Existentialism - Being and Nothingness

"Existence precede's essence" - Jean Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness

Existentialist's believe that you are here in the moment and all that matters is that we know we exist.
They reject Descartes' "Cogito ergo sum" - "I think therefore I am", instead they support "I am therefore I think" reducing it down to "I think", which essentially is "there are thoughts". They reject also the narrative "I", as they do not regard people as self contained; rather that we are a composite of other people around us. You wouldn't be you if you were just on your own.  Consciousness is not individual, there is no "I", the transcendent Cartesian ego cannot be found anywhere.

The journey begins with Kant, he outlines in his famous work 'The Critique of Pure Reason' that
existence is not a predicate (purpose/result) of consciousness or being. Kant believed that existence is a pre-condition of consciousness, and that consciousness is not a proof of existence anyway, consciousness "just is", it's not the result of anything, or the cause of a particular thing.

How could there not be consciousness? The opposite of consciousness is unconscious, which is a mind without properties, therefore we cannot stand outside of consciousness. Just how the opposite of nothing is not something, similarly to how dog is not the opposite of cat, nor is it a not-cat.

Husserl wrote a famous book titled "Psychology from an empirical standpoint" which became the foundation of modern phenomenology*. The essence of his phenomenology is the study of immediate data of consciousness. For Husserl it makes no difference whether the ideas I have represent the real world, or whether they are hallucinations. For example, there is a table in front of me, whether this phenomena is real or an hallucination is irrelevant, to Husserl it did not matter.
*phenomenology is the study of the structure of experience and consciousness.

Heidegger proclaimed the end of the metaphysical age from Plato to Husserl, the change began in the 1790s with Kant who they believed triggered the destroying of metaphysics. The Logical positivists in Vienna and Cambridge were saying the same thing at the time. In the metaphysical age, objects exist independently of mind, they 'subsist', and the role of the mind is to kind of mirror the structure of reality.

The 'mission' of philosophy was to establish the 'reality' of the existence of the ego as an object within an external world and to describe the nature of this reality. (Science)

The primary idea in the metaphysical age is to make thoughts corresponding with underlying or hidden substrata of independently subsisting reality, such as Descartes' 'God' or Schopenhauer's 'Will'.
Thoughts that correspond with reality are truth statements.
"The truth is out there" - Truth is agreement of knowledge with objects. Objects are eternal and prior to mind (Aristotle) or can be mind dependent (Kant) but either way according to the metaphysicians they exist.

After Heidegger there is no absolute truth there are only subjective "weak truths" or "practical truths" or "convenient truths" and these are the reliable truths which are necessary to being and being is always concrete and specific: "always being in the world" or "being there" (Dasein)

Dasein is in your mood or emotion.
Heidegger believes that your mood is you and emotion is authentic being.

Truth is no longer a matter of matching thought to reality, but of making reality which is seen as true post-hoc. (Latin for "after this") There is no idea of a 'correct truth' in which one culture has access to, there are many truths which are specific to the desires and moods of an individual.

Heidegger's Project was to clear away all philosophical terminology and throw away the concepts and systems since Socrates, he literally burned them, in order to liberate himself from objectification and metaphysics.  Heidegger was a Nazi, who believed to live an "authentic life" would be to live a simple life in the forest. The 'good life' consisted of real ale, organic foods, fertile women and physical strength. This was his dasein.

Like Nietzsche, Heidegger believes Socrates corrupted Western Civilization. Heidegger invents an original set of terms in order to speculate about the exterior world.

Existence and Time

Dasein means "being there". 
Like Husserl, Heidegger is not interested in consciousness.

Being is not an abstract idea, we are always thrown in to things, thrown in to the world, thrown in to doing jobs, and we are always in the middle of some sort of task, like a roller-coaster ride; everything is always moving. Freedom and authenticity for Heidegger is complete absorption in a task-
when you are fully engaged in a task, you no longer exist.

Existence = Boredom 
Boredom is the "problem of being", thus Heidegger would advise you find your Dasein as the opposite of boredom is Dasein, the lack of boredom is non existence (engagement in Dasein).

Existence requires time
Without time there would be no boredom, but with infinite time there would be infinite boredom. 
The perception of "lack of time" creates a sense of urgency, it force's you to just do it. Dasein is non reflective and unthinking, you are in the moment. Dasein is not thinking.

