peace is the absence of war, which is a species of violence. What, then, is violence? The concept, violence, is of extraordinary significance in historical and social studies. It is used to differentiate human beings from beasts, to separate civilization from barbarism and savagery, to identify levels of insanity, to distinguish democratic from tyrannical and totalitarian systems of government, to identify crimes, to promote social change, to indict cruelty and immorality, and to define pacifism. Few concepts have a more obvious presence, albeit at times covert, in intellectual history and in the behavioral sciences. Despite this monumental interest and avalanche of dissertations, definitions, descriptions, and explanations of violent action are swamped in controversies. Concomitantly, the concept, nonviolence, remains marginalized in social sciences. Standard definitions of violence falter because of the opaque, ascriptive, and multilayered nature of intentions. Many intentions can underlie a given action. Regarding violence as any action that causes pain to a person also facilitates the construction of the concept, verbal violence. But this means that nonviolence is unidentifiable... If violence can be described as “verbal,” any speech act can be deemed violence, as long as its effects are considered harmful or painful. With words falling within the concept of violence, the idea of nonviolence becomes Utopian. Violence acquires the status of an unavoidable feature of human relations. Thus scholars reach for “human nature” as well as genetic and neurological explanations that render violence an eternal social phenomenon. These descriptions and explanations close the circle of studies of violence that cannot identify its contrary. If violence can be perceived in every human expression, what is not violence? Nonviolence becomes unidentifiable. But by this token, so too does violence, for a concept must imply its contrary. In effect, the object of study, violence, as defined in the standard literature, remains undisclosed.
Everyone wants peace. Few are clear on how it is to be achieved--through love, prayer, war, laws, meditation, economic justice, how? What is not generally recognized is that violence must first be conceptually clarified. .I suggest a definition of violence as: nonverbal or non-communicative action taken in the context of unilaterally or mutually perceived conflicts of interest and directed at the bearer of the conflict or a surrogate. It seems to me that this definition points the way toward the construction of a viable concept of nonviolence. I am looking forward to corrections and discussion.

Comment Wall (5 comments)

You need to be a member of iPeace.us to add comments!

Join iPeace.us

At 8:34pm on April 7, 2012, Selin Petrosians said…

Dr. Webster, I was in your 383 class. For the first time in my life, you were the onlyone who put together what I always thought about violence. I knew that education had a great impact. However, why education had a great impact, that you cleared for me. I, just like you, have very few friends. Most of them I DFC :) because I can not communicate with them due to their poor GRAIL :)  You are a great mind. I am lucky to have had a true teacher like you and hope to keep contact. By the way, how are your books comming about? If you ever need help putting them together, keep me in mind. I will enjoy heping you.

At 4:17am on January 10, 2010, Clicia Pavan said…

Come be part of our group Gandhi, man of peace Thank you
http://www.ipeace.me/group/gandhimanofpeace
Namaste
At 4:16am on January 10, 2010, Clicia Pavan said…

http://www.ipeace.me/xn/detail/2217368:Group:2370173?xg_source=activity
Come join our Group
Gaia Mother Earth,thanks
This is the first group that I opened
I hope you enjoy
I wish you much peace and love
Namaste
At 10:36am on December 5, 2009, Kalsi : We are all one . said…
Hi 1 namaste ... my love and peace .
At 9:30am on March 9, 2009, Vicky F. said…

Hello yehudi!

Welcome, and thanks for joining iPeace, it's great to have you on board with us! We hope you'll find your experience here valuable, enriching and effective.

There are many levels and facets to iPeace.Please take your time to explore them all.

Choose what interest you from hundreds of groups, read and participate in forum discussions, post your blogs or upload your multimedia.

Make friends and enjoy their contribution. We are coming from over 170 countries and celebrating diversity.

The iPeace space is all about freedom of expression and mutual respect.

You'll find it easier to navigate and use iPeace if you read the following:

And if you like it here, please help iPeace get stronger by inviting your friends.

It is easy, just click the LINK.

Peace and Love
Vicky F. and all the iPeace Welcome Team.

 
 
 

Latest Activity

Lucy Williams updated their profile
Jul 5, 2023
Sandra Gutierrez Alvez updated their profile
Oct 1, 2022
DallasBoardley updated their profile
Feb 8, 2022
RADIOAPOLLON1242 AIGOKEROS PANOS updated their profile
Feb 2, 2022
Shefqet Avdush Emini updated their profile
Jul 2, 2021
Ralph Corbin updated their profile
Jun 25, 2021
Marques De Valia updated their profile
Mar 24, 2021
SSEAYP - South-East Asian Youth liked David Califa's discussion Flash Banners Here
Feb 29, 2020

© 2024   Created by David Califa. Managed by Eyal Raviv.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service