SEX AND SEDUCTION: MALE AND FEMALE INTERACTION TODAY USING JEAN PAUL BAUDRILLARDS CONCEPT OF SIMULACRABy: Dan Christian SabaoProposal Defense, February 19, 2014, 5:30 pm to 8:30 pmAquinas University College of Arts, Sciences and Education DepartmentAquinas University, Legazpi City

Recommendation of the Panel MembersRecommendation ItemActions taken

1. Chapter 1, page 1 (a) the title is out of context (b) Revision of the Titlea) Title has been resolved by revisionb) Revision of the title is done. It is revised into A Postmodernist Reading of Seduction through Baudrillards Simulacra Towards a Concept of Ethics

2. Chapter 1, Concentrate on the topic on SeductionTitle is revised so as to conform to the recommendation

3. Chapter 2, Instead of presenting a relationship between the Male and the Female, present a more postmodern form of idea leading towards a new ethic in the view of Fixation and Ethics as AestheticsThe whole thesis is revised so as to conform to the recommendation

4. The Format of the Thesis must be changed into Turabian ChicagoDone

Conform:22

Jordan AverillaScribe

Silvino Balasta Jr.Adviser

Prof. Alvin SarioPanel

Alexander Clyde AntiquiaPanel

Gerry BajaroChairman

A Postmodernist Reading of Seduction through Baudrillards Simulacra towards a Concept of Ethics

A Thesis Presented To The College Of Arts, Sciences Education Aquinas University of Legazpi

In Partial Fulfillment Of The Requirements for the Degree Of Bachelor of Arts, Major in Philosophy

ByDAN CHRISTIAN SABAO

Recommendation for Oral Defense

This thesis is entitled, A Postmodernist Reading of Seduction through Baudrillards Simulacra towards a Concept of Ethics, prepared and presented by Mr. DAN CHRISTIAN SABAO as recommended in order to achieve the title of Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy which is now presented to the panel members for consideration.

SILVINO BALASTA JR. MPRAdviser

Panel MembersThis Thesis which is entitled, A Postmodernist Reading of Seduction through Baudrillards Simulacra towards a Concept of Ethics, prepared and presented by Mr. DAN CHRISTIAN SABAO as recommended in order to achieve the title of Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy which is now presented to the panelists for examination.

President

Member

MemberTestimony of ApprovalThis thesis is entitled, A Postmodernist Reading of Seduction through Baudrillards Simulacra towards a Concept of Ethics, prepared and presented by Mr. DAN CHRISTIAN SABAO, as a recommendation to be worthy to receive the title of Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy.

