1 Moral isolationism every culture is responsible for their own morals and way of living We can t judge other cultures because we don t fully know what they re all about Questions to prove an impossible position 1 can we praise other cultures Not with moral isolationism It means less to praise if you can t criticize them 2 Does that mean other cultures can t judge us Yes We want criticism though to better our culture and way of living 3 If we can t judge other cultures can we really judge our own No We would have nothing to compare our culture to so we can t even judge it to begin with 4 What is involved in judging Judgment can be well thought out Judgment is not just mean remarks with no point behind them To remove blind judgment is to remove sound judgment 2 Epicurus thinks we should believe that death is nothing to us because we have no proof to tell us what death actually is and feels like Epicurus says we shouldn t fear it because it s nothing in the words of Sarah our TA Since there is no way of knowing how death will make you feel afterward it should not be feared Additional info Epicurus says one who is wise neither renounces life nor fears not living he doesn t seek the longest life possible he seeks the happiest Ex man wants the most delicious food not tons of really nasty food even though it s a bigger amount 3 Higher pleasures have to do with intellect and our mind while lower pleasures are more physical or sensual eating sex etc This is important for his philosophical views because Mill believes that pleasure is the largest good He says pleasure is happiness and happiness is what everyone aims for Pleasure is something to pursue simply because people DO pursue it Ex To say something is visible is to say that it is seen Something is audible because you hear it Mill says that people who engage in higher pleasures will go back to them because that is what makes you human We have higher faculties so higher pleasures are more enjoyable to us Those with the privilege to indulge in higher pleasures such as intellectual discussion and rationality will choose them more often than lower pleasures eating booze sex 4 Mills says we should believe that pleasure is desirable because everyone wants it He says the only proof that something is visible can be seen is that it is visible is seen Similarly NO proof for this but it is comparable the only proof that something is desired can be desired is that it IS desirable is desired 5 The Ring of Gyges story that Plato tells is about a man who finds a ring that turns you invisible The man ends up putting on the ring and killing the king to gain power Plato is saying that a ring that makes you invisible can corrupt anyone The story tells us that if people had the power to act unjustly without getting caught they would This is implying that the just person one who wouldn t kill the king is weak It s philosophically significant because it shows that even virtuous people become unjust for their own personal gain 6 For Aristotle human happiness is when activity of the soul is in accordance with virtue or with performing out function rational faculties excellently He argues this by saying that in order to know what it is to be a good human you have to first know what it is to be a human You discover function by comparing humans to other living things What separates us from other living things is our rational thought How to achieve human happiness according to Aristotle 1 By engaging in purely rational activity ex doing math philosophy 2 Live a less academic life and follow other appetites but doing them rationally ex hobbies or your social life note not directly related to higher and lower pleasures Aristotle wouldn t label pleasures 7 Aristotle thinks happiness isn t found in wealth or pleasure because those things are simply a MEANS to happiness They in themselves do not ultimately make you happy Wealth money doesn t make you happy If you can t exchange your money for things you want then money means nothing Pleasure pleasures aren t a safe bet because they don t lead to long lasting happiness It is only a MEANS to it You should search for more than just pleasure he isn t saying you shouldn t indulge in pleasures you should be able to distinguish between happiness and a means to happiness 8 Aristotle thinks we acquire moral virtue through habit Doing something virtuous does not make you a virtuous person though it does bring you closer The more you form a good habit the more it sticks becoming part of you and making your character virtuous You can also acquire virtue by referring to what a virtuous person would do in the same situation He wants to make the point that if you are not a virtuous person you won t know what to do in certain situations part of becoming virtuous is to know that you are not Ex Make a habit out of being kind to others Always do it The more you do it the better character you have and the more virtuous you are OR When having to decide what to do if you find a lost child look to someone who has child and think They know so much more about this than I do What would they do 9 Virtue is a disposition to choose the mean means that you have to find a balance between excess and defect that is the mean The mean doesn t have to meet in the middle of both of them just somewhere in between It depends on your situation Sometimes the disposition of the mean between over reacting and not reacting at all is not the halfway point Sometimes it s appropriate to react strongly which would push the disposition of the mean toward over reacting Unlike in math the mean in this view of philosophy is NOT the average This is when you should look to a virtuous person to see what they would do 10 The hypothetical imperative is best described with the general formula If I want to do x then y The categorical imperative is simply Do y The comparative imperative is imperative willed by a good will This is because the hypothetical imperative is conditional If you did not want to do X then there would be no reason to do Y As opposed to the categorical imperative which implies that you should do Y anyway In other words Y should not be driven by X Additional Info Free will You should act independently of your needs wants If everything we do is conditional it can be explained scientifically by brain functions Kant says the rational being is able to go against biology and behave morally 11 The categorical imperative is …
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