| Philosophical MusingsOkay, so taking a grad-level philosophy course during the summer isn't
exactly the most rational idea I've had lately. Several questions
were raised up during class that provoked me to re-examine some of my
basic beliefs (laugh all you want, Socrates) and thus caused (directly
or indirectly) my temporary suspension of duties as a good premed
student - that is, to skip volunteering at the hospital for
today. Instead, I walked straight back to my apartment and
started doing some research.
Here are some quite interesting but, as of now, aporetical musings:
1. Does everyone desire what he believes to be good (at least in some respect)?
One of my classmates (Classmate A) brought this up after class, and
like Socrates the torpedo fish, paralyzed my mind and tongue. He
believes that a person can desire
what he knows to be bad. For example, a person can desire, out of
pure jealousy, to destroy the good of another person, even though he
can't have that good himself. Classmate B responded that the
person nevertheless saw what he thought to be good - pleasure in
bringing down the other person, feeling better about himself,
etc. Classmate A refuted this, saying that at the time the person
went out to destroy the person of whom he was jealous, he had no other
thought than to destroy him - that the other reasons don't necessarily
have to come to his mind. (B) replied that it could just be the
passions (from Aquinas) temporarily clouding his judgment. (A)
maintains that the person still knows what he is doing is evil and
still does it anyway. B brings up the underground man from
Dostoyevsky - a person desired to debase himself, even though he hated
going through the process of debasement, because he enjoyed the
knowledge of himself being debased.
A temporary diversion: Does everyone desire happiness? Does
enjoyment = happiness? Does enjoyment = seeing something as
good?
(A) says enjoyment does not equal happiness, nor is it the same as
seeing something as good. I say that insane debasement guy
perceives enjoyment to be a good, just as certain people perceive
pleasure to be a good. People have false opinions and thus
perceive false goods. (A) still doesn't believe enjoyment to be a
(false) good because the person doesn't even think of this argument at
the time of the deed.
Okay, so this whole discussion ended up in aporia. Go
figure. (B) told (A) to bring up the issue in class tomorrow - I
can't wait to hear the prof's answer to this.
edit// I thought of an example that a person can desire evil knowing it as such: Smith, who is married, slept with another
woman. Upon reflection, he knows that
adultery is bad. He knows he only did it
for pleasure. He knows that the pleasure
he derives from it is not good (good = that which benefits you).
Nonetheless, he commits the act again.
Why? He can’t blame his
perception of adultery or pleasure as “good” because he already knows it is
not. PEOPLE CAN GIVE IN TO SENSUAL
TEMPTATIONS KNOWING THAT THEY ARE BAD.
edit/// Never mind, I still believe that people can only
intelligibly choose to do something that they perceive as having some
kind of "good," whether or not it is truly good or a greater
good. In the above example, Smith gave in to temptation again
only because he perceived that the pleasure he gets from sex (even
though he knows it is a sin) nevertheless will satisfy him (however
momentarily). And he perceives this satisfaction to be a "good,"
however perverted.
2. Can good things make us unhappy? Seems like it…for example, Kant’s categorical
imperative – sometimes our duty overrides our happiness. Abraham was about to sacrifice Isaac not
because it will make him happy, but because he felt he needed to do his duty as
God’s servant. But is killing Isaac good
per se? Is killing an innocent person good? Euthyphro conundrum – would killing an
innocent person be made ‘good’ because God commands it?
Are good and evil arbitrary to God? I still don't have a solid
opinion about the relationship between good/evil and God.
3. Is the concept of Hell "just"? Do those in Hell still desire “the good”? According to Plato, since the souls of people
already have all knowledge, then the souls in Hell would know everything. And since ‘everyone desires what he believes
to be good’ (according to Plato) and people in Hell already know what is
actually good and evil, they will desire the true “good.” That is, they would desire God in Christian
terms. But since, being in Hell, they
are condemned to a miserable life forever, they can never attain what they
desire. So are people punished for
desiring false goods? For their weaker
ability to recollect knowledge? Who
created this differing ability? If God,
then is He punishing people for what He gave them?
But, if it can be proved that people knowingly desire evil,
then would these evil people go to Hell?
Since it is what they desire, would they then be able to attain it? Would God satisfy evil people by letting them
go to Hell but then punish potentially good people (those who desired false
goods) by delivering the same fate to them?
THIS IS WHY PHILOSOPHERS ARE CONSIDERED INSANE.
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