PhilosophyoftheGayPersonPt.

II

Youshouldbefamiliarwiththedefinitionsof,andthephilosophicalargumentsassociated
with,eachofthefollowingtermsorthinkers.Allquestionsonthefinalexamwillconcern
readingsfromthelasthalfofthecourse,whichshouldbeconsultedalongwithclassnotesin
preparationfortheexamitself.

Amourpropre/amourdesoi
Rousseau
Essentially,theoppositeofselfpreservation(amourdesoi).
AmourdeSoiLoveofSelf(Selflove)
primitivesenseofsurvivalandhappiness
Selfinterest
Basicallythenascentman
Amourpropreisanacuteawarenessof,andregardfor,oneselfinrelationto
others.Basically,thismeansthatesteemdependsupontheopinionsofothers.
Whilstthesavagepersoncaresonlyforhissurvival,civilizedmanalsocares
deeplyaboutwhatothersthinkabouthim.Thisisadeeplyharmful
psychologicaldeformation,linkedtothedevelopmentofhumanreasonand
politicalsocieties.
Atitsrootisadifferencebetweenbeingandappearing.Savagemancanonly
"be",andhasnoconceptofpretence:civilmanisforcedtocomparehimselfto
others,andtolietohimself.
Rousseautracesthedevelopmentofamourproprebacktothefirstvillage
festivals,inwhichcompetitiontodanceandsingwellincreasesthevillagers'
awarenessofeachother'stalentsandabilities.Amourpropreisbestexpressed
inasocietyinwhichwealthdominatesthere,allarecomparedonan
insubstantialandharmfulbasis.

Utilitarianism
JeremyBentham
Triestoproposeaprincipleformorality(right+wrong)
Principleofutility(usefulness)
Doesyouractionscausehappinessorunhappiness?
Amatterofpleasureandpain
Decisionsandactionshavetobetakendependingonwhatgives
thegreatestbenefitforall(onehastoconsiderothersbefore
makingadecision)
Decisions/Actionsthathavethegreatestbenefitforall
takesintoconsiderationtheGreatestHappinessPrinciple
Maximizepleasureandminimizepain(forallconcerned)

Utilitarianism
isatheoryinnormativeethicsholdingthatthemoral
actionistheonethatmaximizesutility.Utilityisdefinedinvarious
ways,includingaspleasure,economicwellbeingandthelackof
suffering.

GreatestHappinessPrinciple
Benthams
famousformulationofutilitarianismisknownasthe
"GreatestHappinessPrinciple"
Byhappiness,heunderstandsapredominanceofpleasureoverpain
Everyonewantstobehappy
Whenwedosomething,wehavetoconsideritseffectsonotherpeopletoo.
Onemustalwaysactsoastoproducethegreatestaggregatehappiness
amongall(almostlikeacost/benefitequivalent)
Thosewhohaveexperiencedhappinessandunhappinesstendtopreferthe
firstoverthesecond
Whattoconsider
Intensityofpleasureorpain
Wheredoesitcomefrom
Howmuchitlasts
Shorttermvslongterm
Forwhom(me,otherpeople)
Context
Socialeffects

Trolleys,trolleys,trolleys(includingThomsonspaper)
Scenario1
Youareatrolleydriver
thebrakesstopworking
Kill5peopleahead,orusealevertoswitchlaneandkilljust1person
obviously,autilitarianwouldweightheeffectsonpleasureand
pain
Inthissense,killing5peoplemightcausemoreharm
(greaterunhappiness)thankillingjustoneperson
Autilitarianwouldopttokillthe1personintheother
track
Scenario2
Almostthesamebutinsteadofbeingthedriver,youareabystander
samesituation(youhavetheleverthatchangedthetrolleysdirection)\
Autilitarianwouldstillkillthat1person
Wouldyoupushafatpersontostopthetrainfromkillingthe5people?(inthis
casethereisnootherlane)
stillsamecasescenario

 1deathvs.5deaths
thisoneisMUCHmorepersonalsonotlikely(eventhoughnot
followingtheutilitarianprinciplemaybe)
thereisnotsufficientevidencetoconcludethatthefatman
wouldstopthetrain
Pushingthemancouldbeconsideredacrime

