DOCSLIB.ORG

Conscience: the Mechanism of Morality

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Conscience: the Mechanism of Morality And is not this universally true? If a man does something for the sake of something else, he wills not that which he does, but that for the sake of which he does it. -- Socrates1 This is my life's work, and that began with Ann-Ellen Marion and Dan White. Each in their own ways has shown me strength, courage, kindness and passion, the tensions of which ground my every conception. I often remember the fireflies and elderberries and evening crickets, the dogs and the trips to the north country. There, we witnessed otters sledding the steep snowy bank of a deep winter river, each after the others single file on slick brown bellies laid out in wet whiskered dives into the icy water only to gallop back and do it again. This text is testimony to that moment. Were I an otter, I would do it all again. Most dearly missed is Scott Jeavons: sunsets on the lake and skipping school. Good-bye. White – Conscience, the mechanism of morality .Preface: Men do not know how what is at variance agrees with itself. It is an attunement of opposite tensions, like that of the bow and the lyre. -- Heraclitus2 Therefore the sage is guided by what he feels and not by what he sees. -- Lao tzu3 When the natural world changes, when objects like the ocean and the ozone change, we change. When the weather changes the science changes, never the other way around. Our stories are simply a series of adjustments over long periods of time taken in terms of the always current situation. Much of our situation has always been hidden from us. Many of our old adjustments no longer apply. The instrument for evaluation however hasn’t. This is the conscience. In wondering about the right thing to do, one has three options. There is the consultation of religion. There is the consultation of others. There is the consultation of one’s self. As religion is what others say that god has said, the first two amount to the same thing. As every one must consult himself in giving consultation to others, the second two amount to the same thing. In consulting with one’s self, there is the conscience. A man is different from a rock. A man has a metabolic potential above that of things at rest in the world. A man may use his metabolic potentials to move away from rest and into turbulence, into the unknown. A man may discover. He may become otherwise. He may open to the unknown and order it in himself through his experience. i White – Conscience, the mechanism of morality He is synthetic. A rock is not. This is man’s freedom, to become himself through the exercise of himself. A rock is not free, and insofar as a man does not exercise this freedom, he may as well be a rock. You see as we grow, we do not simply embody regularities around us, but we have the capacity to take in disorder and order it along the way. A rock will heat and cool, becoming what it is because of its environment. A rock cannot open to some things and close to others. Persons have a limited capacity to open to the world, or to close off from it. In being open to the world, internalizing disorder and ordering it in understanding, we create structures of thought. We build systems of explanation. We understand. This is the work behind being able to answer any question that begins with “Why…?” We offer this fruit to the following generations. This is wisdom. This is a product of conscience. To discover effectively we take up and embody what might be called “transcendental logics” or “programs of inquiry.” Some might call them “search routines,” methodological tools for finding things. And by this I do not mean a toothpick or even a shovel, or a notebook and an ear to the ground. I mean a life which grows into the world as it is revealed, a life active in the discovery of the world. This life becomes the catalyst of the world that builds bridges from dust. The goal of this life is that one may say, at the height of his development, “I am a method of discovery.” ii Table of Contents PREFACE:................................................................................................................................................................................. I INTRODUCTION: WHY CONSCIENCE, WHY NOW?.................................................................................................III Book One 1 Conscience, and why we wake..............................................................................................................................................1 2 Conscience, and why we live...............................................................................................................................................50 3 Conscience, and the right time to act.................................................................................................................................82 4 Conscience, and the right thing to do................................................................................................................................ 96 5 Conscience, and the limits of experience......................................................................................................................... 114 Book Two 6 Conscience, and the way of the world..............................................................................................................................160 7 Conscience, and the good life............................................................................................................................................189 8 Conscience, and the good..................................................................................................................................................213 9 Conscience, and the appearance of the good.................................................................................................................. 228 10 Conscience, and the fact of matter................................................................................................................................. 