There are three aspects of time
(1) Attunement - expressed as mood, this is the reflection on the past associated with guilt
(2) Being for itself, or being there - this is caring about the task in hand, the present mode
(3) Directedness - this is a reflection on the future which is associated with the mood of dread, fear of the future.

Past = Guilt
Present =Boredom (dasein)
Future = Fear

The core of existentialism is that existence is everything, people don't have essences. We don't have to act in certain way just because we are students - life is there to be made, and it will be made for you if you don't make it for yourself.

Existential saints are people who are madly committed to something, but to do something in a moderate way to please others or fit in is an existential sin. The only way to free yourself is to have an overriding desire, and passion. Existential hell is doing something because you have to.

Semester 2 Week 1

WINOL is broadcast every Wednesday at 5pm, but if you missed it you can watch the bulletin here:

David Hayward from the BBC College of Journalism visited us on WINOL this week, he was very complimentary of the work that we had all produced, hear what he had to say in the video below.

Reflection of Week One:

The first week back into court reporting brought me back face to face with Winchester Crown Court. This week I followed a story on a Southampton man who was jailed for three years for possession of crack cocaine and heroin. I visited the court on both Thursday and Friday, but there was little luck finding a hard hitting story. The weather conditions proved difficult as it caused delays down at the court, but the sentencing's still went ahead once people managed to get in to work avoiding the snow chaos.

Commonly with court reporting finding pictures to visually display the report is a struggle. With close contact with media relations at Hampshire Constabulary I obtained a convicted photo after filling out the form. However, it proved impossible to get hold of the officer in charge of the case as she was out of the office for a few days, missing the tight deadline we were working too. On several occasions I tried to get hold of her,  or even the duty sergeant  I was hoping to obtain some police photographs of the drugs found inside the property to add a more visual appeal rather then a solid piece to camera outside the court. I confirmed the legality of my report, by getting the identification of the defendant from the clerk of the court and speaking to court listings and the police media team.

This week I had a camera man, as I went down to the courts with former court reporter Luke Garratt. This allowed me to have my hands in shot, however I feel it looks quite stiff as I don't make full use of my hands free. However, before hand we had a lot of technical difficulties, the camera wouldn't turn on as the battery was temperamental even though it had been fully charged, loan counter have been notified of this dodgy battery.

I tried to open up the story by relating it to Operation Fortress which has been launched to tackle the issue of drugs in Southampton. This relates to the case I was covering as the man convicted was based in Southampton. However, as it was general comment I was looking for they wouldn't conduct a video interview, but the media relations team sent me a quotation from the lead of Operation fortress. Although I didn't use this in my news package, It added exposition and greater depth to a wider issue in my written story.

Southampton man jailed for class-A drug haul

A drug user has been sentenced to three years in prison after he was caught in possession of crack cocaine and heroin.

David Caines was stopped outside his home address, Golden Grove in Southampton, where he was found with class A drugs with a street value of about £1500.

Officers searched the property where they found equipment that Caines used as part of his drug dealing.

Judge Jane Miller said Caine's was clearly a street dealer with links to a drug network in Southampton.

The court heard that the 48-year-old man received no financial payment but was motivated by obtaining drugs for himself.

Hampshire Constabulary launched Operation Fortress in May 2012 to tackle the issue of drug related violence in Southampton.

Detective Superintendent Kath Barnes said "A dedicated team of police officers and staff was set up to investigate incidents of drug-related violence and target those involved."

“Our aims are to restrict the supply of drugs while reducing the demand for drugs and helping communities to rebuild themselves free from the fear of violence."


23/1/13 WINOL 

BBC College of Journalism

BBC College of Journalism is the core centre for training journalists, providing many useful and detailed videos on every aspect of journalism. As my news patch is crime and courts I have focused on the law section on the website, I also did this in preparation before starting out as a court reporter in the summer, outlining the roles of people found in court; this can be found here. These notes were made from the tour by Rory Maclean of Southwark Crown Court, which I found extremely helpful in establishing who sits where in the court; this made my first time down to court less daunting as I could position all the different professionals in their place from the Judge to the dock. It also gave me an insight into what each person does in the court, particularly the clerk of the court which is a good source for me to get the identification of the defendant. The Crown Court video can be found here. The briefings on Defamation, Privacy, Copyright and Contempt helped me freshen up on my media law, this knowledge is essential when dealing with crime and the law.

