Introduction to the Good Life PHIL105 – T3, 2011 Lecture 3.
-
Upload
sheila-torres -
Category
Documents
-
view
227 -
download
1
Transcript of Introduction to the Good Life PHIL105 – T3, 2011 Lecture 3.
![Page 1: Introduction to the Good Life PHIL105 – T3, 2011 Lecture 3.](https://reader036.fdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062318/5518177f550346a7318b46ad/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
Introduction to the Good Life
PHIL105 – T3, 2011 Lecture 3
![Page 2: Introduction to the Good Life PHIL105 – T3, 2011 Lecture 3.](https://reader036.fdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062318/5518177f550346a7318b46ad/html5/thumbnails/2.jpg)
How Lives Can be Good
• Aesthetically• As an example
(for a museum)• Morally• Causally• Prudentially
![Page 3: Introduction to the Good Life PHIL105 – T3, 2011 Lecture 3.](https://reader036.fdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062318/5518177f550346a7318b46ad/html5/thumbnails/3.jpg)
The (Prudentially) Good Life
• The prudential good life = life is going well for the person living it
• What is the best life (generally speaking)?
![Page 4: Introduction to the Good Life PHIL105 – T3, 2011 Lecture 3.](https://reader036.fdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062318/5518177f550346a7318b46ad/html5/thumbnails/4.jpg)
Intrinsic vs. Instrumental Value
• Intrinsic value = ultimately good for you
• Instrumental value = good for you because it leads to intrinsic value
• The test
![Page 5: Introduction to the Good Life PHIL105 – T3, 2011 Lecture 3.](https://reader036.fdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062318/5518177f550346a7318b46ad/html5/thumbnails/5.jpg)
Is that a good theory of the good life?
• State what is intrinsically good for us• Justify why those things (and not
other things) are intrinsically good for us
• Test on examples
![Page 6: Introduction to the Good Life PHIL105 – T3, 2011 Lecture 3.](https://reader036.fdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062318/5518177f550346a7318b46ad/html5/thumbnails/6.jpg)
The Beer Theory
• The good life = drinking lots of beer
![Page 7: Introduction to the Good Life PHIL105 – T3, 2011 Lecture 3.](https://reader036.fdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062318/5518177f550346a7318b46ad/html5/thumbnails/7.jpg)
Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832)
• Quantitative Hedonism• Happiness (a
preponderance of pleasure over pain) is the only ultimate good
• “the game of push-pin is of equal value with… music and poetry”
![Page 8: Introduction to the Good Life PHIL105 – T3, 2011 Lecture 3.](https://reader036.fdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062318/5518177f550346a7318b46ad/html5/thumbnails/8.jpg)
John Stuart Mill (1806– 1873)
• Qualitative Hedonism• Happiness (a preponderance of pleasure
over pain) is the only ultimate good• Higher vs. lower pleasures• “better to be a human
being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied”
• The test (try both)
![Page 9: Introduction to the Good Life PHIL105 – T3, 2011 Lecture 3.](https://reader036.fdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062318/5518177f550346a7318b46ad/html5/thumbnails/9.jpg)
Henry Sidgwick (1838-1900)
• Sidgwick’s Hedonism• Happiness (desirable
consciousness) is the only ultimate good
• Are consciousness of virtue, truth, freedom, and beauty good for us?
• Test (X without pleasure?)
![Page 10: Introduction to the Good Life PHIL105 – T3, 2011 Lecture 3.](https://reader036.fdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062318/5518177f550346a7318b46ad/html5/thumbnails/10.jpg)
Why We Find it Hard to Accept that Happiness is the
Greatest Good1. Pleasure doesn’t cover all the goods2. Paradox of happiness
– E.g. being nice to others
3. Hedonism implies egoism4. Is pursuit of virtue, truth, freedom,
and beauty rational?
![Page 11: Introduction to the Good Life PHIL105 – T3, 2011 Lecture 3.](https://reader036.fdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062318/5518177f550346a7318b46ad/html5/thumbnails/11.jpg)
G. E. Moore (1873–1958)
• Objective list• Experiences of ‘organic
wholes’ are the ultimate goods– E.g. beauty, friendship, pleasure,
not pain
• “the admiring contemplation of [beauty] is good in itself” (Principia Ethica pp. 249–50)
![Page 12: Introduction to the Good Life PHIL105 – T3, 2011 Lecture 3.](https://reader036.fdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062318/5518177f550346a7318b46ad/html5/thumbnails/12.jpg)
M. K. Gandhi (1869–1948)
• Truth and Ahimsa• Ahimsa = non-violence to
all sentient creatures• Ideal existence is full
understanding of truth and being ruled by reason, not passions
• You’d never put a fellow creature before yourself
![Page 13: Introduction to the Good Life PHIL105 – T3, 2011 Lecture 3.](https://reader036.fdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062318/5518177f550346a7318b46ad/html5/thumbnails/13.jpg)
Aldous Huxley (1894–1963)
• The right to unhappiness• “the right to grow old and ugly
and impotent; the right to have syphilis and cancer; the right to have too little to eat; the right to be lousy; the right to live in constant apprehension of what may happen tomorrow… the right to be tortured by unspeakable pains of every kind.”
