If we continue to think about our wants, we notice that, at times, one want can dominate others. Sometimes, many times in fact, this is disastrous to human happiness. One of the best films that reflects this fact is Requiem for a Dream. this movie centers on addiction: an old woman's addiction to television, and three young people's addiction to heroin. All of them begin moderately enjoying their particular wants, until slowly their lives are eaten away by the dominance of the want.
The old woman, for instance, eventually begins taking uppers to stay awake to watch more television and then downers, until the TV and drugs become so much that she is admitted to a mental instutition. the young men of the movie start doing reckless and illegal things. One boy develops gangrene in his arm , but won't stop shooting up. At last, in jail, they saw off his arm to save his life.
And finally the young woman (another WONDERFUL performance by Jennifer Connelley) trades sex for her heroin.
We should be thoughtful about how our drives can overtake the rest of our lives. When we prioritize our wants, we may make one want dominant. Maybe we make everything else line up under family or under God or under work. This can still lead us to a balanced life. The question becomes when do we cross that line so that, rather than valuing other aspects of life separately from but differently from, our main value, that we value such things ONLY as they SERVE our primary interest or NOT at all.
A priest or monk can submit his desire for sex to his greater desire to serve God's people. But he must always ask himself whether he has so repressed his desire that it comes out in immoral and destructive ways. A man may subvert the rest of his life to his passion for writing. But he must always ask himself whether he has taken advantage of his family by ignoring them so as to pursue his writing. Stephen King's on Writing is VERY good about this. Writing supports living, not living supports writing.
As we can see, only the examined life is worth living, for only the examined life reasonably structures one's wants and desires to pursue a life of human fulfillment.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Friday, March 7, 2008
Goods and human nature
If what we want is what is good for us, and we have to distinguish between what appears good and what is good, how do we make those judgments?
In short, we rely understanding and studying human nature. What does our biology and psychology tells us about what is a natural good for us? This is not an easy question to ask, for, as Midgley argues, facts and values go hand in hand. So what science tells us will be influenced by our values. We can see this in, for instance, the way science was used in the past to justify slavery.
In the 1800's, scientists studied the science of craniums and compared Caucasian skulls to African skulls. They concluded that Caucasian skulls were larger, implying that whites had larger brains and thus larger brain capacities and were smarter. But the original question is how did they determine which skulls were Caucasian or African in the first place? And why would size matter with relation to mental power? Of course, it matters to some extent. We know that a species has to have a certain brain size in proportion to the body. But that leaves open a large range.
However, if we forego science, we have nothing really to ground our actual wants in. We have to truly study human nature in its real socio-historical reality if we are going to provide an understanding of what is truly good for human beings.
Relying on religion here leads nowhere if the religion does not include a science of human beings. Religion can tell us what we value on one level, but it cannot do so without some understanding of what the human person is. To say that out end is God is not a simple value statement -- it is a factual statement or it means nothing.
In short, we rely understanding and studying human nature. What does our biology and psychology tells us about what is a natural good for us? This is not an easy question to ask, for, as Midgley argues, facts and values go hand in hand. So what science tells us will be influenced by our values. We can see this in, for instance, the way science was used in the past to justify slavery.
In the 1800's, scientists studied the science of craniums and compared Caucasian skulls to African skulls. They concluded that Caucasian skulls were larger, implying that whites had larger brains and thus larger brain capacities and were smarter. But the original question is how did they determine which skulls were Caucasian or African in the first place? And why would size matter with relation to mental power? Of course, it matters to some extent. We know that a species has to have a certain brain size in proportion to the body. But that leaves open a large range.
However, if we forego science, we have nothing really to ground our actual wants in. We have to truly study human nature in its real socio-historical reality if we are going to provide an understanding of what is truly good for human beings.
Relying on religion here leads nowhere if the religion does not include a science of human beings. Religion can tell us what we value on one level, but it cannot do so without some understanding of what the human person is. To say that out end is God is not a simple value statement -- it is a factual statement or it means nothing.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Wants and Goods
What we seek is good for us...
Well, what we mean is that whatever it is we pursue or seek appears good to us. But it is always based on some want.
Perhaps what we want is approval. We do whatever we can to seek that approval, whether it is making fun of others so as to be accepted in the in-crowd or being overly ambitious so as to please an absent parent.
Maybe what we want is food, and that chocolate cake looks mighty tasty.
The cake looks good to us. But there is a difference between the way something appears and the way it actually is. This fact explains why philosophy is so important in human life. Philosophy provides the tools for understanding the good and the not-so-good. It provides the means for prioritizing our wants and desires so that we do not let them get out of balance.
Even our morality can become out of balance. Those who emphasize rules at all costs do this. Kant, for instance, would insist on sacrificing a life so as not to tell a lie. Utility runs the other direction -- it sacrifices the individual so as to please the masses. Only a morality grounded in human nature -- in all of its aspects -- can truly guide us in determining and prioritzing our wants and desires.
Well, what we mean is that whatever it is we pursue or seek appears good to us. But it is always based on some want.
Perhaps what we want is approval. We do whatever we can to seek that approval, whether it is making fun of others so as to be accepted in the in-crowd or being overly ambitious so as to please an absent parent.
Maybe what we want is food, and that chocolate cake looks mighty tasty.
The cake looks good to us. But there is a difference between the way something appears and the way it actually is. This fact explains why philosophy is so important in human life. Philosophy provides the tools for understanding the good and the not-so-good. It provides the means for prioritizing our wants and desires so that we do not let them get out of balance.
Even our morality can become out of balance. Those who emphasize rules at all costs do this. Kant, for instance, would insist on sacrificing a life so as not to tell a lie. Utility runs the other direction -- it sacrifices the individual so as to please the masses. Only a morality grounded in human nature -- in all of its aspects -- can truly guide us in determining and prioritzing our wants and desires.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
A penny for your thoughts...
Seems some middle schoolers got rowdy in New Jersey, have you heard the story? Their lunch recess was cut to 30 minutes. They wanted to discuss this (as they should, since thirty minutes is the minimum time someone should take to eat to remain healthy). They asked the principal for a longer lunch time and he denied them. They tried to set up a meeting with him, which he denied. So a group of them decided that, in protest, they would pay their lunch money in pennies. 28 students ended up paying 200 pennies each for their lunch.
The principal suspended them for two days. Parents were furious, some calling their lawyers -- as rightly they should, since the students did pay for their lunch. News media flocked to the town. So over the weekend, the school superintendent reinstated the students.
Wouldn't it be nice if we, as adults, would take such a political move in our everyday lives -- for universal health care, for an end to a useless war, for a living wage, for peace! DO we as human beings loose something when we turn into adults? Does school snuff out any sense of justice in our minds? Is it our culture? When we are so concerned about Brittany's hair cut and Billary's chances at the White House, what time do we have for concerns about real issues of justice?
And we call ourselves a democracy....
The principal suspended them for two days. Parents were furious, some calling their lawyers -- as rightly they should, since the students did pay for their lunch. News media flocked to the town. So over the weekend, the school superintendent reinstated the students.
Wouldn't it be nice if we, as adults, would take such a political move in our everyday lives -- for universal health care, for an end to a useless war, for a living wage, for peace! DO we as human beings loose something when we turn into adults? Does school snuff out any sense of justice in our minds? Is it our culture? When we are so concerned about Brittany's hair cut and Billary's chances at the White House, what time do we have for concerns about real issues of justice?
And we call ourselves a democracy....
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