Philosophy and Human Values: Kant and the Path to Enlightenment

LINK: Video & Transcript

AUDIO MP3 (Right click to download.)

Discussion Questions:

Here, Roderick is describing the final transition from the "We Consciousness" of the per-modern world to the "I Consciousness" of the post revolutionary world and the attendant development of a morality based upon the judgement and authority of the individual. Why then does this transition also seem to require this procedural and bureaucratic, or "rule making and enforcing" means of making moral, or "correct" decisions?

Lecture Three: Kant and the Path to Enlightenment

1. I. Modernity began after the French Revolution.
   1. A. Max Weber’s understanding of modernity includes notions of bureaucracy, the state, and the rationalization of modern life.
   2. B. Before modernity, humans were defined as collected atoms.
   3. C. After the Revolution, authority was seen as that of the autonomous individual. Autonomy became central to ethical decisions.
2. II. In Kant’s ethical theory, individuals judge their actions as right or wrong.
   1. Kant presupposes that there is a moral law.
   2. He begins with a series of identifications to answer how the moral law possibly gives a pure abstract form of a moral law that will ask if it is really moral.
3. III. Kant’s categorical imperative gives a single moral rule general enough to cover the ten commandments and the golden rule and exclude all that won’t fit those kinds of patterns.
   1. A. Act so you can will the rule” of your action to be a universal law.
   2. B. It is an imperative because it is a command, and it is categorical because it is not hypothetical.
4. IV. Kant drew principles from the categorical imperative.
   1. A. Always treat others and yourself as though you were an end and never a mere means.
   2. B. Always act under the practical postulate that our will is free.
   3. C. Always act so you can regard your own will as making universal law and be willing for everyone else to act just as you did.
   4. D. Human capacity to be a moral agent gives each human dignity.
5. V. The “kingdom of ends” is where all of us in our mutual relations with one another treat each other as ends and not as mere means.
6. Mill (utilitarianism) vs. Kant (Deontology):
   1. A. Mill argued we should always act so as to bring the greatest happiness to the greatest number.
   2. B. Kant argues we should act as if our actions are universal.
   3. C. Both of these theories ignore actual lives and complexities of ethnic, gender and class relations.

Philosophy and Human Values: Epicureans, Stoics, Skeptics

Ward's Notes: A note on Roderick and his political outbursts. Some of you may find these funny, on point, and essentially correct. Others of you may not. Whether or not you are sympathetic to his opinions, I hope that you will look past his politics and focus on the point he is trying to make about the philosophy and the historical context. Remember that Roderick's politics are informed by his reading of the philosophy and the world as he sees it. His outbursts should be seen as nothing more than his imperfect attempts at humor, relevance, and illustration. It would be a disservice to the subject matter to assume an agenda where one does not exist.

LINK: Video & Transcript

AUDIO MP3 (Right click to download.)

Discussion Question:

• Roderick will tell us much later in the series that philosophy should provide us with

a "theory of the now". That is, it is best, most active when applied to our everyday

lives and what is going on in the world today. In that spirit, which of the Roman

philosophies discussed in this lecture is best suited for our current condition

?

Lecture Two: Epicureans, Stoics, Skeptics

I. Conflicting ideals of excellence in Roman Society.

A. Hedonism is doing what makes you happy.

1. Epicureans pursued higher pleasures in moderation.

2. It is associated with a rising empire and its values.

B. Stoicism involved fortitude and cultivating apathy to difficulties of life.

1. Happiness was the best thing, but was unattainable.

2. It is associated with a falling empire and its values.

C. Christianity is a slow ascension, based on Stoic thought.

1. It is spread through the spoken word and fire of the sword.

2. There is a hierarchical society arranged with differential relations to God.

3. It offers solace to the inevitability of human suffering in a way that the Stoics did not.

II. A brief note on modern criticism of democracy:

A. Max Weber said quantitative relations are more important than qualitative where rules and procedures are followed.

B. Franz Kafka was also a critic of democracy.

III. Anselm’s argument for the existence of God:

A. This is an argument between only two interlocutors. If you are neither the fool who has said there is no God, or the believer, this argument has no bearing on you.

B. God is defined as a being, greater than which cannot be conceived.

1. It is greater to exist in the mind and reality than in the mind alone. Therefore, God must exist in reality because if he did not, we could conceive something greater.

2. This is perhaps one of the most eloquent arguments in philosophy.

Philosophy and Human Values: Socrates and the Life of Inquiry

Ward's notes on the lecture;

Professor Roderick is witty and sarcastic, and he attempts to bring this material "down to

our level." That is, he condescends to us in the best sense of that word. Rather than referring to obscure texts to illustrate his points Roderick, continually refers to

films and television shows that were popular with a late twentieth century audience. Many of his references are from the 1980s and you may not be familiar with many of them. That is okay. You may wish to see the films if you think it will help you to follow his examples but I don't think that it is particularly crucial.

I would encourage you to download the MP3's of the lectures and listen to them a couple of times before you comment on the discussion questions that follow. I have included a link to the transcript and the videos but you should understand that the videos were uploaded to youtube when they still had the 10 minute maximum rule. Therefore, if you watch you will be re

quired to load each new video every 9 - 10 minutes. On the other hand, the audio files allow you to listen uninterrupted anywhere you might go. However, I encourage you to read the transcripts as you listen as the text will help you to follow the increasingly complex ideas he discusses as the lecture series progresses.

You will find that this material is demanding. It demands your undivided attention and a degree of thought that can be taxing and exhausting. So stick with it. Our discussions in the comments will be much more fruitful if you have engaged with the material early in the week so that we have time to interact throughout the week ahead.

One last point on this summer assignment. While our course begins with the fourteenth century, I think that Professor Roderick's survey of Philosophy and Human Values will help us to follow the intellectual climate of our study throughout the year. It is okay if you don't "get" everything that he discusses throughout this series. A basic familiarity with the figures and ideas will help to provide the intellectual context for our study as the year progresses.

Have fun and I look forward to our discussions.

Peace,

ward

LINK: Video & Transcript

AUDIO MP3 (Right click to download.)

Suggested Reading: Wikipedia article on Rick Roderick.

Discussion Question:

• Why does Socrates think that it is essential to have knowledge of oneself, and how might our different understandings about the nature of "Truth" make understanding difficult?

Lecture One: Socrates and the Life of Inquiry

I. The trial and death of Socrates inaugurated the Western philosophical tradition.

A. Investigation turned from movement of stars and composition of the earth toward human matters by separating scientific from philosophic discourse.

B. Dialogic form posits dialogue as essential to knowledge.

C. It is essential to have knowledge of oneself.

II. Socrates had an argument against relativism.

A. Is the idea that truth is relative itself a relative truth — or is it an absolute one?

B. Human Meaning:

1. What are you doing — now, and in life?

2. Do meanings transcend the here and now?

3. When a term or set of terms that are very important to a society (e.g. “virtue”, “patriotism”) are questioned, society is in danger. This was true of Socrates’ Athens and of our condition.

4. Several themes are pursued throughout the lectures.

C. Ask and try to localize in history what it means to be a human being.

D. Explore ways of living, including the socratic way of critical inquiry.

E. The “fallibilist” philosophy is believing passionately in certain things but realizing that the beliefs may be wrong.

F. This type of critical inquiry, if it can be carried out at all, can be carried out when societies are troubled and the meanings of words are debated and redefined.

1. The way we describe and understand our lives is inextricably connected to the way we live them.

2. Under these conditions it may not be possible to expand localized useful definitions.