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Literature and Philosophy (Where's the guide of our life? (morality),…
Literature and Philosophy
How do we know what we know? (consciousness)
John Locke(1632-1704), An Essay Concerning Human Understanding excerpt
determine the limits of human understanding:we have no innate knowledge
empiricism: all ideas come from experience (2 methods to gain knowledge: 1, sensation-> the process and things in the external world 2, reflection -> operations of our own minds)
how we acquire the materials of knowledge
, substances (independent): e.g. physical objects humans animals and other constructed things objects have 2 qualities : (1) solidity e.g.extension , figure , motion, number (retain their primary qualities) (2) colors sounds tastes
2,modes: e.g. the idea of gratitude (dependent on substance)
3,relation(identity): compare one idea with another
knowledge is “the perception of the connexion and agreement or disagreement and repugnancy of any of our Ideas”
three thought experiments
hierarchy of reality (formal vs objective reality)
consciousness: consciousness makes the same person and self depends on consciousness
the nature of law is about reward and punishment
Marcel Proust(1871-1922), Swann’s Way excerpt
phenomenology: the study of how things happen
the story of one’s experience from first person perspective
Proust in his novel uses the first perspective to depict the things that he observed and he thought
sleep is very important to protagonist here because this is when the time dissolves and the awareness extend beyond the boundary of body, at this time, room becomes the special container for the self
body becomes the repository of the knowledge and memory
Consciousness plays a very important role in our experience
Rene Descartes(1596-1650), Meditation
:
Foundationalis(how to organize our knowledge 1. solid first principle and 2. propositions that are anchored to it )
Cogito: "I think, therefore I am." Meaning: our knowledge derives from the inner world, o doubt everything except for the method of doubt itself and start again from the foundations (skeptism)
dualism: body exists apart from mind
rationalism : our mind is stocked with concepts of reason
Where's the guide of our life? (morality)
"Terrifyingly normal"
Joshua Oppenheimer, The Act of Killing
A documentary, using a unique perspective, which is the perspective of the perpetrator to recreate the Indonesian mass killing of 1965-1966.
The actors who play the role of perpetrators in the genocide are actual perpetrator who committed the mass killing in the real world. In the movie, they are proud of what they have done and they are fully aware of what they’ve been doing so far.
The documentary raises up some questions such as to what extent are we guided by our inner sense of morality? And what make their moral judgement so different? It also brings p the topic about self-consciousness and its relation with Hanna Arendt’s point of view toward Eichmann.
Hannah Arendt, Eichmann in Jerusalem excerpt
Eichmann is one of the major organizers of Holocaust in World War Two. Arendt discusses the trial of him by introducing the phrase of “the banality of evil” and talking about the nature of genocide from a very different perspective.
The banality of evil: In her book, Arendt mentions that Eichmann is neither a sociopath or fanatic, instead, he is just an ordinary person.
According to Arendt, Eichmann’s motives and character were banal rather than monstrous. She described him as a “terrifyingly normal” human being who simply did not think very deeply about what he was doing.
individual and society
Ursula Le Guin, “The Ones Who Walked Away from Omelas”
The story depicts a Utopian society Omelas in which one child is sacrificed for the happiness of all the citizens in Omelas.
The story is said to question the point of view of utilitarianism by presenting the question in Omelas: it is justifiable for us to sacrifice one individual in order to promote the happiness of the vast majority?
J. S. Mill,(1806-1873) Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism: “actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness”
Happiness: happiness is the sole end of human action, and the promotion of it the test by which to judge of all human conduct. Some pleasures are, by their nature, of a higher quality than others—and as such are to be valued more. Those “of the intellect, of the feelings and imagination, and of the moral sentiments” are amongst the higher pleasures.
According to Mill, the guide of our life exists in our pursuit for happiness. Happiness is both means and the end of our life. By promoting the greatest happiness, we achieve our own value of life.
Also, different from Kant, Mill holds a consequentialist view that the consequence matters more than intention. The Greatest Happiness Principle itself is a proof of that theory.
Immanuel Kant, (1724-1804)Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals excerpt
We have a priori knowledge which does not depend on experience. In Kant’s case, the priori knowledge of our own should be logic and reason.
A categorical imperative, on the other hand, denotes an absolute, unconditional requirement that must be obeyed in all circumstances and is justified as an end in itself.
(1) The Formula of the Universal Law of Nature: “act as if the maxim of your action were to become by your will a universal law of nature.” A proposed maxim can fail to meet the above requirement in one of two ways. First, one might encounter a scenario in which one's proposed maxim would become impossible in a world in which it is universalized. Second, a maxim might fail by generating what Kant calls a ‘contradiction in willing’.
(2) The Formula of Humanity: “a human being and generally every rational being exists as an end in itself.” We should not only treat others as means, but also an end.
we have a free will and are thus morally self-legislating: We have a will that is not influenced by external forces. It sets its own ends.
Friedrich Nietzsche(1844-1900), Beyond Good and Evil
Nietzsche was trying to establish a new set of moral guides by questioning the existing moral judgement brought up by Kant, Plato and other philosophers.
