Pojman pg. 31-39 - Summary The Moral Life: an Introductory Reader in Ethics and Literature PDF

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Pojman pg. 31-39 Wednesday, January 16, 2019

12:23 PM

On the Nature and Purpose of Morality - Pojman Definitions • Pollyanna - an excessively cheerful or optimistic person ○ The Pollyanna principle is the tendency for people to remember the pleasant items more accurately than the unpleasant ones • Antithesis - the direct opposite of something or someone else • Dystopia - imagined state or society in which there is great suffering or injustice • Sodomizing - have anal intercourse with (someone) • Atavistic - relating to or characterized by reversion to something ancient or ancestral • Ubiquitous - present, appearing, or found everywhere • Lassitude - state of physical or mental weariness; lack of energy • Poignantly - in a way that evokes a keen sense of sadness or regret • Original Sin - a certain tendency to assert one's ego against God and the social good • "State of Nature" - One in which there are no common ways of life, no laws or moral rules which are enforced; people will follow their own inclinations and perceived interests, tending to be arbitrary, violent, and capricious • Social contract or covenant - there is a ruler and rules are set over us, which we are to obey, since they are enforced by a mighty ruler, the State, the Leviathan • Ameliorate - make (something bad or unsatisfactory) better Notes • This piece is essentially Pojman's reflection on The Lord of the Flies, The Coral Island, and tries to identify the larger purposes of morality • Coral Island ○ Human nature is essentially good • Lord of the Flies ○ Jack throws away humane rules

The theme is an attempt to trace the defects of society back to the defects of human nature ○ The shape of a society must depend on the ethical nature of the individual ○ Simon is the symbol of religious consciousness ○ Only Ralph and Piggy feel guilt at what happened to Simon ○ Piggy asserts his moral right in attempt for his glasses back ○ Roger responds to Piggy's moral reasoning by smashing him with a boulder ○ Lord of the Flies translated from Greek means the devil ○ "Maybe [the beast] is only us." We need no external devil to bring about evil ○ They kill without remorse whoever gets in their way ○ When the Navy rescues them, it symbolizes the fact that the children's world is really only a stage lower than the adult world ○ Golding is trying to place his finger on a defect of human nature original sin - a certain tendency to assert one's ego against God and the social good Why do we need morality? Hobbes's Account ○ Hobbes responded to this question in his book Leviathan (1651) ○ Believed that human beings always act out of perceived self-interest § Seek gratification and avoid harm ○ Two facts: (1) we all basically have equal physical and mental abilities (2) we all want to attain our goals of food, shelter, security, power, wealth = equality of ability to harm and desire to attain our goals, lead to an unstable state ○ "State of Nature" - One in which there are no common ways of life, no laws or moral rules which are enforced; people will follow their own inclinations and perceived interests, tending to be arbitrary, violent, and capricious § Because of this there is no industry, no account of time, no art, literature, society, and continual fear § We can all do better if we compromise - give up some of our natural liberty to do as we please ○ Social contract or covenant - there is a ruler and rules are set over us, which we are to obey, since they are enforced by a mighty ruler, the State, the Leviathan § Only within this contract does morality arise and do justice ○

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Morality is a form of social control By not being in the state of nature, we will be better off in a situation of security and mutual cooperation ○ Hobbes answer: Because without it existence would be an unbearable hell in which life was "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short" The Purposes of Morality 1. To keep society from falling apart 2. To ameliorate human suffering 3. To promote human flourishing 4. To resolve conflicts of interest in just and orderly ways 5. To assign praise and blame, reward the good and punish the guilty ○ Imagine a society where everyone did whatever he or she pleased, disregarding basic moral rules § Society would break down ○ Each purpose emphasizes different moral theories in different ways ○ ○

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