American Research Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

Daniel Shorkend

The significant, Enlightenment philosophers in aesthetics, such as Schopenhauer and Hegel form the bedrock of many of our ideas in aesthetics. After briefly unpacking their ideas in this regard, I argue for the inability of such philosophers to deal with non-mimetic art, such as abstract painting and in the process their views on aesthetics only apply to a limited domain of the visual arts. Insofar as this is the case I then put forward an alternative aesthetics that accommodates advances in the arts, namely a metaphoric conception of art. This conception of aesthetics also appears to argue for the pervasiveness of aesthetic experience, thus also undermining the said philosophers’ hierarchical elevation of the arts from common experience. This invites an alternative aesthetics, where sport may be regarded as a kind art. In this regard, the role of metaphor, in both positive and negative ways devolving from the post-modern “language turn” leads to a holistic conception of experience, whether parcelled off as art or sport and this is argued for as the so-named “argument from intertwining”. 

Mary Nyangweso

Although religion continues to play a significant role in human history and general behavior, it is often minimized, overlooked and discounted especially in the academia and in national development. As a field of study, religious studies encounters numerous challenges, including that of relevance. Claims that religion and its study are irrelevant and impractical in modern society just because of misperceived notions that it is unscientific and therefore unlikely to lead directly to a specialized profession as in the case of the Science, Technology Engineering, and Math (STEM) based fields of study, undermine the significant role of religious studies in the academy and in development. This attitude toward religion and religious studies is expressed broadly regarding the humanities as well. Studies indicate that assertions that students who major in religious studies or the humanities waste time since humanities’ graduates are unemployable are not verifiable. This study draws from findings of a national survey and existing secondary data to highlight the place of religion, religious studies and the humanities in the academia and in national development. The study employs intersectionality as a framework to argue for the central role of religion and the humanities in national development.

Umeogu, Bona Christus, Ph.D1, Onebunne Jude Ifeanyichukwu, Ph.D2 Ojiakor, Caroline Ifeoma, Ph.D3*

This study explored the confluence of psychological and media communication metaphor exploited in religious persuasion by 21st century church leaders in the use and abuse of social media communication for religious worship. Typically, the study contrasts the truism that religious abuse of social media communication in propagating false spiritualism has diminished the merits of social media as the greatest breakthrough of information and communication technology (ICT) as a tool in religious evangelism. The study conceptualizes that the versatility of the social media has also deepened the thrust of religious evangelism positively, and negatively. Against this background, Rashdall’s (1907) “moral criterion” in the use of the Theory of good and evil gifts this current examination the philosophical underpinnings of man’s vulnerability in exploiting nature’s endowments and human development for both psychological hedonism and rationalistic utilitarianism. In the case of the use/abuse of the social medial for religious evangelism, there is a strong conformity of opinions to the fact that under the current circumstances of uncontrollable high-tech falsehood; man’s free-will in the choice of his actions and the gift of reasons and feelings above any other animal leads to the conclusion that human advancements (such as social media) should lead man to a better life despite volumes of spiritual falsehood communicated through those platforms.

Mithun Mog1, Nasim Ahamed Mondal2*

Introduction: From 1965 to 2009, contraceptive usage has tripled from 13 per cent to 56 per cent, and the fertility rates (TFR) decreased from 5.7 to 2.7. Objectives: To understand the trends in contraceptive use and to study the differentials in traditional and modern contraceptive use in northeast India in the past three decades. Data Source and Methodology: The present study is based on all four rounds of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) reports and data as well.Findings: The overall Contraceptive use among married women improved by 8.0 per cent in Tripura and 9.7 per cent in Assam from 1992 to 2016. Additionally, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, and Manipur had significantly low use of any contraceptive methods. Few states in the northeast (Tripura, and Assam) India, the traditional contraceptive users increased from 1992 to 2005, but after that, it decreased substantially. The modern contraceptive method is the most popular method in northeast India; it has risen 11.4 per cent in the last two decades. The contraceptive prevalence rate is not similar in all the northeastern states. Among the modern methods of contraception, the terminal method is the most prominently accepted in northeast India.Conclusion: As northeast India is mostly dominated by tribal population, so the way of improving the contraceptive prevalence rate may differ. Therefore, more research is needed to frame proper policies on family planning.

