I would like to argue that in The Claim of Reason Stanley Cavell voices an ethically compelling argument for human difference as separateness. Such a thesis may be too modest to be considered controversial. To dramatize the stakes, I add more specifically that Cavell’s description of separateness holds an ethical charge that recovers a material account of human difference as the human body and reimagines this account of difference as essential to community, prioritizing bodily life before hierarchical order in the refashioning of communal criteria and norms. Hierarchy, as I understand it here, will pertain to calcified criteria—what I will improvise in Cavell’s terms as the fantasy of final criteria—that maintain unequal stratifications in …show more content…
The moral shape of separateness is then discernable to the extent that it is not flatly imagined as a deficit nor as a threat, as difference is imagined when conflated with hierarchy (and so then always at the bidding of strategies of purification). Indicative of his distinction, Cavell exploits the difficulty of separateness as essential to the unfinished and proximate search for human community, disentangling it from the fantasy of fixed and final hierarchical …show more content…
Yet the desire and search for criteria persists nonetheless as a way to “settle judgments,” which is also, as this passage suggests, a way to establish community. Such community, like criteria, will constantly be made, unmade, and remade in the search for criteria, in agreements and disagreements over judgments. We might notice then, additionally, the insight that for Cavell, while community depends on criteria, it does not depend on static or stable criteria. Cavell therefore envisions a certain mobility and unsteadiness internal to communal belonging insofar as the failure of criteria is not the failure of communal life and cohesion, but procures its movement and searching, propelling it towards new forms of life and attunement. The failure of criteria, considered from the vantage of communal life, is basic to its movement (perhaps we might call it the good of the future) just to the extent that it conditions malleability and
Often differences and similarities between people may be obvious but more often their relationships can be difficult to recognize. “The relationships of individuals to the societies in which they live vary widely with time and place”. (Blair Nelson from the syllabus for assignment Essay Exam 1).
Although Hobbes has created a logical response to the Fool, I have some objections to his argument. According to Hobbes, every man has the right to self-preservation and are permitted to do whatever it takes to hold that right. This also means that the world’s worst criminal could reasonably refuse punishment. That person could escape imprisonment, lie under oath while in court, or commit theft and he or she could argue that it was all necessary for their self-preservation. Strictly speaking, this means anything one does could be deemed as necessary for his or her self-preservation and it could never be considered unjust or unreasonable. It would be difficult to determine what actions can be properly defined as unjust because everything by
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin Moliere wrote Tartuffe during the beginning of the Age of Enlightenment. One of the main characteristics of the Age of Enlightenment was a push towards using reason over emotions to make decisions. The leaders of the enlightenment truly believed that the world could be made a better place if people did this. In Tartuffe, when the characters use their emotions to make their decisions they find themselves in undesirable situations. While those who let their emotions rule them find their lives spinning out of control, there are other characters in the play who try to approach them with reason and logic. Out of these characters the lady’s maid Dorine stands out as the voice of reason.
So what exactly does it mean to be human? Does it mean that we were placed on this earth without purpose? How do we figure out what makes me a human? These questions often loom through many people’s mind. Throughout the book, Christian Anthropology by Michele Saracino she highlights the different ideas that help define what it means to be human. First, she begins by discussing how it’s important to have freedom and the duties that come with that. Secondly, she also discusses what could restrict us from being free which can include human-made categories. Furthermore, she discusses the idea of what a sin is and the effect of passivity. Lastly, another main idea she explains what forgiveness and the importance of letting go. Throughout the book, Saracino uses various examples to help support her claim on what she thinks it takes to be human.
The novel Grendel, by John Gardner, revolves around Grendel’s thoughts and beliefs to what life truly means. Grendel’s mind is often pulled in conflicting directions due to the different philosophies of the Shaper and the Dragon. The Shaper tells Grendel how the people view him and it pulls Grendel in the direction of being nicer to people. The Dragon tells Grendel that humans are killing for sport and that Grendel should go out and kill people.The occurrence of the Dragon pulls Grendel in the direction that he shouldn’t be nice to people because of what the humans do for fun. Grendel’s view on the idea of life is torn in different directions due to the Shaper and Dragon’s different, but inspirational philosophies.