SILVINO BALASTA JR. MPRAdviser

MARYTINA RAQUEL R. BONGANAY, MOSDean

CHAPTER 1THE PROBLEM AND ITS SETTINGIntroduction

Since the dawn of man, Sex had been a part of its culture, social life and lifestyle. Sex had undergone numerous criticisms from philosophical and religious ideologies. It has also made what we see today in our postmodern world: It basically populated the whole world, it affected the media and arts, it gave rise to Birth Control and it changed how people interact with each other. What leads to sex? Seduction enters the scene. In our history, women apply decorations to their body or wear clothes that attract men which would lead eventually if it permits, to sex. People now use tools in which they can seduce other people for sex. Not all of them are aware that they seduce other people by the way they wear their clothes, take their pictures, move, look or even talk. Women are generally the individuals who seduce and on the other hand, men crave for sex. When someone sees or feels this seduction, they are attracted and their sexual urges are stimulated. There are many examples in which people are lead to sex; the present era doesnt see anymore the sanctity of the subject as having been said by the traditional way. Marriage has been modified so as to satisfy the urges of the human emotion: there are now homosexual marriages, marriage between lesbian people or at worst, no marriage at all. Marriage is not needed anymore because the concept of sex no longer revolves around the conception of a family or love; it now revolves on the concept of desire to satisfy the lust for sex only. They dont care if what they do is bad or good, the important thing is that we are satisfied by the sexual stimulations that we feel.It is mentioned that the people of the postmodern dont really care if what they do is good or bad, that does not mean that ethics is gone. What we have believed as the ethics of the past is now different due to the present condition of the postmodern that is characterized by the arising of the different models of a real without origin or reality. These different models are the representations of the true reality, but these models I can say are corrupt copies of the real one and these models are what we see in the present postmodern era. We live each day encountering these models and it affects how we see reality today, when this happens, we look at the world and each other a whole lot more differently in the past. The dawn of the human thinking already did know the things that they must do. Instinct as may say provided them the answer on how they must live their lives here in this world. They already distinguished what is good and what is bad starting on the conception of deities of good and bad. They already have known if the actions that they do and see are good or bad. This is what we call, a conception of ethics.In our everyday lives we see things that make us interpret the world around us, leading to what we believe must be the truth. This observation however also teaches us to communicate with other people, through this, we have relationships. These relationships further lead to observations that would make us wonder what is good or bad. Through these observations and experiences, we have a conception of ethical concept. Morality is also an issue today. The present culture of the new fashion and look of individuals today go far beyond the traditional modesty that was practiced in the past. In this connection, many of todays people are lead to be convinced by what they see as beautiful and admiring as evidence that it is the truth or reality. In other words, they are seduced by this new trend and culture so as to believe that what they see as aesthetically alluring as good and true.We are now in the postmodern era where traditional concepts are snubbed due to the lack of interest on the conservative philosophy. The dawn of technology and scientific discovery sparked a different lifestyle where people no longer believe in the traditional ideas of the old; new ideas began to arise and new principles come into existence. The people of this era simply dont care. The postmodern world offers a wide range of scenarios which would show how principles are made to affect how the people of the postmodern era interact in a world filled with technology, social network, television, media and trends. Unlike in the past, this interaction is affected by these concepts which change the perception of the people of this era.The postmodern period is filled with things that blur reality. People generally accept what they see today as reality even if it is not really the true reality. It affects the way they feel, understand and perceive things and situations in their everyday lives. All things in this era are just representations of the true reality so as to people of the postmodern are lead to believe that these representations are really true. The mode of the postmodern alters the true essence of the thing represented thus people are to think that it is the way it is. This condition of the era lead to a conception of new principles towards what is good or bad thus would lead to misleading principles that let people wander away from the real truth.In this connection, we would like to see if these appearances we find in the postmodern era affect the ethical concepts of todays culture and philosophy. Because of the present condition of the postmodern, different ideas of ethical concepts have arisen and with this reality, we would like to know also if these ethical concepts are acceptable as good and moral even if it is affected by the appearances which lead people if they are not aware, to unethical concepts which can affect the future of the human race. With the postmodernist era at hand and appearances which seduce people to believe in the aesthetically alluring as good and true, I would like to read through the present era so as to lead towards a new concept of ethics which would, I hope, will enlighten the people of this era and make the future of mankind ethically justifiable.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

For many of the people of this time, they dont usually see any problems in the postmodern concepts. The new trends usually imply a positive ideology in the minds of individual of the postmodern time.The problem here is that the true reality is not seen. They see appearances that simulate the true reality. In connection with this, this study wants to show the following problems so that the people of this time may realize and see the true reality and how they are victims of illusions and appearances leading to a conception of a new ethical concept, we ask thus:1. What is seduction?2. How does a simulacrum fixate someone so as to seduce an individual into believing that it was the true reality?3. How does this simulacrum lead into a new conception of an ethical concept?

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY The postmodern period faces many problems regarding modesty that lead to unwanted actions like rape and pornography. Early pregnancies are more prevalent today and it affects how a family must suppose to start in todays capitalist state. It will explain why this world is riddled by inventions and ideologies that make the human body more attractive to the opposite sex. The human person will realize that they do not perceive realities but just appearances: appearances that are not really the truth but just simulations of the real truth. Social media is famous today. It created a connection which connected the whole world and made conversations with people half way around the world just a click away. People can now show what they do, what they want and what they have. The internet has created a whole new world of its own, creating a world of appearances that deceive the human person into believing that it is reality. With Social Media, seduction is just a post away in facebook and a tweet away in twitter. Seduction stimulates Sexual urges that makes it easy for advertisements to sell what they want to sell. In connection with this, this study will make us aware of the dangers of Social media and Television. It advocates appearances which make us neglect rationality and make way for things that stimulate the senses. Female discrimination is also an issue today. The use of seduction as a tool to make money and to entertain men lowers the dignity of women. It also endangers the lives of millions of children to rape, incest and early pregnancies; soon-to-be-born children are in danger of abortion. This study will make us aware that most of these sensualities can deceive and bring chaos to morality and the meaning of the family. It will make people think and remember the sanctity of marriage and procreation of children.It was aforementioned that that this paper is made to conceive of a new ethical concept. This ethical concept can be the basis of living an ethical life in the postmodern period, a period riddled by so many irregularities and arguments that cant be answered by simple debate. The old traditionalist concept of ethics is in a way not anymore very relevant to be applied in this kind of times where people no longer care for the principles of the past because it cant meet what they desire and what they want to do. It is the goal of this study to sift on the pages of the postmodern story so as to help the people of this time to achieve a peaceful ethical life where their desires are met, without any ethical discrepancy whatsoever.