![Page 14: Introduction to the Good Life PHIL105 – T3, 2011 Lecture 3.](https://reader036.fdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062318/5518177f550346a7318b46ad/html5/thumbnails/14.jpg)
John Finnis (1940)
• Objective list– Life (health & not pain), – knowledge, – play, – aesthetic experience, – friendship, – practical reasonableness, – Religion*
• Test: “X is a good, in itself, don’t you think?”
![Page 15: Introduction to the Good Life PHIL105 – T3, 2011 Lecture 3.](https://reader036.fdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062318/5518177f550346a7318b46ad/html5/thumbnails/15.jpg)
John Finnis Again
• All 7 are equally fundamental– Each needs no justification for its value– None can be reduced to another– None seems less important than another
• Pleasure is not the point of it all– Without pleasure each still has value
![Page 16: Introduction to the Good Life PHIL105 – T3, 2011 Lecture 3.](https://reader036.fdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062318/5518177f550346a7318b46ad/html5/thumbnails/16.jpg)
Derek Parfit (1942)
• 3 main categories of theory• Hedonistic
– happiness
• Desire-Fulfilment– Getting what you want
• Objective List– Getting X, Y, Z (sometimes
regardless of whether you want them or how they make you feel)
![Page 17: Introduction to the Good Life PHIL105 – T3, 2011 Lecture 3.](https://reader036.fdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062318/5518177f550346a7318b46ad/html5/thumbnails/17.jpg)
Parfit on Hedonism
• Narrow Hedonism– There is something distinctive and
unifying about pleasure– But pleasures are diverse
• Preference Hedonism– The more pleasurable of two
experiences is the one that is preferred
– Your life goes well if you experience getting the things you want
![Page 18: Introduction to the Good Life PHIL105 – T3, 2011 Lecture 3.](https://reader036.fdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062318/5518177f550346a7318b46ad/html5/thumbnails/18.jpg)
Parfit on Desire-Fulfilment
• Unrestricted Desire-Fulfilment– The best life is the one that has all of its
desires satisfied– But what about the patient
who recovers without you ever knowing about it?
• Success Theory– Only the satisfaction of your desires
about yourself count– Different to Preference Hedonism
![Page 19: Introduction to the Good Life PHIL105 – T3, 2011 Lecture 3.](https://reader036.fdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062318/5518177f550346a7318b46ad/html5/thumbnails/19.jpg)
What if your kids die?• You are estranged from your kids and
they go “off the rails” and die• Hedonism
– Doesn’t matter as long as you never find out
• Unrestricted Desire-Fulfilment– Matters if you didn’t want that
• Success Theory– Matters if you wanted to be a successful
parent
![Page 20: Introduction to the Good Life PHIL105 – T3, 2011 Lecture 3.](https://reader036.fdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062318/5518177f550346a7318b46ad/html5/thumbnails/20.jpg)
What if you die?• Can your wellbeing be affected by
events after your death?• Hedonism
– No
• Unrestricted Desire-Fulfilment– Yes
• Success Theory– Disagreement (but P thinks Yes)– What’s the difference between death and
permanent alienation?
![Page 21: Introduction to the Good Life PHIL105 – T3, 2011 Lecture 3.](https://reader036.fdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062318/5518177f550346a7318b46ad/html5/thumbnails/21.jpg)
Preferring Alternatives
• King Lear vs. party• I’ll prefer whatever I end up choosing
(no regrets) • Still, it’s true that I would have
preferred one over the other• The theory, therefore, better allow for
claims about alternate choices being better
• E.g. Informed Success Theory
![Page 22: Introduction to the Good Life PHIL105 – T3, 2011 Lecture 3.](https://reader036.fdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062318/5518177f550346a7318b46ad/html5/thumbnails/22.jpg)
Parfit on Objective List Theories
• OLT are different to D-FT & PHT because of how they say value is created
• OLT: We prefer X(good) because its valuable
• D-FT & PHT: X is valuable because we prefer it
• Rawls’ grass-counter e.g.• Sadist e.g.
