The Time Surrounding The Lottery Research Paper

The Time Surrounding The Lottery - Research Paper Example The late 1940s, the time when the story was written, was a time of political and social upheaval. Due to the complicated events that took place during and after World War II, and the beginning of the â€Å"Cold War,† many things that had been taken for granted in society were being questioned by people. This led to the creation of Womens Rights movements, but also to the Truman Doctrine and, later, McCarthyism—both movements which supported the status quo. These contradictory movements for change and against it show that â€Å"The Cold War affected almost every aspect of American life.† (â€Å"Introduction†) The story shows a definite nod to the increasing social awareness of women in 1940s America. During World War II, women had begun to work and take on more responsibilities, and they became used to being treated more like equals. After the end of the war, they were expected to go back to being submissive and agreeing to everything their husbands told them to do. Obviously, this did not sit well with many liberated women. This aspect of the story is more of a reflection than a criticism. It can be seen in how the various female characters in the story are critical of the tradition of the lottery. This is obvious from the story, because there are many places where women question the established traditions, like Mrs. Adams, who says that " Some places have already quit lotteries† (Jackson, 308). However, it is equally obvious that the men disagree. This was the same in reality, where many men were opposed to feminism because they wanted to remain socially superior to the other gender. In other words, â€Å"society defined experiences centered around males, with females as mere accessories.† (Feminism) Even though Feminism didn’t really exist until the 1960s, there seem to be very strong elements of it in â€Å"The Lottery† with female characters like Mrs. Adams. The

Explain the true-justified-belief theory of knowledge Essay

Explain the true-justified-belief theory of knowledge - Essay Example For example, if person X sees person Y seating alone at a table in a restaurant and guesses that he is waiting for his wife, while he could be waiting for anyone else from a business partner to a relative or an old friend, he could also be just having a meal by himself. If this proposition is based on a wild guess, even if person Y does turn out to be waiting for his wife given that she arrives a while later, this does not amount to knowledge on the part of person X. When what appears to be knowledge lacks truth, it cannot be considered to be knowledge. It therefore holds that knowledge as a minimum is true belief (Audi n.p.) This further raises the question of whether knowing something means â€Å"justifiedly† believing it (Audi n.p.). As in the case above, simply guessing that person Y is waiting for his wife, even in the event that it turns out to be true does not constitute knowledge on the part of person X. This is because there is no justification for it. However, assumi ng that person Z tells person X that he has seen person Y wait for his wife at that restaurant at the same time every day for a period of time, this could justify person X’s true belief that indeed person Y is waiting for his wife. Person X’s acquisition of knowledge that person Y is waiting for his wife can be rationalized by his acquisition of evidence that justifies the true belief that he indeed is (Audi n.p.). Additionally, Audi contends that the more evidence people acquire to support their belief in something and build up their justification of the particular belief, the nearer they get to knowledge (n.p.). This backs the view that justified belief is a facet of knowledge. From the above, Audi states that it can be deduced that there is a practical and considerable condition necessary for knowledge, that is based on three elements; one knows something only if one believes in it, it is true and the belief that one has of that particular thing is justifiable. In p articular; as a minimum, knowledge is justified true belief (Audi n.p.). This sums up the theory of true-justified-belief of knowledge. However, there are sufficient conditions provided for in the analysis of what constitutes knowledge. This is because, despite the fact that I only know something, if I truly and â€Å"justifiedly† believe in it, it does not hold that, if I truly and â€Å"justifiedly† believe in something, then I know it (Audi n.p.). This three-way analysis of knowledge according to O’Brien infers that the three conditions are necessary for knowledge, that is; belief, truth and justification (11). The conditions are also jointly sufficient for knowledge meaning that one has knowledge when the three conditions are met. Necessary and sufficient conditions are connected to conditional statements conveying the truth of two suggestions in the form â€Å"If X then Y† (Lacewing 24). The assertion in this case is that if proposition X is true the n proposition Y is also true. In the event that the assertion is true, it follows that proposition X is true, then proposition Y is true. It also follows that if proposition Y is false then proposition X is also false. The theory of true-justified-belief of knowledge therefore holds that when the three conditions it proposes are met, together they are sufficient and nothing else is needed for knowledge (Lacewing 24). However, it also contends that if you know X then you have a justified true be