SCOPE AND DELIMITATION This study will present how seduction in all its forms in todays postmodern setting. It will not be limited to the traditional male and female gender but I will extend the discussion into the realities of the postmodern where homosexuals are legalized, where dogs can be part of the family, where computers and fetishes are considered as legitimate individuals who can give all of us the satisfaction of the sexual through seduction. The study will use the principle and idea of Simulacra discussed before by Jean Paul Baudrillard to describe the postmodern world of his time and the future. It will discuss sex in its pure form: sex and its pleasure, sex and the family, sex and money, sex and society and sex and morality. It will show how sex operates today in the postmodern world and how it is used in the present time. In this connection, the scope of this study is all about seduction, sex, the postmodern concept of the simulacrum and most importantly, a conception of a new ethical concept.DEFINITION OF TERMSa. The Postmodern PeriodThis is a period where postmodernism is relevant. Postmodernism is a period of slackening. It is a period in which, in the modern, puts forward the unpresentable in presentation itself . It would plainly mean that this world of the postmodern is a period where all are representations of the true reality and all we see are all just appearances; Simulacra, it is a term in which Jean Paul Baudrillard calls a simulation. A simulation is a representation of a real object. It may exhibit an exact appearance with what it represents but lacks the exact truth in what it represents.b. SeductionSeduction is a way to attract someone. Philosophically, it is that which extracts meaning from discourse and detracts it from its truth. When someone seduces, he or she uses appearances to attract someone for a specific purpose. That appearance is not the true reality of the one who seduces.

c. SexSex is a universal concept. It generally pertains to the reproductive capabilities of human beings as conformed to its genitalia. Sex can mean something like gender, sexual intercourse, human reproduction or biology.d. Ethics

Endnotes

Mark Poster, (2003). Jean Paul Baudrillard: Selected Writings. United Kingdom: Manchester University Press, p 167. Jean Francois Lyotard, . The Postmodern Condition. Manchester University Press. Appendix, p 1. Mark Poster, (2003). Jean Paul Baudrillard: Selected Writings. United Kingdom: Manchester University Press, p 149.

