Frankfurt, Freedom of the Will and the Concept of a Person

Blog Prompt 21:

What does it mean to be a person, according to Frankfurt? Explain the order of desires, and how they are related to freedom of will.

According to Frankfurt a person may be defined as, anything that has the ability and consciousness to make a choice to do or to not to do something. Not only do they have this power but they also have the want, drive, and motive to be something more than just a choice maker in life. Frankfurt believes that the first-order desire is a desire to make a choice to do something or to not do something. He gives examples and evidence as to how this cannot solely define what a person is. This being because as a society we associate the word ‘person’ with human even though many non-human beings share these same first-order desires with us. In conclusion we can not define a person based on this standard. However if a being has second-order desires then they may be considered a person. According to Frankfurt second-order desires are actions that require a will to reach something better. He states, “It is my view that one essential difference between persons and
other creatures is to be found in the structure of a person’s will. ” in The Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 68, No. 1 (Jan. 14, 1971), pp. 5-20. Frankfurt explains how other creatures may have desires, motives, and make choices but they can not look back on contemplate whether the choices they are making are ones that to represent them as a being. He calls this reflective self-evaluation. Frankfurt goes on to make a point of how not every human is a person. By his standard you must have second-order desires to be a person and to him children don’t have the to have these desires.

David Hume, “The Obviousness of the Truth of Determinism”

Some philosophers assert that one of the consequences of the argument against free will is that we are not responsible for our actions. Would Hume agree?

Humes states, “Our idea, therefore, of necessity and causation arises entirely from the uniformity observable in the operations of nature, where similar objects are constantly conjoined together, and the mind is determined by custom to infer the one from the appearance of the other. These two circumstances form the whole of that necessity, which we ascribe to matter. Beyond the constant conjunction of similar objects, and the consequent inference from one to the other, we have no notion of any necessity or connection.”, which means everything that happens in the world is because an effect of the laws of nature. As humans we have a underlying understanding of the forces of nature. We are accustom to relating these events to our personal characters and actions. However, as a whole humans are all very similar in what we find necessary to us. From past to present we still live in spirit of the same things we did when man kind first started. Hume believes nothing in the course of your life is made up along the way. Everything is a direct effect from your particular variables and the courses of nature around you. This is what Hume calls determinism. Determinism has sparked the question, if human nature is the cause of our thoughts and actions then when we do something that is morally bad we are not responsible. I believe Hume would disagree with the statement that we are not responsible for our actions if determinism is true because he believes in a world where you can both be free and have distinct causes for your behavior. Hume calls this compatibilism.

And if we would explode any forgery in history, we cannot make use of a more convincing argument, than to prove, that the actions ascribed to any person are directly contrary to the course of nature, and that no human motives, in such circumstances, could. ever induce him to such a conduct.

Causal Determinism

What is causal determinism? Would you feel any differently about your life in general—and your actions, thoughts, and feelings, in particular—if determinism were true? Why or why not?

Causal Determinism can be define by one simple statement familiar to our society; “Everything that happens, happens for a reason”. This is causal determinism. This states that everyone and everything in life is in a cause and effect relationship that shapes our actions and livelihood. Basically as humans we have no free will and are completely predictable. If determinism is true it would change my thoughts and feelings on just about everything in my life

MacIntyre: The Storytelling Animal

tell a specific, personal, life experience that illustrates its significance with respect to identity (your identity).

“We live out our lives, both individually and in our relationships with each other, in the light of certain conceptions of a possible shared future, a future in which certain possibilities beckon us forward and others repel us, some seem already foreclosed and others perhaps inevitable. There is no present which is not informed by some image of some future and an image of the future which always presents itself in the form of telos-or of a variety of ends or goals- towards which we are either moving or failing to move in the present. Unpredictability and teleology therefore coexist as part of our lives; like characters in a fictional narrative we do not know what will happen next, but none the less our lives have a certain form which projects itself towards our future.” As stated in ‘The Story Telling Animal’ by Alasdair Macintyre.

In ‘The Story Telling Animal” Macintyre explains his views on defining ones identity. He believes identity is composed of the stories you acquire throughout your narrative of life. These stories are the experiences, tribulations, and achievements you have went through and which define the kind of characteristics you will choose or not choose to represent your character in the narrative. Since we are social animals our narratives are interlocking with others; for example our family or domestic partners can influence our narratives.