Dr. Neeta Rani

Water is an important component of sustainable development; without it survival is not possible. Though it is available in great quantity but accessibility to fresh water is limited, which makes it an important element for lives. Water supply has become unhygienic to people due to reasons like lack of economic infrastructure and poor conditions. There are several countries in the world which face acute water shortage as well as poor water quality. It hampers their water security and also brings negative impacts on food security and the livelihood of people as well. Lack of water resources invites droughts which further make lives of people more miserable, exacerbate starvation and causes malnutrition. Global warming has made water a restricted resource which is very much important for human lives. Therefore the proper management of water resources is must to bring sustainable development. Water plays a vital role in strengthening the economic and social existence of human beings.

Mingzhe Sun

This essay is about 3 legacies of European Colonialism around the world: the World Trading System and its influence of people around the world, the Ecological Exchange and its significance of agriculture and environment, and the Mercantilism which shape modern world politics and economics.  The World Trading System is established in the European colonization as a result of European involved in the trade in different regionally market. The Europeans explore and expand their trading network to every corner of the world, establish the colonies and connect them into the trading network. The wide spread colonies and trading networks shaped modern world. The trading network not only provides the chance of goods exchange, but also culture and idea exchange; the spread of religions, ideology and technologies was boosted by the trade activities. The ecological exchange, introduces high yielded crops from America to old world, while also introduce old world species to the new continents. The corns and potatoes, which are the most representative new world crops, raised millions of people with their unbelievable moderation ability. The old world crops and animals adapted the new environment well and supported the whole world with their agriculture output. However, the invasive species and disease lead to massive destruction to the new world population and the ecological diversity; and caused the long term risk to the world. At last, the mercantilism shaped the politic relations and economic connection of the European Maritime Empires and their colonies, and later expanded to all around the world. The mercantilism influenced the relationship of colonies with their mother countries before and after their independence. Despite of the international relationship, the mercantilism and the trade activity based on this theory shaped the world cultural, political and economical environment.

Hantao Hu

 Starting from the early 19th century, the arguments on whether abolishing death penalty never reach an agreement and continue to today. This research paper focuses on discussing the reasons why society should abandon the death penalty. Based on the research and the analysis, the article mainly uses the utilitarian ethical values to argue that the death penalty is unethical: 1. Death penalty fails to deter the criminals. 2. The death penalty may brutalize the victim’s family. accomplish. 3. The death penalty is a more expensive means to achieve the same goal that life imprisonment can accomplishTherefore, the paper suggests the abolishment of the death penalty and recommends using life imprisonment as an alternative. In the future, the article will combine more resources and targets the death penalty from Kant’s perspective and Aristotle’s virtue ethics.

Nasim Ahamed Mondal1*, Mithun Mog2, Kacho Amir Khan3

Introduction: Harmful use of alcohol result in 3 million people die each year, which means 5.3% of all deaths worldwide. Alcohol has a contribution on the global burden of disease and injury which accounts approximately 5.1 per cent of the disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), and approximately 13.5 per cent of the total deaths in the age group 20-39 years were caused by alcohol consumption.Objectives: To understand the changes and differentials in alcohol consumption in India and its states, and to examine the determinants of alcohol consumption in India. Data Source and Methodology: The present study has used the national representative Indian Human Development Surveys (IHDS) I (2004-05) and II (2011-12). Bivariate analysis was used to show the prevalence of alcohol consumption concerning some selected socioeconomic and demographic background variables. The Chi-square and multivariate logistic regressions were also employed to estimate the odds ratio (95% CI) for alcohol consumption. STATA and Arc GIS 10.1 software were employed to carry out the analyses. Findings: The alcohol consumption was two per cent higher in 2004-05 (37%) than the recent survey of IHDS (2011-12) (35%) in India. In addition to that, there were some states where the consumption of alcohol had increased from 2004 to 2012 like Mizoram (44%), Kerala (19%), and Jammu and Kashmir (16%). In contrary to that, there were also a few states where alcohol consumption had decreased from 2004 to 2012 like Rajasthan (8%) and Tamil Nadu (5%).