K ch2; The Moral Equivalent of War
Study Questions
1. "Anhedonia" is what?
2. What was Renouvier's definition of free will?
3. Renouvier said an individual's will could break what?
4. What must one frequently do, according to James, to establish reciprocity in a relationship?
5. "Looking on the bright side," though often not objectively warranted, is nonetheless what?
6. Why did James think most of his contemporaries would not have preferred to "expunge" the Civil War?
7. Readiness for war is the essence of what, according to General Lea?
8. James says he devoutly believes in what, and in a future that has outlawed what?
9. Non-military conscription of our "gilded youth" would do what for them, according to James?
==
Discussion Questions
- Is suffering the rule, not the exception, in the human condition? 43
- Can facing death provide an impetus to live? 46
- Why do you think so many who attempt and fail suicide say they experienced immediate regret for the attempt? 47
- What has believing in free will enabled you to do, that you couldn't or wouldn't have done otherwise?
- Are you ever unsettled by a "psychological upturn"? 51
- Do you consider yourself fully "embodied"? 54
- Do you find anything about war "ideal, sacred, spiritual" etc.?
- Can sports function as a moral equivalent of war, at least to the extent of channeling our martial imupulses into benign forms of expression on playing fields, in harmless competition? Or do sports intensify and exacerbate the aggressive side of human nature?
- Are most politicians "pliant" like McKinley, easily "swept away" by war fever?
- Do we glorify war and millitarism excessively, in this culture?
- "Patriotism no one thinks discreditable" (1284). True? Should we sharply distinguish patriotism from nationalism?
- What do you think of James's references to our "feminism" as a mark of weakness or lack of hardihood? 1285-6
- Instead of an army enlisted "against Nature," do you think we can muster an army in defense of nature and against anthropogenic environmental destruction?
==
The Moral Equivalent of War
by William JamesThis essay, based on a speech delivered at Stanford University in 1906, is the origin of the idea of organized national service. The line of descent runs directly from this address to the depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps to the Peace Corps, VISTA, and AmeriCorps. Though some phrases grate upon modern ears, particularly the assumption that only males can perform such service, several racially-biased comments, and the notion that the main form of service should be viewed as a "warfare against nature," it still sounds a rallying cry for service in the interests of the individual and the nation.
The war against war is going to be no holiday excursion or camping party. The military feelings are too deeply grounded to abdicate their place among our ideals until better substitutes are offered than the glory and shame that come to nations as well as to individuals from the ups and downs of politics and the vicissitudes of trade. There is something highly paradoxical in the modern man's relation to war. Ask all our millions, north and south, whether they would vote now (were such a thing possible) to have our war for the Union expunged from history, and the record of a peaceful transition to the present time substituted for that of its marches and battles, and probably hardly a handful of eccentrics would say yes. Those ancestors, those efforts, those memories and legends, are the most ideal part of what we now own together, a sacred spiritual possession worth more than all the blood poured out. Yet ask those same people whether they would be willing, in cold blood, to start another civil war now to gain another similar possession, and not one man or woman would vote for the proposition. In modern eyes, precious though wars may be they must not be waged solely for the sake of the ideal harvest. Only when forced upon one, is a war now thought permissible... (continues)
==
War
Some reject the very idea of the “morality of war”.[1] Of those, some deny that morality applies at all once the guns strike up; for others, no plausible moral theory could license the exceptional horrors of war. The first group are sometimes called realists. The second group are pacifists. The task of just war theory is to seek a middle path between them: to justify at least some wars, but also to limit them (Ramsey 1961). Although realism undoubtedly has its adherents, few philosophers find it compelling.[2] The real challenge to just war theory comes from pacifism. And we should remember, from the outset, that this challenge is real. The justified war might well be a chimera.
However, this entry explores the middle path between realism and pacifism. It begins by outlining the central substantive divide in contemporary just war theory, before introducing the methodological schisms underpinning that debate. It then discusses the moral evaluation of wars as a whole, and of individual acts within war (traditionally, though somewhat misleadingly, called jus ad bellum and jus in bello respectively)... (continues)
==
==
In recognition of Veterans Day, war poetry... Top 10 War Poems... Poems Against War... Teddy Roosevelt on "The Strenuous Life"...