In this passage quoted above Macintyre talks about how as a society we are connected to other beings who share the same quest and goals. We all live by a certain set of traditions and standards to work towards these goals. So we have set an expectation of succeeding and failing. Succeeding may look like being honest, lawful, and compassionate to one being or it may mean being wealthy, popular, and beautiful to another. Failing could be not working towards any goal or it could mean not reaching the goal you set for yourself already. There are so many uncontrollable factors that influence our narratives everyday that could completely change our lives but despite the unknown we hold the same values of progression.

A very significant life experience that has shaped my identity in heavy way was when I moved across the country from Sacramento, California to Chicago,Illinois. While growing up in Sacramento I had a lot of friends and partied a lot. I barely graduated high school and was failing in college. After I moved to Chicago my surroundings and the people I spent my time with completely changed and heavily impacted my identity. I wasn’t partying, sleeping in, and being lazy but I was in influenced by the people around me and doing more of what they were doing. I was going back to school and being more productive.

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Memento

In the movie “Memento”, Leonard has a condition effecting his memories by preventing him from creating new ones. He is trying to track down the person who killed his wife. In order to do that he keeps notes, photographs, and tattoos as a form of memories. However, he would call it keeping and recalling back on facts instead of memories. He does not trust his memory or other people’s word. He takes photos of people he meets and keeps a note about them on the back side. He believes memories are treachery and altered by the mind. In the beginning of the movie Lenny has an argument with a friend named Teddy about which is more reliable, memories or notes. Leonard claims it’s more reliable to collect facts, make notes, and draw conclusions. He states “memories are interpretation and not a record”. I agree with Leonard that we must not rely on our memories. He gives a great example about how even police do not rely on eye witness testimony because memory is unreliable. I could not agree with this example more because witnesses often remember details in small bursts and not all at once. For example, when I was in a car accident and the police were asking questions at first I thought I told them everything I remembered. I thought I was telling them accurate information but later on I realized the information was wrong. It was my subconscious creating that idea in my mind because that is what I wanted. Similar to Leonardo and how he created a plan to hunt his wife’s killer. I believe he did this because his subconscious wanted meaning and he felt guilt.
I think Hume would see us all as Leonard. To Hume we are no different and we all share Leonard’s condition. Identity is our words, ideas, and thoughts. Since these things make up our identity and these things are constantly changing. We have no real identity. It is just a perception that our minds rely to the outside world.

Word count: 343

Hume, Of Personal Identity

Blog Prompt 16:

Hume believes that the self is an illusion or a fiction. What is his argument? Do you find it convincing? Why or why not?

“The mind is kind of a theater”, states Hume in Of Personal Identity. He argues that there is so such thing as a “self” and what we believe to be ones “self” is just a theater of experiences, reactions, and feelings that make up the mind. He states that different experiences can shape the different perceptions we concur and all the factors are ever-changing. Hume’s believes the memories we have shapes our sense of self and because our memory can deceive us this can not determine a “self” at all. If by our definition a “self” is a combination of our memories, experiences, ideas, and feelings and none of these things can all exist at the same time that it can not define a self because it is constantly adapting. He thinks all of these factors are just impressions we get from the outside world. Hume states we do not feel or perceive anything when we are asleep or we die so a self can not be real.

I believe Hume’s creates a decent argument for why we a self doesn’t exist however I do have some counterpoints. For one, I do believe a self is possible and I disagree that we are not perceiving feelings, emotions, and experiences when we are asleep. I have had a dream that was vividly real I could hear, see, and move so realistically I thought I was awake. I have felt scared, happy, and even learned things in dreams. I believe that all of the factors Hume mentions like memory, resemblance of experiences in life, and ideas of which we have of something attributes to creating ones self. I disagree that because these factors are constantly changing and not stimulus that there can not determine a self. A self is an ever involving thing. A self is a soul, and a soul has no engraved label. It is something meant to be re-made constantly.

Word Count: 349

Tolstoy “What is Art?”