![Page 23: Introduction to the Good Life PHIL105 – T3, 2011 Lecture 3.](https://reader036.fdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062318/5518177f550346a7318b46ad/html5/thumbnails/23.jpg)
Objection to D-FT & PHT
• Someone could prefer what is not best for them even if they know all of the facts
![Page 24: Introduction to the Good Life PHIL105 – T3, 2011 Lecture 3.](https://reader036.fdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062318/5518177f550346a7318b46ad/html5/thumbnails/24.jpg)
Combination
• Perhaps the best theory matches the strengths of D-FT & PHT with that of OLT
• A life is good for the one living it to the extent that they are willingly engaged in:– Having knowledge– Being rational– Experiencing true beauty– Experiencing mutual love
![Page 25: Introduction to the Good Life PHIL105 – T3, 2011 Lecture 3.](https://reader036.fdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062318/5518177f550346a7318b46ad/html5/thumbnails/25.jpg)
Objections?
• The combination account still has the problem of what deserves to be on the list – (what should people like and
why should they like it?)
• If I really enjoyed counting blades of grass, I would be annoyed that it’s not on the list
![Page 26: Introduction to the Good Life PHIL105 – T3, 2011 Lecture 3.](https://reader036.fdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062318/5518177f550346a7318b46ad/html5/thumbnails/26.jpg)
Exemplary Examples
• Come up with new examples to endorse your theory and argue against the other theories
• Hedonism– Happiness/pleasure
• Desire-Fulfilment– Getting what you want
• Objective List– X, Y, & Z are the ultimate goods
![Page 27: Introduction to the Good Life PHIL105 – T3, 2011 Lecture 3.](https://reader036.fdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062318/5518177f550346a7318b46ad/html5/thumbnails/27.jpg)
Read for Next Time
• Taylor, Richard (2008). Virtue Ethics, in Happiness: Classic and Contemporary readings in Philosophy, Steven M Cahn & Christine Vitrano (eds.), pp. 222-235, Oxford University Press.
• Nozick, Robert (1994). The Experience Machine, in Ethics, Peter Singer (ed.), pp. 228-229, Oxford University Press.
• Weijers, Dan (2011). The Experience Machine Objection to Hedonism, in Just the Arguments, Edited by Michael Bruce & Steven Barbone, Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 229-231.
![Page 28: Introduction to the Good Life PHIL105 – T3, 2011 Lecture 3.](https://reader036.fdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062318/5518177f550346a7318b46ad/html5/thumbnails/28.jpg)
More on the Good Life
PHIL105 – T3, 2011 Lecture 4
![Page 29: Introduction to the Good Life PHIL105 – T3, 2011 Lecture 3.](https://reader036.fdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062318/5518177f550346a7318b46ad/html5/thumbnails/29.jpg)
Richard Taylor (1919–2003)
• Happiness should be the main concern of all ethics
• Happiness consists in achieving fulfilment via the exercise of creative intelligence
![Page 30: Introduction to the Good Life PHIL105 – T3, 2011 Lecture 3.](https://reader036.fdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062318/5518177f550346a7318b46ad/html5/thumbnails/30.jpg)
The Nature of Happiness
• Important• Rare• Good• Misunderstood• Eudaimonia = happiness = lucky =
flourishing = well-being?????• Call no man happy until he is dead
![Page 31: Introduction to the Good Life PHIL105 – T3, 2011 Lecture 3.](https://reader036.fdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062318/5518177f550346a7318b46ad/html5/thumbnails/31.jpg)
Happiness and Pleasure
• Are not the same thing• Pleasures are fleeting and specific• Happiness is very long-
term and holistic• Can I have an unhappy lower back?
– (because I can have a painful one)
• Hurting people gives the sadist pleasure, but not happiness
![Page 32: Introduction to the Good Life PHIL105 – T3, 2011 Lecture 3.](https://reader036.fdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062318/5518177f550346a7318b46ad/html5/thumbnails/32.jpg)
The “Happiness” of Lesser Beings
• Non-human animals, children, and “morons” can be happy…
• But that’s not the right kind of happiness
• The right kind of happiness is:– “the fulfillment of a person, as a person”
(p. 227)
• Would you rather be a happy moron?