The will to power and the free spirit: “Every select man strives instinctively for a citadel and a privacy, where he is FREE from the crowd, the many, the majority—where he may forget "men who are the rule," as their exception.” The will to power describes what Nietzsche may have believed to be the main driving force in humans.
Master morality and slave morality: Master morality values pride and power, slave morality values kindness, empathy, and sympathy.
About the truth: Nietzsche keeps questioning us about why we should value the truth. He pointed out that nowadays we value truth too much and we take truth for granted. He thinks that we need to challenge the truth and embrace other possibilities. With that to be said, he also argues that reason is just another kind of appetite.
Sophocles, Antigone
Antigone died because she insisted to bury her brother who betrayed the country and she was punished by her father, Creon, who insisted the law of the country.
The story presents the clashes between divine law and human law, individual and collective. It also leads us to question ourselves: which one should we prioritize and how do we act when different rules conflict? This also leads to the discussion about the deontology and duty which is also further discussed by Immanuel Kant.
Who are we and who are they others? (identity)
Jean-Paul Sartre(1905-1980), “Existentialism is a Humanism”
The humanism to existentialism doesn’t mean to take human as an end or higher value because human can’t judge himself, instead, it means that human should pursue transcendent goals that he is able to exist.
"Man is nothing else but what he makes of himself "
Existentialism: the existence precedes essence & We are condemned to be free. man is responsible for his own choice and there’s no human nature or god. Life is nothing and it’s up to you to give it a meaning.
The relationship between self and others : Existence of someone also stems from others “In order to get truth about myself. I must have contact with another person ”
Ontology – human beings are entities that combine both being-in-itself(facticity ) and being-for-itself(transcendence)
We have the feeling of anguish, abandonment, despair because we are thrown into this world without being given any guidance, and we need to find out the meaning of life all by ourselves.
Gender identity
Simone de Beauvoir(1908-1986), excerpt from The Second Sex
“One is not born but becomes a woman”
Beauvoir in her book argues against the long-existing inferior social status of the woman by analyzing its cause and social context.
phenomenology – she examine the unique experience of the woman’s body and assess how cultural assumptions frames women’s experience of their bodies, which alienate them from their body possibilities.
alterity (otherness)(the concept of the Other ) women is absolute alterity unlike slavery in that: (1). women are always subordinate in any case. (2) women are always subordinate in any time period
ontology.
existentialism :(1) women are responsible for changing the subordinate reality of their social status (2) charge of bad faith and advocate women to reject the bad faith and discover the pleasure of freedom
Judith Butler,(1956 -) “Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: an Essay in Phenomenology and
Feminist Theory”
“gender is an historical situation rather than a nature fact”
performativity: Butler argues that gender itself is a social construction and constituted by the various acts of gender. And without those acts, she argues, there would be no gender at all.
Phenomenology: woman’s subjective experience Is not only structured by existing political suggests, but effects and structures those arrangements in turn.
Franz Kafka, “The Metamorphosis”
Gregor woke up and found himself to be a bug while his own consciousness is still remained. His family members’ feeling toward him became worse as time passed by. He finally died lonely and his family members went on a joyful trip after his death.
Gregor ‘s transformation makes us wonder the personal identity of ourselves. Are we still who we are if the exterior has changed? In his novel, Kafka uses a nonchalant, clinical tone to depict a tragedy of Gregor’s alienation from his family which also underscores the coldness of the story. It also provokes us to explore the relation between our social identity and our own identity.
Race identity
Jordan Peele, Get Out.
The story is about Chris, an African American photographer got into a series of trouble after he met his girl friend’s family. It turns out that all the black people he met in the house actually had Caucasian’s consciousness. Those white people use strong black people’s body as a host to live longer. After finding out this secret, Chris started to escape. The whole story centered at the race problem in America and discuss the relationship between body and consciousness. It also raises up a discussion on the topic such as “How will one person of a race be viewed by others if our appearance and mind are inconsistent.”
Charles W. Mills, (1951 - ) “But What Are You Really? The Metaphysics of Race”
“race is just what one thinks it is ”
in his work, Charles introduces the notion of “Quace ” to distinguish it with the concept of race. And he discusses the real racial identity by discussing six thought experiment.
He further points out the complexity of the racial problem and we need to think about different situation where the culture, self-awareness, experience, subjective identificaiton etc. are all taken into consideration.
W.E.B. Du Bois(1868-1963), The Souls of Black Folk excerpt
In his work, Du Bois conveys the idea of racial constructivism and conveys that black people must have two fields of vision. They should be conscious of how the world views them and how they view themselves. (double consciousness)
Personal identity ( when the appearance is changed but the consciousness remains)
through innate knowledge
through sensation and reflection of the world outside
through experience
The nature of the race
Double consciousness of the race
Specific case where the appearance remains the same but the consciousness is gone
Divine law and Human law
Universal law
Pursuing happiness
Free Will
We are what we make of ourselves.
innate knowledge VS experience
Experience and consciousness
Rationality
There's no predetermined fate.
Intention VS Consequence
Phenomenology
Phenomenology
Predetermined universal moral law
personal identity and social identity
Subjectivity
dualism of mind and body
Personal choice
start point of immediate certainty VS self-determination
individuality and collective
herd morality
lower pleasure and higher pleasure
Humannity
