Reading Blog 3: First response to Morality as Anti-Nature

(Numbers correspond to number labels in the reading)

1- I like that Nietzsche thinks it is stupid to try to get rid of passions even though they cause people to do stupid things. I also like the dental analogy because my mom is a dentist. (347)

He really goes off on the church. Its practices are “hostile to life” (348).

2 – is interesting because he does not think highly of the need to cut something completely out of your life to resist temptations… huh… I do that.

3- “one remains young only as long as the soul does not stretch itself and desire peace” (349). So I guess I am old now... Why does it make me old to feel sad when people are bullied?

“There is nothing we envy less than the moralistic cow” (349). I don’t 100% agree with this, but I think that most people envy wealth more than they envy people with morals (There is a huge market for reality TV Shows that star wealthy people and their cribs).

What is he saying about peace of soul?! (349)

4- Oh my goodness, preach, Nietzsche. Finally someone brings up the point that every moral code taught so far is nearly impossible. Also, I think Appiah would agree with this point because he said something about the unlikelihood of becoming a virtuous person.

“almost every morality which has so far been taught… turns, conversely, against the instincts of life: it is condemnation of these instincts, now secret, now outspoken and impudent” (349). I especially like the ‘now secret’ part because it is so weird to me that some natural things in life cannot be spoken about. I do not wish to list examples because I have grown up feeling uncomfortable discussing them.

“life has come to an end where the ‘kingdom of God’ begins” (350). This is funny because only the dead can get into the kingdom of heaven.

5- I like that he refers to himself as an “immoralist”.

The Four Great Errors

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2- I like how he calls the error of confusing cause and effect the “immortal unreason”.

Appiah would not agree with Nietzsche’s statement that “his virtue is the effect of his happiness”.

I he saying that every claim that people make about virtues making your life better are false? In that case, Nietzsche and Appiah would agree because Appiah acknowledged that living a virtuous life would not necessarily lead to positive consequences.

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4- I don’t understand what he is trying to say about dreaming and how it relates to imaginary causes.

5- I agree with his paragraph about the brain ‘imagining causes’ because I learned about the brain’s tendency to immediately compartmentalize in psychology.

6- Is he trying to say that feelings are not caused by anything? So why do people I feel guilty when they do something wrong?

I agree with his claim that faith does not award you with pleasurable feelings but rather the ability to write things off that are unexplainable, therefore easing the compartmentalizing mind.

7- Whoa, Nietzsche is about to attack free will.

“the doctrine of the will has been invented essentially for the purpose of punishment, that is, because one wanted to impute guilt” (355). Nietzsche’s last idea that free will is an error is probably one of his craziest. How would you prove something so abstract? Even so, I like where he is going with this idea. But at the same time, I still feel like some actions should be considered bad even if they were not made by choice or free will.

Collab Project Topic Preferences

My choices are in preference order

Gender Ethnicity Social Identity: I am interested in gender ethnicity and social identity, because I find social trends interesting. I am always thinking about the influence of society on the opinions about gender, ethnic, and social roles.

Education:  I am interested in the many of approaches to education, and their respective effectiveness. I am also interested in the roots of the current education system we have in the US, what reforms have been made over the years, if there are any future reforms in sight, and how education in other countries compares to what we have in the US.

Social Networking and Communications: I am interested in how social networking and communication has changed with new technology. I am especial interested in the effects that these changes have on social interaction.

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2015/01/21/charters-need-policy-and-community-support.html

This article is related to education, and I chose it because I am interested in charter schools. This article is pro charter school. It discusses charter schools' need for the support of the government to succeed.

Reading Blog 2: First Response to The Case against Character

Before reading this article, I did not have a good understanding of virtue ethics. I thought virtue ethics didn't make sense at all, and I thought a person would be crazy to try to base their actions off of what a made-up virtuous person would do. Now, I have found many things that I like about virtue ethics.

The first aspect that I like about it is that virtuous actions are those that a virtuous person would make. This means that virtuous actions take emotions and other human things into account. In addition, the qualities themselves are not virtuous but rather the person who has mastered them is virtuous. For example, I find this to mean that a virtuous person has mastered the virtue of honesty but not that complete honesty is always right.

I also like the idea that being a virtuous person is what makes life worthwhile. The article makes sure to point out that “worthwhile” does not mean that one’s virtuous actions lead to positive consequences. This is slightly hard to understand because being virtuous does not lead to the type of life that society values today. Being virtuous does not guarantee good karma that eventually leads to wealth. Instead one probably has to forget their inclinations toward success in business / social status to truly let go of their vices. I think that these societal values are the biggest restraint stopping people from becoming virtuous.

There are many points in the discussion on personality in relation to virtue ethics that I agree with. The first and foremost is that situations affect actions. When I am feeling fabulous, I only stop whistling to smile at every person I see in the street, but in my darkest moments, I am less than friendly, not willing to share a smile or even eye contact with anybody in passing. Like the hypothetical people who were asked for change, “if I had a settled policy of never giving [a smile], even that pleasant [mood] wouldn't help” (408). This quote is significant because situations do seem to affect one’s virtues, but even so, people are still shown to possess individual characteristics.

I have not yet finalized my opinion on the two following questions:

1.     Are situational acts in fact virtuous?

a.      At this point I do not think that they count as virtuous acts because “we should want to do the right thing for the right reasons” (409). This opinion (and the whole virtuous person thing in general) seems a bit idealistic, but I like it anyway.

2.     Is it possible to have a “good life” (become a virtuous person)?

a.      I would like to think that there is a way to become a virtuous person, but it seems unlikely. (Can we find one example of a virtuous person? I think that it would be impossible to tell if a person is virtuous or not when considering the fact that “we’re inclined to overestimate disposition and underestimate situation” (411).)

Questions:

What is the vice “Calculating”?