258 Book Three 11 Conscience, and freedom................................................................................................................................................ 288 12 Conscience, and the just life........................................................................................................................................... 308 13 Conscience, and the Constitution...................................................................................................................................336 14 Conscience, and the end of the world............................................................................................................................ 389 15 Conscience, and the beginning of the world................................................................................................................. 422 WORKS CONSULTED:.......................................................................................................................................................469 INDEX:...................................................................................................................................................................................494 NOTES................................................................................................................................................................................... 507 White – Conscience, the mechanism of morality .Introduction: Why conscience, why now? My young friend, let us look within, let us set aside all personal prejudices and see whither our inclinations lead us. – J.J. Rousseau4 It’s a long road from law to justice. – Dar Williams5 1) Picture yourself, chained in a cave… Socrates’ life of conscience is history’s most famous, and it is his example, above all others, which lights our way from the start of our story. Socrates provides the best example of the conscientious life, not only for what he did, but because he talked about it. Socrates felt that people are essentially good. He argued that a person always does what he thinks is the right thing to do, and that when he does the wrong thing, he is simply the victim of bad information. He understood that people do what they do on the basis of what they understand. So, Socrates spent his time asking why people did what they did, so that they could understand to do better the next time. This is a fitting industry for so famous a teacher. After all, the object of learning is not simply the correction of incorrect information. It is the correction of incorrect action. Socrates was especially concerned with what the leaders of society thought were the right things to do. He understood that less powerful people are influenced to do as their leadership does. A good leader does the right things, and influences others to do similarly. A bad leader does the wrong things, and influences others to do similarly. So, bad leadership is especially damaging to society. This means that it is especially iii White – Conscience, the mechanism of morality important that a leader has correct information. Otherwise, he may do the wrong thing; and, shown such an example, lots of other people will do the wrong thing, too. Socrates pointed out that anyone can be a good leader. Socrates himself was a good leader. What made him so good? He understood that anyone could lead by doing the right thing at the right time provided a little wisdom and the opportunity to use it. His mission in life was to lead people to gain the wisdom necessary to pursue these opportunities. He
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Retracing Augustine's Ethics: Lying, Necessity, and the Image Of
    Valparaiso University ValpoScholar Christ College Faculty Publications Christ College (Honors College) 12-1-2016 Retracing Augustine’s Ethics: Lying, Necessity, and the Image of God Matthew Puffer Valparaiso University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/cc_fac_pub Recommended Citation Puffer, M. (2016). "Retracing Augustine’s ethics: Lying, necessity, and the image of God." Journal of Religious Ethics, 44(4), 685–720. https://doi.org/10.1111/jore.12159 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Christ College (Honors College) at ValpoScholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Christ College Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of ValpoScholar. For more information, please contact a ValpoScholar staff member at [email protected]. RETRACING AUGUSTINE’S ETHICS Lying, Necessity, and the Image of God Matthew Puffer ABSTRACT Augustine’s exposition of the image of God in Book 15 of On The Trinity (De Trinitate) sheds light on multiple issues that arise in scholarly interpretations of Augustine’s account of lying. This essay argues against interpretations that pos- it a uniform account of lying in Augustine—with the same constitutive features, and insisting both that it is never necessary to tell a lie and that lying is abso- lutely prohibited. Such interpretations regularly employ intertextual reading strategies that elide distinctions and developments in Augustine’sethicsoflying. Instead, I show how looking at texts written prior and subsequent to the texts usually consulted suggests a trajectory in Augustine’s thought, beginning with an understanding of lies as morally culpable but potentially necessary, and cul- minating in a vision of lying as the fundamental evil and the origin of every sin.