From "My Afternoon with the Postman" by Barbara Kinsolver:
ReplyDelete(Sitting in an art museum after a "day of cruel reviews" in a corner near a painting of a Postman)
"He made you look like Socrates.
Lonely men mistake kindness for philosophy.
People think genius thrives in tortured isolation.
Lonelier ones can mistake contempt for kindness.
You're suggesting I'm lucky to know the difference...
So I'm asking, was it criticism that did him in?
Critics are flies. They buzz. They vanish, unremembered."
Kingsolver's a terrific novelist, didn't know she also wrote poetry.
DeleteCritics ARE flies.We should all have the courage to like what we like.
1. "Anhedonia" is what?
ReplyDeleteIntelligent people who thought optimism was a sham often experienced a corresponding melancholy termed “anhedonia” or inability to feel pleasure…enduring depression. (Kaag,p. 42) I find it interesting how terms used in psychology have evolved: melancholy, anhedonia, hysteria, depression. Does changing the term used actually improve anything? What is more remarkable is that humans throughout history have common experiences in life which may have had various names over time. Each generation like to think that their situation and feelings are unique but on closer examination, not so much.
4. What must one frequently do, according to James, to establish reciprocity in a relationship?
ReplyDeleteJames could not simply wait on his lover to reciprocate his declaration of love for her, ”He had to will it, work at it, win it.” (Kaag, p57) I can think of a lot of cases where this approach would backfire. Most people don't respond well to someone who is so irrepressible, insistent, and pushy. That is especially true here in the "South".
That sounds a lot like harrasment to me. I think one should indecate interest in a person upfront. If they turn you down you can either try and be friends or move on. Personally I don't think being friends is a good idea. The last thing anyone wants is to be attached to someone romantically when it isn't reciprocated.
DeleteWhy do you think so many who attempt and fail suicide say they experienced immediate regret for the attempt? 47
ReplyDeleteI think that there is a moment in between wanting to die and actually dying that you see the beauty in the life you had. You realize just how much you took for granted, or the people and things you’d miss, or the places you’ll never go, the things you’ll never see, etc. I think there is a mix of the fear of everything you would miss out on, but even more so, a new wave of appreciation and gratefulness for the life you have and almost lost.
That in-between moment is what must account for the enduring appeal of "It's a Wonderful Life"... and it's what Matt Haig was writing about in "Midnight Library"... We don't tend to appreciate what we've got 'til it's nearly gone.
DeleteDo you find anything about war "ideal, sacred, spiritual" etc.?
ReplyDeleteI don’t find there to be anything anywhere near ideal or sacred about war in any manner. I think, at most, in some cases it is necessary, but never even anything more than necessary. I have a slight sense of admiration for someone being able to devote themselves and put their life on the life for a cause that they deem worthy, but I don’t typically find myself supporting our reasons for war.
Me neither. My default position is pacifism, I don't at all resonate to the "war party" instinct that values fighting for its own sake. I've always wondered what my life might have become, if my number had come up during Vietnam. I had to register for selective service, but Jimmy Carter ended the draft shortly thereafter. Guess I'd have become a Canadian. Eh?
DeleteI think people who go into war are trying to be apart of something bigger than themselves. It is a desprite attempt for purpose even if that means dying way too young. It is the same reason people join gangs or religious organisations. I think we have to look for this kind of meaning because normal life as a citizen doesn't really point to a purpose quite like these organisations do. I think the solution is to except a life without purpose.
DeleteWhy do you think so many who attempt and fail suicide say they experienced immediate regret for the attempt? 47
ReplyDeleteI think it is because life is more complicated than most people who attempt suicide give it credit for. When a person attempts to end their life I am willing to assume they are opperating under the assumption it will end their pain. Which it will but I don't think they think about everything else that comes with it. Memories, experiences, etc. I think most of us think of an existence without suffering rather than not existing. I think we say "I just don't want to hurt anymore" or "I just don't feel anything" and think we know what we are talking about. But I don't think we really contempate what "nothing" really is until the last minute. Or it could simply be a thrust into the present moment by chemicals in your body and instinct kicks in. Either way I find this concept fasinating.