Parts 2 by Madison Nef
Part 1 REALLLLLY sucked, so I decided to make my 3 pages out of part two and focus on the great ideas of philosophers such as Kant, Socrates and more. I will start with Socrates and work from there.
Socrates
Socrates was an early Greek philosopher with many good thoughts about knowledge- he was one of the first Greek philosophers to suggest that mankind turned their attention from external nature to themselves- truly explore human nature and how the mind works. He believed that to know oneself was a great power, and that he who knew himself, who TRULY knew himself, would succeed, for that man would know what was in his ability to do and what he could succeed in.
I agree with this point- knowing yourself is important. If you don’t know yourself, you probably make an idiot out of yourself more times than you realize, attempting what cannot be done. Another point I want to quickly mention is- having confidence in you also has a big play in this, but that is unrelated to this subject so I will move on.
Socrates also believed that virtue is knowledge, and at the same time happiness. He knew that man who knew right from wrong would always choose right, unless he purposely chose to do wrong- in which case, he would make himself unhappy. This leads us to the second part of Socrates belief- that virtue is happiness. For when a man does something good for another, he himself creates happiness.
Aristotle’s Self Realization Theory
Aristotle believed that since the day a man is born, his one outstanding goal in life was to achieve the utmost in what he had been put on Earth to do- in other words, to be perfect. If the man did not strive towards perfection and attain it, he would feel deep discontentment with himself. Aristotle also believed that “Nature does nothing in vain,” meaning that everything is put on Earth for a reason- everyone has a purpose.
I half agree with Aristotle- I do believe that everything is put on Earth for a reason, and I also believe that you should strive to be your best- but never aim for perfection. It is impossible to be perfect, and if you set an unrealistic goal, you will never be able to achieve it- thus leading to “discontentment”.
Aristotle believed that along with perfection, man also strived for life’s greatest treasure- happiness. If a man applied his talents and abilities correctly, he could make his own happiness. And according to Aristotle? Man’s greatest ability is to think.
The Utilitarian Philosophy of Jeremy Bentham
Now, disclaimer before I start: This guy sounds like a crazy person in my opinion. Basically, Bentham was a Hedonist to begin with, and Utilitarian is very similar to a Hedonist. He believed that the greatest things in life were pleasures, and he worried that people would choose the wrong kinds of pleasure. Sounds normal, right? Well, this guy actually made a Hedonist calculus to help people MEASURE pleasure- just in case they ever needed to choose.
Bentham believed that spiritual pleasures didn’t really count, and were just pseudo-pleasures, and that if one did not ever feel the sensation of pleasure, they would not find life worth living. Huh. I am starting to think Aristotle actually had more brains that this guy! He said happiness, not pleasure. Happiness is easier to attain as well!
The Intuitionism of Immanuel Kant
The system of ethics formed by Kant is based entirely off of good will- “Where there is no good will, no freedom of choice, a moral situation cannot possibly exist”. Kant believed that morality was entirely in the individual, and that the consequences that the person brought upon themselves was theirs entirely. “Right is right and must willed regardless of consequences.”
Kant also believed that no one could make a person WILL to do anything- while an elder may force a child to do things, the child himself does not will to do it unless he himself chooses to do it. Therefore, not one has the power to will anyone to do anything except the person acting on the task. Kant also believed that while everything had a price tag, man did not. Man had dignity, worth more than anything else- and any man who sold himself for a price was being cheated out of his price, for man posses infinite value.
The Pessimistic Philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer
Arthur S. believed something VERY strange- that evil was good! He also believed that the world was basically and inherently evil- which he was pretty correct about. He had a reason to believe this- he claimed that happiness is only a short period in between the long stretches of pain, dividing the next interval of sadness from the last.
Arthur’s point makes sense- but he is just a little too bitter for me to agree with him: “It is a sin to be born.” That I don’t agree with! It is NOT a sin to be born, not at all! He also goes on to say that “life must be some kind of mistake”. Oh well, I guess he was a famous pessimist.
“All willing rises from want, therefore from deficiency, and therefore from suffering. The satisfaction of a wish ends it; yet for one wish that is satisfied there remain at least ten which are denied. Further, the desire lasts long, the demands are infinite; the satisfaction is short and scantily measured out. But even the final satisfaction is itself only apparent; every satisfied wish at once makes room for a new one; both are illusions… no attained object of desire can give lasting satisfaction, but merely a fleeting gratification; it is like alms thrown to the beggar, that keeps him alive today that his misery may be prolonged till the morrow.”
