Tuesday, June 24, 2025

1200: A Survey.....

 I'll not be modest at all today, but I can tell you right from my heart, this will be the most beautiful lecture I've ever delivered....


Today is the day of my 1200th lecture. If all my lectures and discussions were published in print, the book might even be thicker than the bible.

   

At least I have answered the question of the previous lecture for myself: "Why am I here?" So far, I have lived a meaningful life, in particular morally a decent life.

  

That is, what makes the current project so interesting. We are visiting all aspects of a person to establish a clear sight on what is morally good or despicable.

   

On the one hand it seems that we have competing theories of ethics here. Should we stick to this theory or to that theory? But that is not the case.

  

Ok, philosophers analyze every statement meticulously, come up with arguments and counter-arguments. That is good because it makes us see all kinds of implications of our ideas.

   

However, I'd like to look at ethics here from a more psychological perspective and then you see that all diffetrent theories of ethics focus on the same subject: homo sapiens and his behavior.

  

He is not a jigsaw puzzle of many pieces but just one and whole person, and when you look at him that way, you'll learn that all these apparently different theories of ethics all apply in fact.

  

Utilitarianism focuses on the pain/pleasure feature of the organism, a feature we have in common with all living organisms. 

  

For all of them, that is what drives their actions. There is no control except in homo sapiens. He KNOWS what he is doing and that has consequences.

   

He knows that he OUGHT to do certain things. It is a feeling of duty. He knows this because, unlike animals, he has a sense of time, 

  

which means that he can see the consequences of his actions, the traces he left, and what will happen in the future.

    

And so we arrive at Immanuel Kant and his Categorical Imperative. Just imagine that what you do now would be a general law for everyone?

  

This is what makes us different from animals: our rationality and Kant orders us to use that faculty to judge our actions.

   

If we add it up all we have is our basic drives: seek pleasure and avoid pain, but don't do that at all costs. Use your rationality to find the right balance. You are not alone here on this planet, you know.

   

There is just one missing link.... the person himself. I mean, we have the basic drives, the rationality, but these are only features of the person.

   

Who is this person in a moral sense? What should we expect from him or her, and why and how? The Ancient Greeks, in particular Aristotle, already formulated an answer.

   

We'll discuss that in the next lecture. So far, one thing is clear: to define homo sapiens as an ethical being you do not need gods or religion.

   

You only need to understand what drives him, how he should use his rationality, and how he should be as a person. And that we'll discuss in the next lecture: twelfth-hundred and ONE....

   

Thank you for your attention again...


 Main Sources:

MacMillan The Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2nd edition

Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 1995
 http://plato.stanford.edu/contents.htm
Rens Bod:  Waarom ben ik hier? (2024)
Carlo Cipolla: The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity (1976)


TABLE OF CONTENT -----------------------------------------------------------------  


  1 - 100 Philosophers                                              9 May 2009  Start of

  2 - 25+ Women Philosophers                              10 May 2009  this blog

  3 - 25 Adventures in Thinking                               10 May 2009

  4 - Modern Theories of Ethics                              29 Oct  2009

  5 - The Ideal State                                               24 Febr 2010   /   234

  6 - The Mystery of the Brain                                  3 Sept 2010   /   266

  7 - The Utopia of the Free Market                       16 Febr 2012    /   383

  8. - The Aftermath of Neo-liberalism                      5 Sept 2012   /   413

  9. - The Art Not to Be an Egoist                             6 Nov  2012   /   426                        

10  - Non-Western Philosophy                               29 May 2013    /   477

11  -  Why Science is Right                                      2 Sept 2014   /   534      

12  - A Philosopher looks at Atheism                        1 Jan  2015   /   557

13  - EVIL, a philosophical investigation                 17 Apr  2015   /   580                

14  - Existentialism and Free Will                             2 Sept 2015   /   586         

15 - Spinoza                                                             2 Sept 2016   /   615

16 - The Meaning of Life                                        13 Febr 2017   /   637

17 - In Search of  my Self                                        6 Sept 2017   /   670

18 - The 20th Century Revisited                              3 Apr  2018    /   706

19 - The Pessimist                                                  11 Jan 2020    /   819

20 - The Optimist                                                     9 Febr 2020   /   824

21 - Awakening from a Neoliberal Dream                8 Oct  2020   /   872

22 - A World Full of Patterns                                    1 Apr 2021    /   912

23 - The Concept of Freedom                                  8 Jan 2022    /   965

24 - Materialism                                                      7 Sept 2022   /  1011

25 - Historical Materialism                                       5 Oct 2023    /  1088

26 - The Bonobo and the Atheist                             9 Jan 2024    /  1102

27 - Artificial Intelligence                                          9 Feb 2024    /  1108

28 - Why Am I Here                                                 6 Sept 2024   /  1139

 

The Discussion

 

[13:14] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): Thank you Herman

[13:14] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): nice

[13:15] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako):

[13:15] Max Chatnoir: Thanks, Herman!

