Director Steve McQueen, in his 2013 film “12 Years a Slave” provides four examples of the philosophical arguments of both Immanuel Kant and G.W.F Hegel. Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit argues two forms of consciousness. His categorization on the codependent relationship between lord and bondsman is complementary to Kant’s political thought on the categorical imperative. Kant argues in The Grounding of Metaphysics of Morals, that in the categorical imperative, law of morality, human beings are not subjective ends but rather objective ends within themself.
In Hegel’s account of the self-consciousness here are two forms of consciousness. The first is an independent consciousness, which exists solely for itself and the second consciousness that is dependent on the independent consciousness of another. The first is the lord, and the second is the bondsman. The lord is mediated through another conscious that is an independent object of his desires. The slave is an independent being-for-self able to serve as an end in himself not simply a means. The lord holds the bondsman in bondage making him dependent yet; the lord’s power is merely a façade power struggle. The bondsman takes away his independence but is not all together done with it. He begins working on it. By setting aside desire’s the bondsman gains an independent consciousness. The lord in his relationship has succeeded in achieving his temporary means to acquiring his desires, but since the independence was interposed the bondsman still maintains some aspect of independence that he then continues to develop.
The lord is now unknowingly dependent on the bondsman’s existence and false recognition. Furthermore the new outcome of the relationship is “one-sided and unequal” (Heg...
... middle of paper ...
...mon.
The film “12 Years a Slave” has no historical or philosophical ties to Immanuel Kant or G.W.F Hegel. Yet portions of the Phenomenology of Spirit and The Grounding of Metaphysics of Morals are clearly exemplified in the film. Hegel’s perverse relationship between the lord and bondsman is reflected in the relationships between the overseers, lord, and the slaves. Kant’s categorical imperative maxim are violated in the treatment of slaves in the film.
Works Cited
Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich, Arnold V. Miller, and J. N. Findlay. "Independence And Dependence Of Self-Consciousness: Lordship And Bondage. "Phenomenology of Spirit. Oxford: Clarendon, 1977. 111-18. Print.
Kant, Immanuel; Ellington, James W. (2011-02-28). Grounding of Metaphysics of Morals, Third Edition (Translated & Annotated). Hackett Publishing. Kindle Edition.
Kant, Immanuel, and Mary J. Gregor. Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge UP, 1998. Print.
Johnson, R. (2013). Kant’s moral philosophy. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2013 Edition). Zalta, E. (Ed.). Retrieved online from http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2013/entries/kant-moral/
Johnson, R 2014, ‘Kant's Moral Philosophy,’ The Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy (Spring Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), .
In some moments of my life I too feel shackled or chained down. Whether it’s in a relationship or just trying to get ahead in life. In my teenage years I was careless and figured that since I was young I had time to waste. I held my own self back from doing a lot of things I should have done back then that would have made life a whole lot easier for me now. In the allegory, once the prisoner returned from the outside world he shared his stories with the other prisoners. The prisoners wanted to hear nothing of what the man had to say. Nor did they believe him. It reminds me of when I took a trip to Hawaii for my cousin's wedding. Everything there was so beautiful and the air smelled so fresh and clean.I took a lot of pictures and when I returned home I let my friends know all about the wonderful experience I had. Some did not want to hear it at all saying things like “ Well I will never go there so I don't care”, or “Your putting extras on it i’m sure it was not that pretty. People are afraid or quick to refuse new information or ideas because they are so comfortable in believing their own beliefs or what society wants them to believe. In the case of the allegory the prisoners all wanted to only believe what they were subjected to. They were afraid to receive knowledge. Most of us these days do the exact same thing simply because we believe we know it
Kant, Immanuel. Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals. Trans. H. J. Paton. 1964. Reprint. New York: Harper Perennial Modern Thought, 2009. Print.
... noble morality (16). Furthermore, in contrast to the self-contentment of the noble morality, the slave’s lack of outward power led him to direct his power inwards, resulting in man’s first exploration of his inner life.
Immanuel Kant is a popular modern day philosopher. He was a modest and humble man of his time. He never left his hometown, never married and never strayed from his schedule. Kant may come off as boring, while he was an introvert but he had a great amount to offer. His thoughts and concepts from the 1700s are still observed today. His most recognized work is from the Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals. Here Kant expresses his idea of ‘The Good Will’ and the ‘Categorical Imperative’.
In the first stage of his examination of what the sensual might offer in the way of knowledge, Hegel examines the object apprehended by a sensing c...
To make a contented slave, it is necessary to make a thoughtless one. It is necessary to darken his moral and mental vision and as far as possible, to annihilate the power of reason. He must be able to detect no inconsistencies in slavery; he must be made to feel that slavery is right; and he can be brought to that only when deceases to be a man.
Kung, Hans. The Incarnation of God: An Introduction to Hegel's Theological Thought As Prolegomena to a Future Christology. T&T Clark, 2001. hard cover.
Kant, Immanuel, translated by Wood, Allen W. Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2002. http://www.inp.uw.edu.pl/mdsie/Political_Thought/Kant%20-%20groundwork%20for%20the%20metaphysics%20of%20morals%20with%20essays.pdf
In this paper, I will argue that Kant provides us with a plausible account of morality. To demonstrate that, I will initially offer a main criticism of Kantian moral theory, through explaining Bernard Williams’ charge against it. I will look at his indulgent of the Kantian theory, and then clarify whether I find it objectionable. The second part, I will try to defend Kant’s theory.
O’Neill, Onora. “Kantian Ethics.” A Companion to Ethics. Ed. Peter Singer. Malden: Blackwell Publishing, 1991. 175-185. Print.
Hegel, George Wilhelm Friedrich. Phenomenology of Spirit. Ed. A. V. Miller. Verlag Hamburg: Oxford University Press, 1952.
‘Kantian Ethics’ in [EBQ] James P Sterba (ed) Ethics: the Big Questions, Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1998, 185-198. 2) Kant, Immanuel. ‘Morality and Rationality’ in [MPS] 410-429. 3) Rachel, James. The Elements of Moral Philosophy, fourth edition. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2003.