In "Sex and Violence, or Nature and Art," Camille Paglia claims nature is inherently stronger than society. "Society is an artificial construction, a defense against nature's power.a system of inherited forms reducing our humiliating passivity to nature." (Writing in the Disciplines 572) I agree with the majority of Paglia's opinions, however, I believe that there are points that could have been elaborated on more substantially.
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In this essay, Paglia states that man is born evil and it is society's job to condition him to be a good, moral person. Paglia would disagree with someone who said the reason a person murdered was because he grew up in a bad section of town, or his home life left something to be desired. On the contrary, Paglia claims it is the inner evil, the "nature," of the person to kill, and it is society's lack of conditioning that releases this savage response.
"Society is not the criminal but the force which keeps crime in check." (Writing in the Disciplines 574) She claims no matter how much a person sinks into religion, or their society, nature will always have the upper hand.
Paglia believes if man is left to his natural instincts, with no threat of society's punishment, he will be evil and commit evil deeds. In society, sexual urges can often influence a person's morality, making him second-guess his values for the sake of sexual pleasure. She also goes on to say, "getting back to nature. would be to give free rein to violence and lust."
(Writing in the Disciplines 573-574) I agree that this scenario is a possible outcome, but Paglia fails to mention that with out society we would have no idea, which deeds were evil and which were not. It is society that has set the limits and told us what is evil. Before men were grouped together in societies, they roamed free with no idea of right and wrong. It wasn't until man made up his religion with its rules, regulations and laws that he had a conscious idea of evil.
But I do agree with Paglia that nature is the stronger force, and no matter how much we try to fool ourselves into believing that society or religion can save us from the torment of nature, we will always be reminded of mother nature's force. "Civilized man conceals from himself the extent of his subordination to nature. The grandeur of culture, the consolation of religion absorb his attention and win his faith. But let nature shrug, and all is in ruin. Fire, flood, lightning, tornado, hurricane, volcano, earthquake---anywhere at any time."
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AKHAND PRATAP SINGH