    [Show full text]
  • The "Urgrundrecht'?: Human Dignity, Moral
    IS THE RIGHT TO LIFE OR IS ANOTHER RIGHT THE MOST FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN RIGHT – THE “URGRUNDRECHT”?: HUMAN DIGNITY, MORAL OBLIGATIONS, NATURAL RIGHTS, AND POSITIVE LAW Josef Seifert Abstract: Moral obligations and basic human rights must be distinguished from each other and from positive rights and laws. Ethics and basic human rights rest on human dignity. The right to life is shown to be a natural and “absolute right,” but it is also in a certain sense the absolutely foundational concrete human right (Urgrundrecht) grounded in ontological dignity: all other human rights presuppose necessarily human life while human life has no more fundamental foundation in other goods but constitutes their ground. Other ideas about the most foundational right (such as the habeas corpus) are less foundational for the reason that they are more insignificant, can be suspended, are not immune to emergency states, such that their violation is not under all circumstances a grave violation. Moreover, they presuppose the right to life. These rights also refer only to a small sector of humanity, not applying to babies or comatose patients. The right to life is held by all human beings without exception, it is unrenounceable. For these and many other reasons the right to life is in an important sense the most fundamental right, in accordance with the first point of view for determining which is the most basic human right: Which right refers to the most basic good that is the condition of all others? However, there are two other points of view to determine the most basic right: The second point of view is expressed in the question: “Which human right is the most universal and comprehensive one and includes all others?” This is not true of the right to life which does not say anything about any other right.
    [Show full text]
  • War and Morality
    WAR AND MORALITY Political Science 371, Spring 2019 Portland State University David Kinsella Department of Political Science Office: Urban Center Building, room 650L 503.725.3035 | [email protected] Office Hours: Monday & Wednesday 11:30-12:30 Description When states or other human groupings abandon less primitive means of resolving their conflicts, they resort to war. Although many wars have been terribly bloody and destructive, history provides relatively few examples of wars of total annihilation. Rather, for reasons involving both self-interest and ethical conviction, political leaders and warriors have often observed limits in their resort to war and the conduct of battle. This course examines the historical, moral, and legal foundations of these limits, and their enduring relevance despite ongoing changes in world politics and the transformation of modern warfare. Although we consider alternative perspectives, the course focuses primarily on the just war tradition, major elements of which are reflected in international law governing the legitimate resort to force and proper conduct during wartime. Topics include aggression and self-defense, genocide, humanitarian intervention, nuclear deterrence, noncombatant immunity, terrorism, treatment of prisoners, torture, and prosecution of war crimes. Discussion of these topics is informed by contemporary just war thinking as well as classical political and moral philosophy. Learning Objectives The general objective of this course is to develop the student's capacity to examine and judge
    [Show full text]
  • Doctor Who 4 Ep.18.GOLD.SCW
    DOCTOR WHO 4.18 by Russell T Davies Shooting Script GOLDENROD ??th April 2009 Prep: 23rd February Shoot: 30th March Tale Writer's The Doctor Who 4 Episode 18 SHOOTING SCRIPT 20/03/09 page 1. 1 OMITTED 1 2 FX SHOT. GALLIFREY - DAY 2 FX: LONG FX SHOT, craning up to reveal the mountains of Gallifrey, as Ep.3.12 sc.40. But now transformed; the mountains are burning, a landscape of flame. The valley's a pit of fire, cradling the hulks of broken spaceships. Keep craning up to see, beyond; the Citadel of the Time Lords. The glass dome now cracked and open. CUT TO: 3 INT. CITADEL - DAY 3 FX: DMP WIDE SHOT, an ancient hallway, once beautiful, high vaults of stone & metal. But the roof is now broken, open to the dark orange sky, the edges burning. Bottom of frame, a walkway, along which walk THE NARRATOR, with staff, and 2 TIME LORDS, the latter pair in ceremonial collars. FX: NEW ANGLE, LONG SHOT, the WALKWAY curves round, Narrator & Time Lords now following the curve, heading towards TWO HUGE, CARVED DOORS, already open. A Black Void beyond. Tale CUT TO: 4 INT. BLACK VOID 4 FX: OTHER SIDE OF THE HUGE DOORS, NARRATOR & 2 TIME LORDS striding through. The Time Lords stay by the doors, on guard; lose them, and the doors, as the Narrator walks on. FX: WIDE SHOT of the Black Void - like Superman's Krypton, the courtroom/Phantom Zone scenes - deep black, starkly lit from above. Centre of the Void: a long table, with 5 TIME LORDS in robes Writer's(no collars) seated.