TheGoodWill
Kant
GoodWill=PureWill
Thisistheonlyabsolutelygoodthingintheworld(initself)
thisisoursandunderourcontrol(notliketheconsequences)
Somethingbeforeanactionmotive,decisions
Thewill,Kantsays,isthefacultyofactingaccordingtoaconceptionoflaw.
Whenweact,whetherornotweachievewhatweintendwithouractionsis
oftenbeyondourcontrol,sothemoralityofouractionsdoesnotdependupon
theiroutcome.
Whatwecancontrol,however,isthewillbehindtheaction.Thatis,wecanwill
toactaccordingtoonelawratherthananother.Themoralityofanaction,
therefore,mustbeassessedintermsofthemotivationbehindit.
Iftwopeople,SmithandJones,performthesameact,fromthesame
conceptionofthelaw,buteventsbeyondSmithscontrolpreventherfrom
achievinghergoal,Smithisnotlesspraiseworthyfornotsucceeding.Wemust
considerthemonequalmoralgroundintermsofthewillbehindtheiractions.
Theonlythingthatisgoodwithoutqualificationisthegoodwill,Kantsays.All
othercandidatesforanintrinsicgoodhaveproblems,Kantargues.
Courage,health,andwealthcanallbeusedforillpurposes,Kant
argues,andthereforecannotbeintrinsicallygood.
Happinessisnotintrinsicallygoodbecauseevenbeingworthyof
happiness,Kantsays,requiresthatonepossessagoodwill.
Thegoodwillistheonlyunconditionalgooddespiteallencroachments.
Misfortunemayrendersomeoneincapableofachievinghergoals,for
instance,butthegoodnessofherwillremains.

Actinginaccordwithduty/actingfromduty
Kant
Inaccordwithduty
manyreasonsbehindit
notfortherightthingsthough
wemightwanttobenefitourselvesbydoingthis(selfish)
Outofrespectforthelaw(fromduty)
itsactuallytherightthingtodo(ourduty)
theconsequencesarenotinmyinterest
doingitforthesakeofit
theformofthelaw

 Goodnesscannotarisefromactingonimpulseornaturalinclination,evenif
impulsecoincideswithduty.Itcanonlyarisefromconceivingofonesactions
inacertainway.
Ashopkeeper,Kantsays,mightdowhatisinaccordwithdutyandnot
overchargeachild.Kantargues,itisnotsufficienttodothatwhich
shouldbemorallygoodthatitconformtothelawitmustbedonefor
thesakeofthelaw.(
FoundationsoftheMetaphysicsofMorals,
Akademiepagination
390)Thereisaclearmoraldifferencebetweenthe
shopkeeperthatdoesitforhisownadvantagetokeepfromoffending
othercustomersandtheshopkeeperwhodoesitfromdutyandthe
principleofhonesty.(
Ibid.,
398)
Likewise,inanotherofKantscarefullystudiedexamples,thekindactof
thepersonwhoovercomesanaturallackofsympathyforotherpeople
outofrespectfordutyhasmoralworth,whereasthesamekindactof
thepersonwhonaturallytakespleasureinspreadingjoydoesnot.A
personsmoralworthcannotbedependentuponwhatnatureendowed
themwithaccidentally.Theselfishlymotivatedshopkeeperandthe
naturallykindpersonbothactonequallysubjectiveandaccidental
grounds.Whatmatterstomoralityisthattheactorthinkabouttheir
actionsintherightmanner.
Itistheappreciationandrecognitionofdutyitselfthatmustdriveour
actions.

Categoricalimperative(firsttwoformulations)
KantOpponentofUtilitarianism
CategoricalImperative
Wayofevaluatingmotivationsforactions.
Whatistheconnectionbetweenmoralityandcategoricalimperatives?Morality
mustbebasedonthecategoricalimperativebecausemoralityissuchthatyou
arecommandedbyitanditappliestoeveryone,therearenoexceptions.
Kantarguesthatapersonisgoodorbaddependingonthemotivationoftheir
actionsandnotonthegoodnessoftheconsequencesofthoseactions.Kant
arguesthatonecanhavemoralworth(i.e.,beagoodperson)onlyifoneis
motivatedbymorality.Inotherwords,ifaperson'semotionsordesirescause
themtodosomething,thenthatactioncannotgivethemmoralworth.
Consequencesdon'tmatter.
Firstformulation(
TheFormulaofUniversalLaw
):"Actonlyonthatmaxim
throughwhichyoucanatthesametimewillthatitshouldbecomeauniversal
law[ofnature]."
Amaximistheruleorprincipleonwhichyouact.Forexample,Imight
makeitmymaximtogiveatleastasmuchtocharityeachyearasI
spendoneatingout,orImightmakeitmymaximonlytodowhatwill
benefitsomememberofmyfamily.