Tolstoy believes art must be infectious to be presumed as real art and not counterfeit art. He states the three components that make a piece of art infectious are having the feelings of individuality, clearness, and sincerity communicated to the receivers. Real art is held at a standard in which how effective do they fulfill these three conditions. The test of infectiousness is to determine whether the art is a strong one or weak one, hence, it already has been determined that it is a real work of art and not counterfeit. Now whether the feeling of clearness is more evident in one case than individuality or vice versa determines its value of a weak art work or a strong one. There are many possible combinations of deficiencies in these conditions of art but all three of these conditions must be present. You may test the degree of infectiousness in a work of art by observing or feeling how strong these conditions are being transmitted from the artists to the receivers. For example the first condition being individual meaning does the artist express a his or hers own personal experience and if yes, just how effective or evident did you receive this feeling. Individuality is expressed by portraying a sense of your own view that is familiar and connective to viewers but also has not yet been expressed such manner or has been expressed differently. Also know as clearness. The degree of clearness is defined by viewers recognizing a familiar feeling or felt as if they understand the feeling being presented but has never seen it expressive or who has never been able to put a label on that special feeling. Last is sincerity of the artist. This is the most important because if an artist is not expressing these feeling for himself and merely doing it for likeness of the receivers is doesn’t provide a connector between the artist and viewers. I think this is a great way to evaluate the difference between real art and counterfeit art. When evaluating a method to use for determining what is art I think it is important to base your method on the significance of personal opinion. I believe Tolstoy does this by stating one must personally connect with the feelings the artist provides and given everyone is different one may not feel the clearness is one mans work and thus he may in another mans work and this would determine what is art for him.

Tolstoy states in “What is Art”, paragraph (#7) “Art begins when one person, with the object of joining another or others to himself in one and the same feeling, expresses that feeling by certain external indications. To take the simplest example: a boy, having experienced, let us say, fear on encountering a wolf, relates that encounter; and, in order to evoke in others the feeling he has experienced, describes himself, his condition before the encounter, the surroundings, the woods, his own lightheartedness, and then the wolf’s appearance, its movements, the distance between himself and the wolf, etc. All this, if only the boy, when telling the story, again experiences the feelings he had lived through and infects the hearers and compels them to feel what the narrator had experienced is art.”

In this quote Tolstoy explains how art is defined and how it is passed on as infectious. An example of a work of art that fits this definition to me is the song “Puke” by Eminem. I think this is a great example because even if you do not enjoy this piece of art you can not help but feel the hatred the artist carries in his voice while he raps a dis song to his ex-girlfriend. The way he delivers the words in a story like style really draws you into his life and how is he feeling in that moment. When I heard this song for the first time I didn’t know who the artist was talking about but I felt connected to it because I share those same feelings about people I know. Not only did I share these feelings but as I listened to this song I felt a sense of relief as if the weight of those heavy feeling had been lifted just for a second and I could breath a little easier. To me this was a very infectious piece of art.

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Aristotle: Poteics

Aristotle states tragedy is an imitation of only important actions brought upon someone of moral capacity. Tragedy is then expressed through pity and fear in the spectators of the tragedy. According to Aristotle in “Poetics” Part XIV, “Actions capable of this effect must happen between persons who are either friends or enemies or indifferent to one another.” So pity must be relatable to the person it is reaching. Aristotle gives four examples of situations fear and pity can be aroused and I disagree with his premise. The feeling of pity can not be confined to four cases he provides. Aristotle also believes a tragedy must of six parts that determine its quality. First is the plot which is a chain of events. Second is character which speaks to the moral liability of the persons. Third, thought, which influences the actions that determine the characteristics of a person. Fourth is diction which is the expression of words a character brings about. Fifth is song, which is a meaning we all understand but is an expression of words through melody and harmony. Last is spectacle which is the audience in which witnesses and feels this tragedy.

An example of an art form that fits Aristotle definition of Tragedy is the movie “Into the Wild”. In this movie a young man has just graduated from one of the top colleges in the nation and instead of setting out to start a career he takes a different route. The young man, who comes from a wealthy family, decides to leave his future, family, and belonging and set off for a long soul searching journey into the wilderness. He donates all his money to charity and gets rid of all his materialistic belongings. His goal is to find purpose in a life without materialistic possessions. Throughout this film the plot inspires pity in the spectacles because this young man had a very special relationship with his mother and when he set off for the wilderness he didn’t believe in technologies so staying in touch wasn’t apart of the plan. He almost mourns from the memories of her throughout his lonely nights through the wild. In other scenes in the movie you can see the young mans mother missing him as well, so pity is inspired by multiple characters in a cause an effect relationship.

Fear is brought upon by many aspects in this movie. The fear of being in the wild alone, the fear of surviving off earth’s natural resources, fear of being homeless, fear of dying. While fear is being inspired through the plots of this film the young man is not fearful but the exact opposite. He is in the truest form of happiness and acceptance while still instilling fear of his situation to the audiences.

