UNIVERSITY of CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE Love and Morality
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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE Love and Morality: Toward an Ethic of Universal Love A Dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Philosophy by Michael Paul Goerger June 2011 Dissertation Committee: Dr. David K. Glidden, Chairperson Dr. Howard Wettstein Dr. John Martin Fischer Copyright by Michael Paul Goerger 2011 The Dissertation of Michael Paul Goerger is approved: Committee Chairperson University of California, Riverside ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS David Glidden has been a constant source of intellectual and emotion support throughout the ups and downs of graduate school, shifts in my area of interest, endless false starts, and many disappointing drafts. I have worked with him for six years, and he has served as chair on all of my degree requirements. His consistently honest appraisal (and occasional rejection) of my work has shaped me as a philosopher and as an intellectual. Working through his extensive comments, always insightful and to the point, was the most exhausting but stimulating part of this project. I am proud to be able to count him as both one of my teachers and one of my friends. The philosophy department at UC Riverside is second to none in terms of friendliness and helpfulness. Conversations with many professors have had an impact on how I understand philosophy and the work of the philosopher. Thanks especially to Howard Wettstein for many conversations about religion, love, poetry, and philosophy. And thanks to John Fischer, who has been a good friend, supportive professor, and helpful colleague during my time at UCR. Innumerable discussions with my friends and fellow graduate students have contributed to my understanding of philosophical ethics and moral life. At the risk of forgetting to name some, I thank them all collectively. Megs Gendreau, Justin Coates, and Sam Matherne have been my close friends for many years, and it is hard to imagine making it through graduate school without them. Additionally, many interdisciplinary / extracurricular discussions with friends in the natural sciences have helped me to evolve iv as a thinker and philosopher by forcing me to constantly explain just what it is that I do. Thanks in particular to Chris Oufiero for many late night conversations and informal philosophical debates. Chapters One and Two benefitted from comments by Agniezska Jaworska, who also helped immensely as this dissertation took shape in the prospectus phase. Chapter Five was read and commented on by Justin Coates, Ben Mitchel-Yellin, John Ramsey, and Courtney Morris. The ensuing conversation was very helpful in organizing the chapter and in formulating the direction I took in Chapter Six. Any faults are of course my own. v DEDICATION In loving memory of my grandmother Eileen Goerger vi Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I will meet you there. -Rumi I have seen the light break through to illuminate a small field for a while and gone my way and forgotten it. But that was the pearl of great prize, the one field that had the treasure in it. I realize now that I must give all that I have to possess it. Life is not hurrying on to a receding future nor hankering after an imagined past. It is the turning aside like Moses to the miracle of the lit bush. To a brightness that seems as transitory as your youth, but is the eternity that awaits you. -R. S. Thomas, “The Bright Field” In this world, hatred has never been defeated by hatred. Only love can overcome hatred. This is an ancient and eternal law. - The Dhammapadda vii ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Love and Morality: Toward an Ethic of Universal Love by Michael Paul Goerger Doctor of Philosophy, Graduate Program in Philosophy University of California, Riverside, June 2011 Dr. David K. Glidden, Chairperson In this dissertation, I examine the normative force of the claim that one should love others. In the first part of the dissertation I provide an account of loving. In chapter 1, I argue that love necessarily involves activity aimed at benefitting the loved-one for her own sake. In Chapter 2, I develop this definition and argue that loving-activity is activity which aims to contribute to the well-being of the loved-one. I advance this view against the influential view of loving-activity given by Harry Frankfurt, who claims that loving- activity is aimed at the interests of the loved-one. In Chapter 3, I show how theories of listening can help us to understand how those who love can disagree with a loved-one while continuing to act lovingly toward the loved-one. I argue that by listening to the loved-one, one-who-loves allows the loved-one to exercise her ability to direct her own life thereby treating her as an individual and contributing to her well-being. In the second portion of the dissertation I account for the normative force of the claim that one should love others. While several philosophers have claimed that viii cultivating love is impossible, I argue in chapter 4 that love can be cultivated. I explore two methods of cultivating love: Stoic oikeiōsis and Buddhist metta meditation. I argue that these methods do in fact cultivate love. In chapter 5, I argue that given the influential account of right and wrong developed by T. M. Scanlon, there can be no moral obligation to love. Finally, I argue in chapter 6 that the imperative to love others expresses a normative ideal, which supports various values including philanthropy, charity, forgiveness, and loving-community. In so far as one embraces the ideal of love, one should recognize the goodness of these values. As love is a topic that has been neglected by most moral philosophers, the aim of this dissertation is to raise as well as resolve questions about the role of love in moral life. The framework developed in the final chapter is meant to start a conversation about how philosophers could begin to integrate the importance of loving into our normative frameworks. ix TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments.........................................................................................................iv Dedication..................................................................................................................... vi Abstract of the Dissertation...........................................................................................viiii Introduction: Toward an Ethic of Universal Love.........................................................1 Chapter 1: Love as Activity ..........................................................................................11 Chapter 2: Love and Well-Being ..................................................................................45 Chapter 3: Listening as an Act of Love ........................................................................83 Chapter 4: Expanding the Circle of Love .....................................................................121 Chapter 5: Can Love Be Demanded?............................................................................160 Chapter 6: Prolegomena to an Ethic of Love................................................................ 190 Epilogue: Love and Morality: A Look Forward............................................................224 Works Cited...................................................................................................................232 x INTRODUCTION Toward an Ethic of Universal Love §1. The claim that one should love more finds voice in many major world religions and plays a important role in the lived ethical systems of billions of people. It is expressed in the ancient Hebrew scriptures, which read, “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself.”1 Jesus of Nazareth combines this piece of scripture with that which requires one to love God with all one’s heart, soul, mind, and strength and claims that no other commandment is greater than these.2 At another point in the gospels, Jesus redefines the term ‘neighbor’ to include anyone whom one treats as a neighbor.3 Thus, the ancient commandment is no longer limited to those in one’s community but can include anyone whom one meets. Several hundred years later, St. Augustine succinctly sums up the imperative to love in a “short precept” saying “Love, and do what you will.”4 The imperative to love more, even to love all others is also found outside of Western religions.5 It is expressed by the ancient Chinese philosopher Mozi, who argues that, “universal love is the way of sage kings.”6 Though Confucianism gradually eclipsed 1 Leviticus 19:18. 2 Matt. 22:36-40 3 Luke 10:25-37. 4 Augustine (1888). Seventh Homily on the First Epistle of St. John, Section 8. 5 This is not to say that individuals are necessarily utilizing the philosophical idea of an ‘imperative.’ Rather, I mean that the claim that one should love is often expressed grammatically as an imperative. 6 Mozi (2010). Bk. 4, Section 12. 1 Mohism in importance, Mozi’s teachings had an important influence on both Confucian and Taoist writings. The imperative is again expressed by the Buddha, who argues that one should cultivate a limitless heart.7 His teachings continue to attract followers and, in the past several decades, have begun to play an important role in Western spiritual life. I have named only a few of the most famous thinkers who have claimed that one should love more. Their reach and influence has been immense. Equally immense has been the scholarship and theology devoted to understanding the claims