Monday, September 17, 2018

Philosophy 101 - Essay Block Ch. 3+4


Chapter 3 – The Sophist: Protagoras
Xenophanes: “The Ethiopians say that their gods are snub-nosed and black, the Thracians that theirs have light blue eyes and red hair.” (page 77)

Protagoras: “Morals are nothing more than social traditions, or mores, of a society or group…. Our values are determined by our culture, our conditioning, our experience, and our particular biopsychology.” (page 84)

                These are interesting (and complimentary) quotes for me.  When one looks at paintings of Jesus, one can see that there are almost as many different images of him as there are cultures in the land.  Jesus was black to some tribes in Africa, brown to tribes in the Middle East, and blonde with blue eyes to Europeans.  I feel that these quotes are important because they push the idea that no one tribe of people is correct, stating that all of them are correct in some fashion or another, and that it entirely depends on where you were raised as to which one you hold as true.

Plato: “Even those who practise (sic) justice do so against their will because they lack the power to do wrong.” (page 81)

Antiphon: “The majority of just acts according to the law are prescribed contrary to nature. For there is legislation about the eyes, what they must see and what not; and about the ears, what they must hear and what not; and about the tongue, what is must speak and what not; and about the hands, what they must do and what not; and about the feet, where they must go and where not; And about the soul, what it must desire and what not.” (page 88)

                These quotes, to me, describe how the default of human behavior is contrary to one of moral correctness and justice.  Though the previous quotes describe how human behavior and morals are unique to each society, these quotes describe that the human behavior is contrary to lawfulness because the human default is one of selfishness and putting ones own self ahead of the common good.  In order to have a just and lawful society, people need to overcome their own selfish desires to further their own agenda by adapting to the cultural norm to further the society as a whole.  It is not that people are inherently bad, but more that they aren’t inherently open to the prevailing laws of their society, and that they need to exercise self-restraint and self-control in order to have a functioning government.

Callicles: “For to suffer wrong is not the part of a man at all. But that of a slave for whom it is better to be dead than alive, as it is for anyone who is unable to come either to his own assistance when he is wronged or mistreated or to that of anyone he cares about.” (page 89)

                Callicles seems to be stating in this quote that it is not the norm for man to suffer, but rather that the man who is unable to care for himself or look within himself is the one who truly suffers.  When one is able to care for himself and has insight into the nature of personal suffering, he is not likely to suffer as a slave does.  This quote goes to the heart of the question, “Why is there suffering in the world?”  It is only the unenlightened man who suffers, not the man who is able to examine his life and adapt to the laws of the society in which he currently resides. 


Chapter 4 – The Wise Man: Socrates
Socrates: “You seem, Antiphon, to imagine that happiness consists in luxury and extravagance.  But my belief is that to have no wants is divine; to have as few as possible comes next to the divine; and as that which is divine is supreme, so that which approaches nearest to its nature is nearest to supreme.” (page 98)

Lie Zi: “In the world, one cannot have it both ways. If he wants to maintain his good reputation, he must not think of pursuing status and wealth.  But if he wants status and riches, he must bear in mind that it will be at the expense of integrity.” (page 100)

                These two quotes go to the heart of the idea that money can’t buy happiness.  It was the philosophers who first posited the idea that to be happy, one only needs insight, and that wealth detracts from the ability to critically examine ones own selfish behaviors.  We see this all the time in our modern society: money hungry politicians and celebrities who commit crimes to protect their wealth and status.  But it is not wealth that creates happiness.  Happiness can be experienced by all people, regardless of wealth or status.  Poor people are sometimes happier with life than wealthy people.  It’s all about what you value in life that makes you happy, not celebrity or wealth. 

Thrasymachus: “Certain values dominate not because they are in some absolute sense right but because they are the views preferred by the most powerful individual or group.” (page 106)

Plato: “People censure injustice because they are afraid that they may be the victims of it – not because they would not like to get away with it.” (page 109)

                These are crucial points that even apply to our modern society, because it points out the disparity of the rule structure for the underlings of a given culture.  It is not the majority who make rules; it is the most powerful individuals who make the laws.  Today, in our society, we see the ruling class making laws for the rest of us.  It’s not that we don’t want to follow the rules (as was posited in previous quotes) but that we are hesitant to call out bad (or illegal) behavior as we are afraid of retribution.  Even though we see white people calling the police to report innocent people of color as being lawless, the end result is social shaming of the person making that phone call, which is the kind of fear that Plato describes in his quote.

Fyodor Dostoevsky: “… man only does nasty things because he does not know his own interests; and that if he were enlightened, if his eyes were opened to his real normal interests, man would at once cease to do nasty things… become good and noble because, being enlightened and understanding his real advantage, he would see his own advantage in the good and nothing else…” (page 115)

                Dostoevsky seems to be stating here a similar idea to that of previous philosophers in the chapter prior to this one.  He states very clearly that if a man is enlightened, he cannot commit evil on the same par as someone who isn’t enlightened.  He implies that we all have an evil inclination, but the enlightened man knows about this and chooses the path of righteousness, rather than one of self-interests.  Dostoevsky seems to be a believer that the human default, upon seeing and acknowledging the evil impulses, is to stop creating suffering and to live in harmony with his fellow men. 


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Grade: 5/5
Professor Comments: In Chapter 4, Socrates notes "the unexamined life is not worth living." The statement strikes at the core to the study of philosophy. With each quote you choose over the semester, reflecting on that chosen quote with the purpose of "examining your life." This critical thinking is at the core of your philosophy class.

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