 Basicidea:Thecommandstates,crudely,thatyouarenotallowedto
doanythingyourselfthatyouwouldnotbewillingtoalloweveryoneelse
todoaswell.Youarenotallowedtomakeexceptionsforyourself.For
example,ifyouexpectotherpeopletokeeptheirpromises,thenyou
areobligatedtokeepyourownpromises.
Moredetail:Moreaccurately,itcommandsthateverymaximyouact
onmustbesuchthatyouarewillingtomakeitthecasethateveryone
alwaysactonthatmaximwheninasimilarsituation.Forexample,ifI
wantedtolietogetsomethingIwanted,Iwouldhavetobewillingto
makeitthecasethateveryonealwaysliedtogetwhattheywantedbut
ifthisweretohappennoonewouldeverbelieveyou,sotheliewould
notworkandyouwouldnotgetwhatyouwanted.So,ifyouwilledthat
suchamaxim(oflying)shouldbecomeauniversallaw,thenyouwould
thwartyourgoalthus,itisimpermissibletolie,accordingtothe
categoricalimperative.Itisimpermissiblebecausetheonlywaytolieis
tomakeanexceptionforyourself.
SecondFormulation:Actinsuchawaythatyoutreathumanity,whetherin
yourownpersonorinthepersonofanyother,nevermerelyasameanstoan
end,butalwaysatthesametimeasanend.

Technology/Technique
Heidegger
Technologyisbasicallythehumanactivityoffurnishingmeanstoeffecta
des
iredend
.
Abridgecanbesaidtobeathingoftechnologybecause,asaproduct
andperformanceofmansdealingswith
physis
through
techn
,nature
byart,thebridgeisthematerializationoractualizationofanintended,
desiredend:namely,theenablingofconnectionandtransportation
acrossdiscontinuousspaces.
Thisdefinition,however,isinsufficient,evendangerous,foritleadsto
manshubrisanddoesnotallowonetogetattheessenceof
technology.
Whatstheessenceoftechnology?
Enframing
Theyincreaseourpowerandutility.Italsoenablesustodosomethingwe
couldntdobefore(meanstoanend)
Wheel
Pen
Calculator
Technologytechnik,technique(technologycanbetheknowledgeof
techniquesandprocesses)
technart
wedontnaturallyassociateartandtechnology

 Techn
intheoriginalGreekusagereferredtoboththeskillor
powerofdoing/makingaswellasthatwhichisperformed,
produced,orfabricatedinotherwords,
techn
asdesignating
bothartandartifice.
Now,crucially,
techn
(art/artifice)isopposedto
physis
(nature),
mostfundamentallyintermsofcausality.Ontheonehand,the
organicformsofnatureareselfdevelopinginthesensethatthey
exhibittheprincipleofchangewithinthemselves(
physis
asthe
arisingoutofsomethingfromitself,anaturalselfgenesis).
Techn
,ontheotherhand,impliesamediationbyanexternal
agent(Reason)toanobjectinordertobringaboutchangeinit,
whichmeansthattheprincipleofchangeishereforeigntothe
object.
WhataboutArtisan?
someonewhomakessomethingbyfollowingaprocess
(rules)
itcanbewellmadeorbadlymade(thereisacertain
techniquetoit)
Whatdoesitmeantomakesomething?
makingrevealing
revealingsomethingthatwasalreadythere
sculpture(rockman)
spear(rock,stick,vine)
theywerealreadythere
discoveringpoweroruseintheseitems(revealed)
Premoderntechnology

MeansandEnds
Heideggerconsiderstechnologiesasmeanstoanend

Enframing
Theessenceofmoderntechnology
Mostfullestandcompleteway,theoriginalactivity
Ourunderstandingislimitedbyourtechnology(knowledge)
Sciencedependsontechnology
Somethingswejustdon'tsee
allthathascometothisworldhasbecomeenframed
seeobjects(things)throughalense
filtertowardsonesowninterests
theworldhasbeenframedasthestandingreserve
itsanallencompassingviewoftechnology
asamodeofhumanexistence
basically,technologyhasforcedustoviewtheworldthisway

 wewanttoconstantlyimproveourselves,sowelookoutforourowninterests
ineverythingwesee

StandingReserve
TheheartofHeideggerscritiqueofthetechnologicalsocietyishisnotionof
standingreserve,theideathatmatterisjustthere,withoutaninherentorder
orqualities,plastictowhatevershapesthewhimsofhumanwillwanttoimpose
onit.
somethingthereforouruse
lookatatreeandseeitforitsuses
wood,fire,lumber(desk,bed)fuel,profit,etc.
weareblindingourselvesthroughthisview,notseeingnatureinanyotherway
(otheraspects)
Ecology
Mybackyardtree
Athingtobeused,whatHeideggerdescribesasa
standingreserve
.Inthe
mechanizationandindustrializationofeverydaylife,realitybecomes
technologicallyenframedasastandingreserve,whichforHeideggerdenies
mantoenterintoamoreoriginalrevealingtoexperiencethecallofamore
primaltruth
Ashesays,whatisdangerousaboutmoderntechnologyisthatitswaysof
enframingrealityconcealsaformerwayofrevealing,itblocksthe
shiningforthandholdingswayoftruth(QT,309).Undertheseconditions,
man,inmoderntechnology,becomeshimselfmerelysomethingtechnological.