Over the course of time as a court reporter I have established that finding pictures to illustrate the case has been the hardest challenge. Often the reports rely heavily on a piece to camera, which is talking directly to the camera in vision. David Shukman's video on pieces to camera shows a detailed analysis of interacting with the camera in a comfortable and confident way.

When watching the local reporting video I found I could easily relate to the advice given. As suggested with news gathering it is best to source stories from other places rather then just the 'diary', such as social media sites and contacts that you have built a strong and trusted relationship with. I have followed national organisations and importantly local organisations to keep up to date with the news in the area. From the local papers to all the local corporations including the police, ambulance service, fire etc relating to my news beat to keep on track with all the breaking news in the crime field. In relation to building a good relationship I feel I have done this by working closely with the police, press officers, the courts and the crown prosecution. As a news team we also gather on a monday where we can share our ideas and stories, as suggested on the local reporting video collaborating with others helps as we can exchange contacts and someone may have information on something you need. I like the idea of brainstorming future ideas on a board so it can remain as a hard copy for all reporters to glance at and contribute too. The video on local reporting can be found here.

The BBC college of Journalism is certainly a encouraging and informative tool to help training journalists learn the ropes from the basics, all the way to the top of the ladder. A site I will constantly refer to, to enhance and improve my skills.

Snowy trip down to Winchester Crown Court

It's no secret to us all that it snowed today, every inch of Winchester ground was covered in white fluffy snow. But, the news never sleeps, and this week is crucial, as it's the first WINOL back, and the MA's have joined the team. My new title is Chief Crime Reporter, which is developing upon the same news beat as last semester, as this is my core interest. This involves regular trips down the the crown court as you can imagine is a great source for crime stories in the local area. Regardless of the torrential snowflakes turning to ice, I headed down to court. It was certainly a slippery and bumpy journey but as I was shuffling my way through the snow slowly and steadily it gave me the chance to take some pictures of my surroundings, so I thought it would be nice to share them with you.

                            

                              

                                         

It's amazing how snow can cause so much disruption, it looks beautiful but it causes endless chaos, transport delays, schools closing, people not able to get to their jobs, and delays in every way imaginable. Most see it as a day off, but in terms of the law courts, its a requirement and therefore cannot just be shut down, they had to compromise with what judges were available and work around the delays of defendants and barristers getting in, but eventually most of the scheduled cases were heard.

His name is Evil: Levi Bellfield

Over the holidays I have been saturated in crime investigations, developing upon my patch as a crime and court reporter last semester. As well as watching documentary's such as 'Evil up close' and 'When life means life' on the Crime Channel, I have been following a book titled 'Life means life' by Nick Appleyard, covering the minority of cases where prisoners will die behind bars; such as the likes of Anthony Arkwright, Ian Brady, Rose and Fred West, Steve Wright, Dennis Nilsen and closer to home: Levi Bellfield.

CC Attribution - Author: Synikalle

This was the most astonishing of all, as Levi Bellfield, similarly to I was born in Isleworth. He attacked woman in the area I have lived in my entire life, nothing like this has ever happened here before, and until now I have never been able to put a name or face to my dads warning "there's a hammer man on the loose", he would say, at a time when I was only aged 11 and starting secondary school. It was devastatingly horrible to know that something as big as murder had happened virtually on my door step, only round the corner from where I went to school, and where I live.

Levi Bellfield, was one of six children. At the age of eight his father died of a heart attack. In his early teens he was showing signs of sadistic and abnormal tendencies. At the age of 13, he tortured and killed his sister’s pet rabbit, and school friends recall a rumour that he tried to have sex with the animal.

He was known as the 'The Hammer Man', in my area, but tabloids branded him 'The Bus Stop Killer', because his trademark would be to wait at bus stops or follow buses late at night, targeting blonde vulnerable girls who were alone. He would approach them and offer them lifts, sex, drugs or drink, and those who would reject his offers, faced the brunt of his raging revenge.

In 2011, Bellfield was found guilty of killing school-girl Milly Dowler, aged 13, who went missing in Walton-on-Thames on her way home from school in March 2002. Her body was found six months later in woodlands in Hampshire.