    [Show full text]
  • Altruism, Morality & Social Solidarity Forum
    Altruism, Morality & Social Solidarity Forum A Forum for Scholarship and Newsletter of the AMSS Section of ASA Volume 3, Issue 2 May 2012 What’s so Darned Special about Church Friends? Robert D. Putnam Harvard University One purpose of my recent research (with David E. Campbell) on religion in America1 was to con- firm and, if possible, extend previous research on the correlation of religiosity and altruistic behavior, such as giving, volunteering, and community involvement. It proved straight-forward to show that each of sev- eral dozen measures of good neighborliness was strongly correlated with religious involvement. Continued on page 19... Our Future is Just Beginning Vincent Jeffries, Acting Chairperson California State University, Northridge The beginning of our endeavors has ended. The study of altruism, morality, and social solidarity is now an established section in the American Sociological Association. We will have our first Section Sessions at the 2012 American Sociological Association Meetings in Denver, Colorado, this August. There is a full slate of candidates for the ASA elections this spring, and those chosen will take office at the Meetings. Continued on page 4... The Revival of Russian Sociology and Studies of This Issue: Social Solidarity From the Editor 2 Dmitry Efremenko and Yaroslava Evseeva AMSS Awards 3 Institute of Scientific Information for Social Sciences, Russian Academy of Sciences Scholarly Updates 12 The article was executed in the framework of the research project Social solidarity as a condition of society transformations: Theoretical foundations, Bezila 16 Russian specificity, socio-biological and socio-psychological aspects, supported Dissertation by the Russian foundation for basic research (Project 11-06-00347а).
    [Show full text]
  • Moral Relativism
    City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works Publications and Research New York City College of Technology 2020 The Incoherence of Moral Relativism Carlo Alvaro CUNY New York City College of Technology How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/ny_pubs/583 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] 1 The Incoherence of Moral Relativism Abstract This paper is a response to Park Seungbae’s article, “Defence of Cultural Relativism”. Some of the typical criticisms of moral relativism are the following: moral relativism is erroneously committed to the principle of tolerance, which is a universal principle; there are a number of objective moral rules; a moral relativist must admit that Hitler was right, which is absurd; a moral relativist must deny, in the face of evidence, that moral progress is possible; and, since every individual belongs to multiple cultures at once, the concept of moral relativism is vague. Park argues that such contentions do not affect moral relativism and that the moral relativist may respond that the value of tolerance, Hitler’s actions, and the concept of culture are themselves relative. In what follows, I show that Park’s adroit strategy is unsuccessful. Consequently, moral relativism is incoherent. Keywords: Moral relativism; moral absolutism; objectivity; tolerance; moral progress 2 The Incoherence of Moral Relativism Moral relativism is a meta-ethical theory according to which moral values and duties are relative to a culture and do not exist independently of a culture.
    [Show full text]
  • Chastity As a Virtue
    religions Article Chastity as a Virtue Hwa Yeong Wang College of Confucian Studies and Eastern Philosophy, Sungkyunkwan University, 25-2, Seonggyungwan-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul 03063, Korea; [email protected] Received: 26 April 2020; Accepted: 18 May 2020; Published: 21 May 2020 Abstract: This paper analyzes two philosophers’ views on chastity as a virtue, comparing Song Siyeol, a Korean neo-Confucian philosopher of the east, and David Hume, a Scottish philosopher. Despite the importance in and impact on women’s lives, chastity has been understated in religio-philosophical fields. The two philosophers’ understandings and arguments differ in significant ways and yet share important common aspects. Analyzing the views of Song and Hume helps us better understand and approach the issue of women’s chastity, not only as a historical phenomenon but also in the contemporary world, more fully and deeply. The analysis will provide an alternative way to re-appropriate the concept of chastity as a virtue. Keywords: chastity; Song Siyeol; David Hume; virtue; gender; Korean neo-Confucianism 1. Introduction Chastity, understood as a commitment or disposition to remain innocent of extramarital sexual intercourse, has been considered a virtue among human beings for a long time, not only in traditional societies but in contemporary societies as well.1 The value of chastity has been recognized since very early times and regardless of geographical location; it was an important virtue in ancient Greece and China, for example. This duty of chastity remains widespread in contemporary societies, which, in general, take monogamy as the moral standard regarding intimate human relationships. In a number of countries, the violation of chastity is recognized as unlawful and has consequences within the penal system.2 The virtue of chastity, however, has been discussed one-sidedly and almost always as “female” chastity.
