T 11 - MP 5-6
LISTEN
1. What's the most important function of emotion? 71
2. We're built to be what? 73
3. A rational syntactically based reasoning system enables us to do what? 79
4. What is "sedimentation"? 87
5. Simone de Beauvoir's title The Ethics of Ambiguity refers to what fact? 92
6. What gets sedimented in the brain? (99)
7. For Sartre the greatest threat to human flourishing is _____, for Marx it's ____. (103)
Discussion Questions (add yours)
- How do you think your goals as an individual relate to our shared species' interests (in survival, among other things)? How do you think all kinds of goals and interests relate to the subjective experience of meaning and purpose, and the objective possibility of their attainment?
- Is the selfish gene hypothesis relevant to how you think about meaning and purpose in your own life, and in the existence of humanity? Are genes really selfish?
- How important is it, for our individual flourishing and collective well-being, that we defer gene-specified rewards in favor of long-term outcomes?
- In the absence of a strong commitment to the social contract that binds individuals to shared norms and practices that secure their survival and dignity, would individual meaning and purpose be possible or worth pursuing?
- Are religious people any more or less prone to self-deception ("oblivious to the genealogies of their values") than secularists?
- Are you more sympathetic to Sartre or Merleau-Ponty on freedom?
- If you are a Nietzschean with respect to free will, thinking it an illusion, what practical use can you make of his eternal recurrence idea?
- Does Frantz Fannon's experience still strike you as relevant to race in America in our day?93
- Was Hannah Arendt wrong to describe evil as banal?
- Do you agree that Camus's view of Sisyphus is problematic? 102
- What's the best way to free yourself from a sedimented value?
*Th 13 - MP 7-8 (Since it's practically V-day/b'day, collect a base if you bring something to sweeten our dispositions.)
LISTEN
1. ____ may not exist, but we can still impose a degree of unity on ____. 111
2. Today almost all educated people accept the reality of what? 114
3. Does Levy consider the self a user illusion? 122
4. What are the 4Ms and 4Es? 126
5. How does Heidegger say we come to a true sense of ourselves? 133
6. In light of the 4Es, authenticity is not facing up to nothingness but rather to what? 141
Heideggerian "authenticity" here sounds a lot like parochial nationalism.
Discussion Questions (add yours)
- If no "unified self" exists, what do you think it might mean to unify "ourselves"?
- Is our existence "unjustifiable" in the absence of an objective, eternal, universal source of purpose? To whom are we required to justify our existence?
- Do you think of yourself as "an uncaused cause" and a "foundation of all values"? Wouldn't that be a bit presumptuous and self-important>
- Is meaning something to "impose" on your life, or something that emerges organically from it?
- Can you accept the reality of "unconscious processes and states" but still question the reality of the Freudian Unconscious?
- Does the "modular"/evolutionary theory of consciousness seem plausible to you? Does it imply design without a designer? Choice without a chooser?
- What important insights into consciousness can we glean from Capgras Syndrome? 116 (There's a terrific novel by Richard Powers all about this condition called The Echo Maker, btw - possible report topic, if you're interested)
- Do you experience existential anxiety due either to "absolute freedom" or the fact of embodiment?
- What does it mean to you to live "authentically"?
- Is Sartre's waiter really so inauthentic? .Or is it mutually understood by waiter and customer that role-playing is an inescapable element of normal human life?
The Correlates and Consequences of Believing in Free Will— Gregg Caruso (@GreggDCaruso) February 8, 2020
By Melissa Snater | A must read thesis arguing, "Free will sceptics are more compassionate and are less likely to believe in just deserts and harbour retributive attitudes." | https://t.co/S72vd0aFiV
What does it mean to you to live "authentically"?
ReplyDeleteTo me, living authentically means living honestly, not only to others but also to myself about what I want out of life. This requires a lot of self awareness, which means regularly “checking in” with myself and asking questions like, “why do I want/believe this,” or “what am I trying to accomplish?” Making a habit out of these “check ins” can really go a long way when it comes to living authentically.
Is meaning something to "impose" on your life, or something that emerges organically from it?