In February 2003, LEVI, whose name is an anagram of EVIL beat Marsha McDonnell aged 19, over the head with a hammer, when she was feet away from her home in Hampton. He had followed her bus in his van, and after attacking her, left her to die on the pavement. In May 2004 he stalked 18 year old student Kate Sheedy who got off a bus in Isleworth, Bellfield ran her over as she was crossing the road. He then reversed and ran over her again to ensure she was dead, but she survived after managing to make a call to the emergency services. She was the star witness to the prosecution service, as she lived to tell the tale.

In August 2004, his next innocent target was Amelie Delagrange, who got off at the wrong bus stop. Bellfield approached her and as she refused to talk to him, he responded with a brutal attack; it didn't take much for him to switch from nice to nasty. As the 22 year old went to cross my local cricket pitch known as Twickenham Green to get home, he beat her over the head three times with a hammer. From that day onwards, the local area was petrified and stunned by what had happened, and many woman were fearful that he would strike again. While Bellfield was on remand in Belmarsh Prison, in South East London, he confided in Paul Jarvis and admitted to killing her after she refused his offer of Cocaine.

Bellfield was even capable of turning on his friends, in 2004 he attacked again, this time hitting his friend Peter Rodriguez over the head with a hammer three times and stabbing him in the stomach and kneecaps with a screwdriver.

Bellfield has eleven children, by five different women. His ex-girlfriend of three years Johanna Collins spoke about how he would return home, from work as a nightclub bouncer, and boast about the girls he would of raped that night, referring to them as “another little slut” that he had in the back of his car. He was in the car clamping business, owning four different cars, one of which was a Toyota Previa people carrier that had blacked out windows. He would keep a mattress and blankets in the back of his car which would come in handy when he lured drunken naive girls into his trap. Those who ignored his advances were sometimes drugged and raped. Bellfield was fuelled by steroids and cocaine, he believed he was above the law, and cleverly disposed of his vehicles and clothes that were used during the attacks. He also boasted to work colleagues how he was shave his entire body to avoid leaving traces of DNA; he believed he was “untouchable”. However, he wasn't clever enough to consider CCTV from buildings and buses, which had footage of all his vehicles, placing him at the scene of the crimes. He would order his ex to scrub the cars out to remove any traces of what he had done. Johanna Collins mentioned how she had found Bellfield’s stalking kit in the garage one day, inside it was a coat, a bobble hat and a magazine. The coat was heavy on one side, she discovered that the lining in the left hand pocket had been cut out so that his hand could go right the way down to his hunting knife. She realised that the bobble hat was a full face balaclava, and all the models in the magazine with blonde hair had been slashed up. When faced with the discovery he flew into a rage shouting “I f**king hate blondes, they should all f**king die”. Becky Wilkinson who was the mother to four of his children said how the life tariff had made her feel safe for the first time in years; as he would hit her and rape her.

The day before Bellfield was arrested, the police followedhis car. He pulled up and spoke to two young girls at a bus stop. The girlslater told the police how he had offered them a lift, and that he had askedtheir age. When he received a response of 14, he said “you must be virgins – Ibet you are nice and tight”, he laughed as he drove off.

At the time of his arrest, mother of three of his children Emma Mill’s was living with him. At around 4/5am, 30 policemen armed with guns, and dogssurrounded his house in West London. At that time he was in bed, Mill’s said how she had never seen him look so scaredbefore. He looked at her and said “I’m sorry” and then hid in the loft. Policefound him naked, crouched behind a roll of insulation, as he tried to hidehis private parts which had shrunk due to steroid abuse.

Bellfield was convicted on 25^th February 2008with double murder and the attempted murder of Kate Sheedy. Later in 2011, hewas found guilty of the murder of Milly Dowler. Police suspect he is guilty ofmany more attacks on women, linking him to potentially 20 further offences.Officers are still working through cases. After trial, it came to light thatBellfield’s first girlfriend when he was 12 years old, was murdered in the 1980’s, her name was Patsy Morris, she was only aged 14. This is just one of many crimes that police will bequestioning him on.