    [Show full text]
  • Cultivating Conscience: How Good Laws Make Good People Lynn A
    Number 38 December 2010 Cultivating Conscience: How Good Laws Make Good People Lynn A. Stout EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ow can we get people to behave themselves? H Experts often assume that humans are selfish creatures who respond only to punishments and rewards, and who can’t be trusted to do a good job or refrain from lying, cheating and stealing unless Recent Issues in Governance Studies given the right “incentives.” Yet “The Age of Leverage” every day we see people behaving (November 2010) ethically and unselfishly—few of “Beyond Additionality in Cap- us mug the elderly or steal the and-Trade Offset Policy” paper from our neighbor's yard, © Fry Design (July 2010) and many of us help strangers. We nevertheless overlook the good aspects of our “The Senate Syndrome” own natures and fixate on the bad things people do and how we can stop them. (June 2010) This focus on bad behavior obscures the reality, and importance, of goodness, leading us to neglect the crucial role our better impulses could play in shaping “Can a Polarized American Party System Be “Healthy”? society. Evidence from behavioral science and experimental gaming (April 2010) demonstrates that unselfish prosocial behavior (sacrificing to follow ethical rules, or to help or avoid harming others) is far more common and important than “Broken Politics” (March 2010) generally recognized. Under the right conditions, the vast majority of people act as if they have a conscience that causes them to act ethically and look out for others’ interests. To view previous papers, visit: www.brookings.edu/governance/Issues- This paper unpacks how these empirical findings can be used to develop a in-Governance-Studies.aspx “Jekyll/Hyde” model of how human behavior shifts predictably from purely selfish to prosocial, depending on certain social cues.
    [Show full text]
  • Modern Moral Conscience
    Modern Moral Conscience Tom O’Shea Forthcoming in International Journal of Philosophical Studies Abstract: This article challenges the individualism and neutrality of modern moral conscience. It looks to the history of the concept to excavate an older tradition that takes conscience to be social and morally responsive, while arguing that dominant contemporary justifications of conscience in terms of integrity are inadequate without reintroducing these social and moral traits. This prompts a rethinking of the nature and value of conscience: first, by demonstrating that a morally-responsive conscience is neither a contradiction in terms nor a political absurdity; second, by suggesting how a morally-responsive conscience can be informed by the social world without being a mere proxy for social power or moribund tradition. 1. The idea of conscience underwent a gradual hollowing out during modernity. Our now- dominant conceptions of conscience have sundered it from both social relationships and ethical truths which outrun each individual’s convictions. We have yet to properly reckon with the implications of this shift towards an egocentric and normatively neutral understanding of conscience. My aim is to excavate an older tradition without these two traits and to ask what we may have lost by leaving it behind. While this will reveal a challenge to modern moral conscience, there remain formidable obstacles to returning to earlier understandings of it. I shall outline a social and normative conception of conscience which learns the lessons of this earlier tradition while showing how it must nevertheless adapt to modern conditions. What then is conscience? Among our oldest moral concepts – recognisable as early as the Greek playwrights of the 5th century BCE – it has long been understood as the self’s awareness of the moral dimension of its conduct (Sorabji 2014, 15).1 Conscience consists in a consciousness of moral demands upon the particular individual in their own specific circumstances rather than a merely abstract knowledge of right and wrong.
