Taylor pg. 110-121 - Summary The Moral Life: an Introductory Reader in Ethics and Literature PDF

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Taylor pg 110-121...

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Taylor pg. 110-121 Tuesday, January 22, 2019

7:49 PM

Taylor - On the Origin of Good and Evil Definitions • Conative - having desires and felt needs Notes • Richard Taylor ○ He argues that morality is not transcendental but a naturalistic reality ○ If we had no desires, no values would exist - no good or evil ○ Right and wrong emerge in social situations • Men As Conative Beings ○ Men are conative - they have certain needs, desires, and goals; they pursue ends; they have certain wants and generally go about trying to satisfy them in various ways ○ When men take actions, there is some point to what he is doing, an outcome that he intends ○ THREE POINTS 1) Voluntary or deliberate human activity is generally interpreted as goal-directed □ Men have goals and purposes and wants and desires, and they generally act in ways they consider appropriate to fulfilling them = they are conative beings 2) In speaking of a man's goals or purposes, one need not be referring to some ultimate goal, or even to any that is very important □ The goal could be of only momentary significance 3) Reason appears to enter into men's purposeful activity primarily to devise the means to attain the ends and has little to do with ends themselves □ Example: If you want a bucket filled with water you have to go to the pump, not just wish the bucket to be full or try to bring the pump to the bucket; that won't work

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□ The means he adopts has some promise of succeeding Conation As The Precondition of Good & Evil ○ Many things are man-made like laws and moral customs, but distinctions between good and evil/right are not; therefore making ethics, justice, and morality all relative ○ Suppose this… § Picture a world with nothing and no living beings § Then add inhabitants to this world § Then add some degree of intelligence but no will or interest in what is going on § = there is no good or evil without any type of need, interest, or purpose The Emergence of Good & Evil ○ Suppose this… § An empty world with only one sentient being with feelings, wants, and interests § = things are good that satisfy this being's actual wants, those that frustrate them are bad ○ Two conclusions from this 1) Judgements of this solitary being concerning good and evil are as absolute as any judgement can be □ There is no distinction between what is merely good for him and what is good absolutely - there is no higher standard of goodness 2) Even though good and evil have emerged with a single being in the whole world, no moral obligation has similarly arisen □ Right and wrong has not yet come into the picture ○ Suppose this… § Add one more being with his own feelings, wants, and interests □ No new distinction between good and evil is introduced; it remains as just what it was before □ These beings are not rational, only sentient beings with needs ® They can feel it when their needs are fulfilled, and when they are not The Emergence of Right and Wrong ○ The wills of two purposeful beings can conflict ○ Situations can arise in which each of two such beings needs the help of

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the other in order to attain what it wants ○ Conclusion with multiplicity of beings with needs and purposes - one of two possibilities: 1) Conflict 2) Cooperation Right and Wrong as Relative to Rules ○ Situations of conflict, and particularly, situations of cooperation must be resolved in the context of rules! ○ Rules are not principles set forth in writing, but practices of ways of behaving that are expected The World As It Is ○ The principle of rules are the minimization of conflict and its consequent evil, and the maximization of cooperation and its consequent good ○ Right is simply the adherence to rule, and wrong is violation of it...