CHAPTER 2REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIESI. Jean Paul Baudrillarda. BiographyJean Paul Baudrillard was born in Reims, North Eastern France on July 27 1929. His parents were Civil Servants. During his High School Studies in Reims, he encountered pataphysics which was said to be crucial in developing his later thought. He studied German Language and Literature and became a teacher. While teaching, he began to publish reviews and translations of the works of several authors including Karl Marx. During this time as a teacher, he begun to transfer to sociology where he completed his thesis the system of objects where he ended also teaching sociology.He traveled also to the US and Japan. While in Japan, He was given his first camera which eventually made him into a photographer. He then transferred to the University of Paris where he taught until the end of his career. He received a wide audience and referred him as an intellectual celebrity. He died on March 6, 2007 at the age of 77.b. PhilosophyHe lived in the time where postmodernism is actually relevant. He developed a Philosophy where he developed fascinating and perplexing aspects of advanced industrial industry (Mark Poster, 2003). The developing advanced media has made him aware of the new language being used by the society in order to communicate with each other and it differs from both to face-to-face symbolic exchange and printHe developed the concept of the Hyper Real, in which all things are just represented by signs and are just simulations of the real thing; but before that, he was a Marxist as plainly shown in his writings. Gradually, he abandoned Marxism and showed signs that go along Foucault and Derrida.He spoke about that the new culture of the postmodern period has provided the world with time-space distancing new form of communication; that the old way of communicating with print and face-to-face conversation is now at cease. The new technology of mass media and the television made him think about the principle of film in which the things that are shown on film are just simulations of what is real and are just appearances in case of advertisements that want to sell their products by exploiting these appearances for the people to believe and buy these products.He said that this world is now on a culture where traditional metaphysical assumptions cannot penetrate the new trends of the postmodern. Instead of the old metaphysical assumptions, the postmodern era is rooted on consumption where all the people of this time are just concentrated on buying and selling things; they think that their lives are just that way. He said that Consumption had become the chief basis of the social order which would mean that for the social order to have order, the people must embrace consumerism in order to give harmony to this order. He envisioned this world as a world filled with signs misunderstood by people to be the true reality. In this idea revolved the essence of his philosophy in which he related the presence of signs to politics, economy, culture, Sex and Seduction; the world that is filled with charms and appearances that seduce and use the pleasure attributed to sex to produce appearances that deceive and eventually attract the one who is being seduced to feast on this pleasure without thinking of the consequences.He was fascinated by the truth and wants us to see it in its real form thus he was very strict about his concept of the hyper real so that we may see clearly what is in between these signs and understand them in the most critical way.c. RelevanceHis Concept of the Hyper Real is an exact description of the postmodern era. Almost everything in this time is not the exact reality as it is. All is characterized by appearances that blur the true identity of the one which is represented. The industrial age has pushed the people of the postmodern era to leave the difficult life without machines; pushed the people to leave the old ways of communication and travel. This time is filled with new inventions that make life easier. This easy life has rendered and paved the way to the period of slackening in which people would rather choose the easy way than the hard way. It would follow that if the people like the easy way, they would also follow the pleasurable way. The old way of attaining pleasure is boring to the people of the postmodern and with the help of new trends in technology and fashion; they made sex more pleasurable and seduction more exciting. In connection with this, his philosophy makes us see these realities that are concealed between these technological advancements. Advertisements seduce us to buy their products and these advertisements have hyper real characteristics. The Major relevance of his philosophy is that it is now happening today in a major perspective and we, the people of this time are the constituents of these realities; these appearances make us victims of illusion that would lead to irrationality and contradiction to our Human Nature.d. ConceptsHis ideas revolved around his concepts of Hyper reality. This hyper reality is a concept in which the world is filled only with self-referential signs. He developed an idea on illusions which he called simulacra or in plain language simulations. He argued that we lived in a world where we are living in a world which things are just representation and simulations of the true reality.He also developed a philosophy on seduction in where he said that Seduction is that which extracts meaning from discourse and detracts it from its truth. It means that it represents someone or something and it blurs the true reality of that someone or something. The seducer changes the way the reality must look like to seduce someone into believing that the appearance or representation that is seen is indeed the true reality. II. On SeductionIII. Simulacra and SimulationsIV. The Masses: Implosion of the Social in the MediaV. Sexual EthicsVI. The Postmodern Condition

Conceptual framework

Chapter 3Methodology The first agenda of this study is to present the concept of seduction in todays postmodernist setting. To present this concept, I have to expose and open the idea of postmodernism so as to pick up the concepts of sex and seduction to thoroughly study the concept which would lead to my own ideology of how seduction affects the people of this time in which it is now, postmodern. . It will make a blueprint of todays postmodern condition by looking on the raw evidences of todays modern culture and ideologies. The second agenda of this study is to present the concept of simulacrum which is Jean Paul Baudrillards concept. The study would show on how this concept affects how seduction behaves in the postmodernist setting. Using his concept of the simulacrum and after understanding its true aim and meaning, it is very relevant to see it in the perspective to what is happening today in the postmodern period. The third and most important agenda is how, on these presentations of these two concepts, we can arrive on a new concept of ethics. The presentations of the concepts are not just in the light of the related literature but by these related literature and studies, I will be inspired to present a new ideology in which I would arrive on a new concept of ethics so as to apply this new concept on the postmodern condition to give betterment to the present ethical situation of the time. Thus, simply the method of this study is first to present and understand; out of this presentation and understanding create a new concept to apply it to the specific concept aforementioned.