Word Count: 465

Blog Prompt #8

In Plato’s hierarchical scheme of reality he states the purest form of reality is God, the creator. Second he states the people that make things in the image he created. Third is people who imitate those images, for example, artists and videogamers. The film Existenz is from beginning to end a mock of reality. It is a false reality set inside of another false reality. The game Existenz is third removed from reality because it is a copy of a copy of the idea of a physical world.
In our physical world we have many ideas to which something is. For example, a video game. To us a video game is something you play to entertain yourself, however, to the players in the game and the watchers of the movie, it is a reality in which they are experiencing through false stimulation. I call this a false stimulation because according to Plato only real truth can come from the real world and not a world of forms. Which the movie Existenz is simply a form of reality. These players are being falsely stimulated by believing in which the things they see and feel are actually valid. Something is valid if it discovered through the world of truth. Therefore, what these players think and feel are not valid because it is discovered through the world of forms. The game Trancendez is almost to me an escape to the cave, in this case the cave is Existenz. I was completely fooled into believing that Existenz was the actually game they were testing. When really Trancendez was the virtual video game they were actually testing and Existenz was the virtual reality of gamers testing a virtual video game. When it was revealed that the true game was Trancendez it felt as if I just escaped from that cave of the false form of Existenz’s purpose and entered the true reality of the creator, in this case the video game creator. So this would make Trancendez twice removed from reality of Plato’s hierarchical scheme of reality because it is created in an image of its creator. I also believe a lot of these scenes were connected with evil, sin, and non-godly acts relating dirty things with dirty acts in the scenes.

Word Count: 379

Plato, “The Allegory of the Cave.”

In Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, he compares humans as to prisoners of something he calls the physical world. He explains how the physical world is a mere illusions and shackles that do not represent reality. The sun is represented by the fire in Plato’s cave and the shadows that cast on the wall represent the physical world of the prisoners. As to humans, we only know what we have been conditioned to see over the course of “time” by our physical world and our in which our education does not equal our wisdom. As Plato beautifully states in Plato: Allegory of the Cave, P Shorey trans. from Plato: Collected Dialogues, ed. Hamilton and Cairns Random House 1963, Book VII, section 518, “But a sensible man, I said, would remember that there are two distinct disturbances of the eyes arising from two causes, according as the shift is from light to darkness or from darkness to light, and, believing that the same things happens to the soul too, whenever he saw a soul perturbed and unable to discern something, he would not laugh unthinkingly, but would observe whether coming from a brighter life its vision was obscured by unfamiliar darkness, or whether the passage from the deeper dark of ignorance into a more luminous world and the greater brightness had dazzled its vision.” By this Plato is saying that one must not look down on anyone else for lack of understanding something in which might be unfamiliar to their reality. He says don’t laugh at these persons but simply share in the light of wisdom and clarity. In conclusion to Plato’s Allegory of the Cave he believes a divine world is one run by those who know the blessings from a higher understanding of the soul and body. (295)

I believe there is a parallel between Plato’s prisoners and the spectators in a cinema because just as the prisoners have only ever known these shadows and sounds as reality, us as a society, have ever known these false ideals portrayed in movies as our realities. However I believe that the prisoners in Plato’s cave did not have (58) any knowledge of these shadows and sounds being of false reality while I think us as humans have a general knowledge that these ideals portrayed to us can in fact be false realities. However, I think a lot of people do mistake movies for reality. For example, some comedies and documentaries portray other countries besides the United States as very poor and unstructured. We see movies like Slumdog Millionaire and might make the assumption that India’s citizens are robbers and cheats. In the (141) movie it shows a lot of young kids begging and stealing from the tourist. One might assume this is their primary source of income for most citizens if you have never seen any other movie set in India or about India. However, India is known for a lot of things besides the beggars and thieves and I think a lot of people assume these are realities when in fact India is very rich in culture and a number of other (220) things. I think our society does mistake the physical world for reality. We consume ourselves in technologies and unnatural interactions so much that we lost a bit of true reality along the way. Some things we mistake in the physical world for reality is dating online. Online dating is extremely popular. You get to vet your potential partners without ever meeting, seeing, or speaking to them face to face. People who entered into a cyber relationship are completely disconnected from true reality because it is not ones true self. You are providing false realities that you think will attack a partner. Even though you may say you love volleyball and have cats and that all may be true but entering a spiritually and emotional bond with someone cannot be a virtual reality. A virtual reality is not a reality at all. True reality comes from a higher understanding of the soul, mind, and body by accepting the shift of knowledge and complexity of the our souls.

Word Count: 685