The most empowering change of this era was the dominance of a secular attitude and the decline of church absolutism. This secular viewpoint altered man’s reason for existence from an otherworldly quest to an intimate, immediate appreciation for that which exists on earth. Humanism is a primary source of individualism. Pico della Mirandola’s “Oration on the Dignity of Man” captures the essence of the humanist movement. He writes that God gave man the ability to make of himself what he wills. Although man is capable of depraved acts, he also possesses the profundity to distinguish him as a holy being. Pico praises the goodness of mankind when he writes, “man is rightly called and judged a great miracle ...
Grendel is a classic hero versus villain story, but it’s written through the perspective of the “villain.” In Grendel, a novel by John Gardner, The main character and narrator Grendel watches and gives his input as society advances in many different ways such as divisions of class and war. The book Grendel can also be seen as a first-hand account of the ruinous effects of labels on a malleable-minded individual such as Grendel. In the novel Grendel, John Gardner uses characterization by using the villain archetype to convey the central idea that heavily enforced labels in society can be detrimental on an individual's natural and unique persona.
Does it have a specific contribution to make to our understanding of moral experience? Is there a price to be paid for its different perspective, and if so, is the price worth paying?” This opening statement gives us a taste of his thoughts about VE already. Louden goes to raise his objections. I will consider the objections he raises under the headings in his article, those being ‘Agents vs Acts’ , ‘Who is Virtuous’ , ‘Style over Substance’ , and ‘Utopianism’ .
Steven Pinker lays the foundation for his book by highlighting three main philosophies that permeate society’s view of humanity and their historical context: The Blank Slate (empiricism), the Noble Savage (romanticism), and the Ghost in the Machine (dualism) (2002, p. 11). Pinker is correct to challenge previous philosophical frameworks as they skew the way scientific research has been conducted. Present-day scientific and social research will only benefit from an acknowledgement of innate human nature.
the laws of man and kept in check by society's own norms. The human struggle to
The author’s both have opposing views regarding the adoption of human enhancement. Sandel argues against human enhancement and believes that our genetic modification will result in the loss of humanities appreciation of natural giftedness. It is his belief that this “drive to mastery” will transform how humanity interprets humility, responsibility and solidarity. Sandel claims as humility gives way, our appreciation for our natural talents and abilities will be lost. Sandel argues that diminishing humility will result in an explosion of personal responsibility, placing the burden of achievement on us instead of human nature. Sandel believes that enhancement will lead to the loss of h...
defends the argument that humans are not solely defined by their nature or nurture, but by both. The
Theories of human nature, as the term would ever so subtly suggest, are at best only individual assertions of the fundamental and intrinsic compositions of mankind, and should be taken as such. Indeed it can be said that these assertions are both many and widespread, and yet too it can be said that there are a select few assertions of the nature of man that rise above others when measured by historical persistence, renown, and overall applicability. These eclectic discourses on the true nature of man have often figured largely in theories of political science, typically functioning as foundational structures to broader claims and arguments. The diversification of these ideological assertions, then, would explain the existence of varying theories
Fromm underlines a split in humans, a theme of separation that is evident. To begin with, Fromm proposes that humans have been torn away from their prehistoric union with nature because of “reason.” Fromm suggests that man is a part of nature, while being “apart” from it, this is a result of “self-awareness, reason, and imagination.” These humanistic characteristics have disrupted harmony in nature, creating this dichotomous human existence. Furthermo...
In his work, Who is Man, Abraham J. Heschel embarks on a philosophical and theological inquiry into the nature and role of man. Through analysis of the meaning of being human, Heschel determines eight essential traits of man. Heschel believes that the eight qualities of preciousness, uniqueness, nonfinality, process and events, solitude and solidarity, reciprocity, and sanctity constitute the image of man that defines a human being. Yet Heschel’s eight qualities do not reflect the essential human quality of the realization of mortality. The modes of uniqueness and opportunity, with the additional singular human quality of the realization of mortality, are the most constitutive of human life as uniqueness reflects the fundamental nature of humanity,