![Page 33: Introduction to the Good Life PHIL105 – T3, 2011 Lecture 3.](https://reader036.fdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062318/5518177f550346a7318b46ad/html5/thumbnails/33.jpg)
Pleasure as an Ingredient of Happiness
• Pleasure is an external• Externals are goods that are all or
mainly outside of our control• They are required for the good
life/happiness, but not sufficient• E.g. some people get cancer• Other externals = $$, honour, youth,
beauty
![Page 34: Introduction to the Good Life PHIL105 – T3, 2011 Lecture 3.](https://reader036.fdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062318/5518177f550346a7318b46ad/html5/thumbnails/34.jpg)
Happiness and Possessions
• The world is full of materialistic people
• Some possessions are essential for life and other for happiness
• But, pursuit of wealth after a point is an obstacle to happiness
• It’s like eating food
![Page 35: Introduction to the Good Life PHIL105 – T3, 2011 Lecture 3.](https://reader036.fdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062318/5518177f550346a7318b46ad/html5/thumbnails/35.jpg)
Honour, Fame, and Glory
• All externals• Often misplaced
– Winning generals are honoured– Very rich honoured for ~returning stolen
property
• The excellent personal quality or achievement are the reward– Heroism– Creating an extraordinary philosophical
treatise
![Page 36: Introduction to the Good Life PHIL105 – T3, 2011 Lecture 3.](https://reader036.fdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062318/5518177f550346a7318b46ad/html5/thumbnails/36.jpg)
What Happiness Is
• A fulfilled state of being that is of ultimate value for a person
• It’s a state (like health is)• Requires life-long effort• Happiness consists in the proper
functioning of a person as a whole• Happiness = flourishing?
![Page 37: Introduction to the Good Life PHIL105 – T3, 2011 Lecture 3.](https://reader036.fdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062318/5518177f550346a7318b46ad/html5/thumbnails/37.jpg)
What is Creativity?
• Flourishing for humans is high functioning in all areas
• Most important is our use of reason/intellect
• Observe, think, reflect, and especially create
• Creativity = using reason to make new things– New dance/sports/chess move– Exercise skill in farming/parenting
![Page 38: Introduction to the Good Life PHIL105 – T3, 2011 Lecture 3.](https://reader036.fdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062318/5518177f550346a7318b46ad/html5/thumbnails/38.jpg)
The Defeat of Happiness
• Disaster (externals) can ruin your chances for happiness– Stoics disagreed
• Ignorance of what happiness really is– E.g. materialistic people
• Lack of creative intelligence– Most people are sheep who only absorb
the creative work of others
![Page 39: Introduction to the Good Life PHIL105 – T3, 2011 Lecture 3.](https://reader036.fdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062318/5518177f550346a7318b46ad/html5/thumbnails/39.jpg)
Nozick’s Experience Machine
![Page 40: Introduction to the Good Life PHIL105 – T3, 2011 Lecture 3.](https://reader036.fdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062318/5518177f550346a7318b46ad/html5/thumbnails/40.jpg)
De Brigard’s Experience Machine
![Page 41: Introduction to the Good Life PHIL105 – T3, 2011 Lecture 3.](https://reader036.fdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062318/5518177f550346a7318b46ad/html5/thumbnails/41.jpg)
Deceived Businessman
![Page 42: Introduction to the Good Life PHIL105 – T3, 2011 Lecture 3.](https://reader036.fdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062318/5518177f550346a7318b46ad/html5/thumbnails/42.jpg)
The Happy Slave
![Page 43: Introduction to the Good Life PHIL105 – T3, 2011 Lecture 3.](https://reader036.fdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062318/5518177f550346a7318b46ad/html5/thumbnails/43.jpg)
What if I Don’t Agree?
• Is it possible that most people are wrong?
• Psychology• Experimental philosophy
![Page 44: Introduction to the Good Life PHIL105 – T3, 2011 Lecture 3.](https://reader036.fdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062318/5518177f550346a7318b46ad/html5/thumbnails/44.jpg)
Exemplary Examples
• Come up with new examples to endorse your theory and argue against the other theories
• Hedonism– Happiness/pleasure
• Desire-Fulfilment– Getting what you want
• Objective List– X, Y, & Z are the ultimate goods
![Page 45: Introduction to the Good Life PHIL105 – T3, 2011 Lecture 3.](https://reader036.fdocuments.net/reader036/viewer/2022062318/5518177f550346a7318b46ad/html5/thumbnails/45.jpg)
For Next Time
• The meaning of life• Read:
– Nagel, Thomas (1971). The Absurd, The Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 68, No. 20, pp. 716-727.
– Tolstoy, Leo (2000). My Confession, in E.D. Klemke (ed.), The Meaning of Life, 2nd edition, pp. 11-20. New York: Oxford University Press.