    [Show full text]
  • Outstanding Universal Value Standards for Natural World Heritage
    Outstanding Universal Value Standards for Natural World Heritage A Compendium on Standards for inscriptions of Natural Properties on the World Heritage List IUCN Protected Areas Programme - World Heritage Studies About IUCN IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature, helps the world fi nd pragmatic solutions to our most pressing environment and development challenges. IUCN works on biodiversity, climate change, energy, human livelihoods and greening the world economy by supporting scientifi c research, managing fi eld projects all over the world, and bringing governments, NGOs, the UN and companies together to develop policy, laws and best practice. IUCN is the world’s oldest and largest global environmental organization, with more than 1,000 government and NGO members and almost 11,000 volunteer experts in some 160 countries. IUCN’s work is supported by over 1,000 staff in 60 offi ces and hundreds of partners in public, NGO and private sectors around the world. www.iucn.org This study is produced as part of IUCN’s role as advisory body to the UNESCO World Heritage Convention on natural heritage. IUCN Programme on Protected Areas Rue Mauverney 28 CH-1196 Gland Switzerland www.iucn.org/wcpa The designation of geographical entities in this book, and the presentation of the material, do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of IUCN concerning the legal status of any country, territory, or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily refl ect those of IUCN. Published by: IUCN, Gland, Switzerland Copyright: © 2008 International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources Reproduction of this publication for educational or other non-commercial purposes is authorized without prior written permission from the copyright holder provided the source is fully acknowledged.
    [Show full text]
  • ENDER's GAME by Orson Scott Card Chapter 1 -- Third
    ENDER'S GAME by Orson Scott Card Chapter 1 -- Third "I've watched through his eyes, I've listened through his ears, and tell you he's the one. Or at least as close as we're going to get." "That's what you said about the brother." "The brother tested out impossible. For other reasons. Nothing to do with his ability." "Same with the sister. And there are doubts about him. He's too malleable. Too willing to submerge himself in someone else's will." "Not if the other person is his enemy." "So what do we do? Surround him with enemies all the time?" "If we have to." "I thought you said you liked this kid." "If the buggers get him, they'll make me look like his favorite uncle." "All right. We're saving the world, after all. Take him." *** The monitor lady smiled very nicely and tousled his hair and said, "Andrew, I suppose by now you're just absolutely sick of having that horrid monitor. Well, I have good news for you. That monitor is going to come out today. We're going to just take it right out, and it won't hurt a bit." Ender nodded. It was a lie, of course, that it wouldn't hurt a bit. But since adults always said it when it was going to hurt, he could count on that statement as an accurate prediction of the future. Sometimes lies were more dependable than the truth. "So if you'll just come over here, Andrew, just sit right up here on the examining table.
    [Show full text]
  • Escape from Hell
    Escape From Hell by Larry Niven THROUGH ME THE ROAD TO THE CITY OF DESOLATION THROUGH ME THE ROAD TO THE CITY OF SORROWS DIUTERNAL THROUGH ME THE ROAD AMONG THE LOST CREATION JUSTICE MOVED MY GREAT MAKER; GOD ETERNAL WROUGHT ME: THE POWER, AND THE UNSEARCHABLY HIGH WISDOM, AND THE PRIMAL LOVE SUPERNAL NOTHING ERE I WAS MADE WAS MADE TO BE SAVE THINGS ETERNE, AND I ETERNE ABIDE; ALL HOPE ABANDON, YOU THAT GO IN BY ME. Table Of Contents Dramatis Personae Preface Chapter 1 Seventh Circle, Second Round The Wood Of The Suicides Chapter 2 The Tenth Circle Ice Chapter 3 The Vestibule Opportunists Chapter 4 Charon And The Acheron Chapter 5 First Circle Virtuous Pagans Chapter 6 First Circle The Palace Of Minos Chapter 7 Second Circle The Winds Chapter 8 Third Circle The Gluttonous Chapter 9 Fourth Circle The Hoarders And The Wasters Chapter 10 Fifth Circle The Wrathful And The Sullen Chapter 11 Fifth Circle The City Of Dis Chapter 12 Sixth Circle The Heretics Chapter 13 Sixth Circle More Heretics Chapter 14 Seventh Circle, First Round The Violent Chapter 15 Seventh Circle, Third Round The Violent Against God, Nature, And Art Chapter 16 Seventh Circle, Second Round The Violent Wasters Chapter 17 Seventh Circle, Third Round The Violent Against God, Nature, And Art Chapter 18 Seventh Circle, Third Round The Violent Against God, Nature, And Art Part Two The Valley Of Desolation Chapter 19 Seventh Circle, Third Round The Violent Against God, Nature, And Art Part Three The River Chapter 20 Seventh Circle, Third Round The Violent Against God, Nature,
    [Show full text]