Bellfield refused to attend court, blaming the tabloids for their adverse accounts about him, every national tabloid had the verdict on their front page the next morning. The Sun's headline was "HE KILLED MILLY TOO". Surviving victim Kate Sheedy described him as a "complete coward" for not showing his face in court. Sentencing Bellfield in his absence Judge Mrs Justice Rafferty said: "You have reduced three families to unimagined grief. What dreadful feelings went through your head as you attacked and in two cases, snuffed out a young life is beyond understanding. You will not be considered for parole and must serve your whole life in prison." DCI Collin Sutton who lead the investigation said outside court "Levi Bellfield is a predator, who preyed on women over a period of time. He targeted his victims at random, attacking those much smaller and weaker than him. Only he knows why he did it." 

References

Appleyard, N. (2009) LIFE MEANS LIFE. London: John Blake Publishing Ltd, p.33-40.

Evil Up Close - His name is Evil: Levi Bellfield (n.d.) [TV programme] Crime and Investigation network.

What to expect with Court Reporting

Court reporting is known as one of the toughest reporting jobs in Journalism. You enter a place where you encounter the highest and the lowest of society; the professionals and the suspected criminals.

As a court reporter you have to be thick skinned. You have to expect to hear all the gory details of the crime at hand, without letting it faze you. It is extremely hard at times, to be in such an intense environment hearing the summing up amongst the defendant’s family and friends, but your main focus has to be on getting down all the details; ensuring your facts are exactly how you hear them in court. This is where shorthand comes in handy, it does speed things up if you can do it, but if you’re a fast writer longhand works just as well.

Your notepad is your bible, it’s important to keep hold of everything you write in court as backup, in-case somewhere down the line someone tries to sue you for libel. If you have the facts written down about what was said in court, then you have a Qualified Privilege defence.

Entering court initially is daunting, passing by security, and anxiously sitting outside the court rooms twiddling your thumbs until the next case is called. Court is an extremely isolated and lonely place, especially as a reporter when you go alone, but, when you get a good story you know your news editor will want it gives you the drive. You can be sitting in court for endless hours at a time, and still not find a good story that you can legally report on, so time and patience is crucial. Be sure to know your media law, in particular about defamation and the risks of contempt of court.

Writing the script is the next challenge you are faced with. For TV it needs to remain simple and to the point, summarising all the key facts in a way that is fast, accurate and fair. The most important part is to legally identify the defendant with their name, age and address, ensuring it is all spelt correctly for print - don’t be afraid to ask people how it’s spelt! As Journalists, it's sometimes worth playing dumb. This way you have positively identified them, and at no risk of defaming someone else, who could potentially sue you for a large sum of money!

When you are in court, you will hear a lot of jargon from the Defence, Prosecution and Judge, you do not need to worry about this, just get down everything you understand, in particular any quotes from the Judge. Contacts will rescue you when in doubt, for instance, Court Listings can confirm identification, and the Crown Prosecution Service can confirm details on the case. These are the people you will work closely with; you have to be confident and build a friendly relationship with professionals that you wouldn't normally speak to. In particular, the police, you need to know the name of the officer in charge of the case to see if they can give you any photographs or footage that they may have, in addition, with their name you can fill out a convicted photo request form to get a mug shot. Often the officer in charge is present at the court so if you go up to them and introduce yourself they can help you, either that or call the police headquarters and get in touch that way. There will be countless times you will be passed on to different departments, and feel as though you are not getting anywhere, but maintain persistence, and chase up calls, don’t wait for them to contact you back, because it’s likely that they won’t.

A good TV report has to be visual, court reports can be extremely dull, and it’s a challenge to make it more visually appealing for the viewer. Photographic features which are ideal to illustrate your report are a mug shot of the defendant, police photographs if there is evidence to be seen, a piece to camera on location and cutaway shots of the scene, if you can get there. Regularly you see reports whereby the reporter is stood outside the law courts, this can be visually mundane, so depending upon the time scale you have if you can get to the scene of the crime, it lifts the piece, adding context and colour.

We are seen as the nosy hacks of society, but you are there to do your job, so don’t let any evil stares, or off-putting glares put you off. Don’t be shy to speak to people, they are your richest source, just be sure to be dressed smart, and act professionally in court, and in return you will be treated in a respectful manner. Although you may feel as though you are intruding upon peoples personal lives, it is called a public gallery for a reason, no one can stop you from going, and it’s a reporter’s job to share what is the public's interest.

Here are some examples of the work I carried out as a Court Reporter -

Full YouTube Channel - http://www.youtube.com/user/024christina