ReplyDeleteI think meaning is intertwined with the feelings people have about themselves and the way they are living their lives. I think meaning is revealed by a person’s self talk. We are the ones that ascribe meaning to things, after all. That meaning can be either good or bad. I don’t think it can be imposed, or forced, necessarily. But rather it is something to be nurtured in a semi organic way (much of what we feel is under the surface but there is a lot we can actively do to influence how we look at ourselves in the world).
Both your comments bring to my mind Socrates and his teaching to “know thyself.” This seems to me now to be the starting point for any effort of self-improvement, certainly in a search for happiness and meaning in life. In chapter 8, referencing John Haugeland, there is this statement about the meaning of authenticity: “For thinkers in the existentialist tradition, the question is not so much how or why human life is embedded in natural and social contexts, but how much we own and own up to what we are doing in those contexts.” Knowing myself and owning up to what I am doing in social contexts requires self-reflection and self-evaluation; self-criticism and a willingness to acknowledge bad behavior. As you say, there is a lot we can actively do to influence how we look at ourselves in the world. If we honestly look at ourselves and our relations with others, and engage in self-correction, we will in a semi-organic way develop meaning in our lives. Very insightful comments Heather, as usual.
DeleteI love what you said about self evaluation and reflection. It seems that with everything else we want to learn about in life, we pick things apart into little bits and analyze them. Why should it be any different for the way we live our lives, meaning, etc? I think it is such a key feature in self growth and personal meaning. Thanks for bringing it to light in your comment!
DeleteAre religious people any more or less prone to self-deception ("oblivious to the genealogies of their values") than secularists?
ReplyDeleteYes and no. I think many secularists have to do a lot of thinking about what their individual values are because they don't have them written out in a religious text that they trust. As a result they may be more aware of why they believe/think what they do. However, this isn't a guarantee. Religious or not, it is very easy for any person to slip into believing things without having full understanding as to why. We all develop certain opinions and prejudices about the world which are hard to pick apart no matter who you are, whether it relates to the "god question," or politics, or society, or anything else for that matter. Having this awareness alone is the first step to fully appreciating the genealogies of one's values/ideas.
What does it mean to you to live "authentically"?
DeleteThis means to live from your truest self and not care what people think, but this hard I don't think anybody lives 100 percent authentically. Everybody cares about what at least one person thinks.
Is our existence "unjustifiable" in the absence of an objective, eternal, universal source of purpose? To whom are we required to justify our existence
ReplyDeleteTo me I believe so because I am a believer of you living twice and dying once. Even if I wasn't a Christian living with no purpose would be very hard because what is there to do and hope for. A life without purpose isn't a life I would want to live. What purpose is it to gain the whole world and when you die you take it with you.
My life is justifyed with the creator (God) because he knows me because he created me and he knows why he created me and i know why I was created.
Alternative Disc Questions:
ReplyDeleteIf you believe humans are the foundation of all values, is that simply because of conscious thought?
Are values values because we deem them so?
Does the fact that humans are the only known sentient, conscious-thought creatures mean that we should feel self-important? Does that fact make the human existence seem lonely?
Quiz Questions:
ReplyDeleteWhat is the ultimate source and foundation of value for Sartre? (113)
The existentialists call to authenticity remains powerful because we are all tempted to confuse convention with , and social facts with . (119)
Is the selfish gene hypothesis relevant to how you think about meaning and purpose in your own life, and in the existence of humanity? Are genes really selfish?
ReplyDeleteThe selfish gene hypothesis ultimately emphasizes humans reliance on one another in order to flourish which makes it very relevant to how I think about purpose and meaning in my life.
Is meaning something to "impose" on your life, or something that emerges organically from it?
ReplyDeleteFor me meaning is something that I look for and maybe try to impose but for me it ultimately emerges organically throughout life.
Are religious people any more or less prone to self-deception ("oblivious to the genealogies of their values") than secularists?
ReplyDeletePerhaps they are but there are many religious people who realize the influence their family has/had on their religious beliefs but still hold the same beliefs.