[13:15] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): YAY! (yay!)

[13:15] 0rd: I am thinking... that morality feeling you said, that we "know" what is right and wrong in the deep of our beings...

[13:15] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): 1200 already, time flies

[13:15] 0rd: what is that?

[13:15] Max Chatnoir: And happy 1200!

[13:15] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): aaah

[13:16] herman Bergson: YEs Ord....good question...

[13:16] 0rd: is that feeling coming from something else than our body?

[13:16] 0rd: how can only our body have that morality feeling for others?

[13:16] herman Bergson: No//it comes from our body....

[13:16] 0rd: doesnt the body care only for its own survival?

[13:16] herman Bergson: simple example.....

[13:17] herman Bergson: we fear death...

[13:17] herman Bergson: so inflictinf death on someone else is counter intuitive

[13:17] herman Bergson: so...do not kill....

[13:17] herman Bergson: is in our body...

[13:17] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ah

[13:18] 0rd: but like, when we are hungry, we kill to eat

[13:18] 0rd: the body tells us to kill

[13:18] 0rd: in tht sutuation

[13:18] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): well we eat meat true

[13:18] herman Bergson: No Ord....

[13:18] herman Bergson: When we have to kill our brother to have food...nirmally we will hesitate...

[13:19] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): cannibalism

[13:19] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): yes

[13:19] 0rd: but like... then it feels there is something else... because, if it was only the body, it is hungry, it kills to eat.

[13:19] herman Bergson: in the extreme case yes Bejiita

[13:19] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): + a close relative

[13:19] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): and so

[13:19] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): aa

[13:19] 0rd: what is this feeling that is creating a conflict with the instincts of the body?

[13:20] herman Bergson: rationality, Ord...

[13:20] 0rd: from where it comes from?

[13:20] herman Bergson: Our faculty to KNOW

[13:20] 0rd: but rationally comes from the body?

[13:20] herman Bergson: That is how our brain funstins

[13:20] Max Chatnoir: Your nervous system is part of the body.

[13:20] 0rd: but isnt rational to make everything to survive then?

[13:21] herman Bergson: No...we are able to choose...

[13:22] 0rd: but why we will chose something that is not the best for the survival of the body?

[13:22] herman Bergson: we aren't like animals...we are able to reflect on our actions

[13:23] 0rd: the reflection could be just a function for the body to better achieve its goals of survival

[13:23] herman Bergson: We do not only think of our own body....we are social animals....

[13:23] 0rd: you mean, there is something else in life than just survival?

[13:23] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): indeed

[13:23] herman Bergson: Yes. there is the survival of the group

[13:23] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): do you eat fastfood Ord?

[13:24] 0rd: i do

[13:24] 0rd: sooemtimes haha

[13:24] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): a burger now and then for sure

[13:24] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): that is not healthy andd for your survival

[13:24] 0rd: that is true

[13:24] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): why do you eat it then?

[13:24] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): what did i hear one say, "notgoodfor you but goot for the tastebuds"

[13:24] 0rd: because my instinct to eat is greater than my reason ?

[13:24] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): and NOT ood for my typing

[13:25] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): wait i havent had any burger today

[13:25] herman Bergson: sorry..but where is this going?

[13:25] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): so you ad pleasure above your survival?

[13:25] herman Bergson: This is not McDonnalds here :-)

[13:25] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): my nightsnacks!

[13:25] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): haha

[13:26] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): i guess so, pleasure can be an override i guess because we chase pleasure

[13:26] 0rd: i mean, if i would follow my reawson only, i would not eat, but my instinc was greater than my reason in that case i guess haha

[13:26] herman Bergson: Well that is the essence of being, Ord

[13:27] 0rd: What i am thinking is... If the only goal of life was survival, morality would not make sense it seems...

[13:27] herman Bergson: on the one hand being an animal and on the other hand being a rational human being....it is your choice

[13:28] 0rd: if the only goal was survival, we would be allowed to do anything to survive

[13:28] 0rd: but then comes this "feeling"

[13:28] bergfrau Apfelbaum: we all have cravings for less healthy things. But in moderation, it's okay and called "life."

[13:28] herman Bergson: And that is the magic of being.....THAT CHOICE

[13:28] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): indeed bergie

[13:28] 0rd: that seems to be greater than even the survival instinct

[13:28] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): (moffles chocolate irl and cant stop moffling!)

[13:28] herman Bergson: Right you are, Bergie :-)))

[13:28] 0rd: this "morality feeling" seems to be something real, that is stronger than all the survial instincts of the body

[13:29] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): it's important that we share , we all want to be alive

[13:29] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): thats one eample that i do now, because i crave the taste

[13:29] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): + know i will dance it away soon anyways

[13:29] Max Chatnoir: My cats sometimes do something odd.  I have a couple of big males and 2 smaller females.  They each have a dish and I feed them all at the same time.  Sometime the littlest female will stick her nose into the dish of one of the males.  If she does that, they back off and let her eat from their dishes.

[13:29] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako):

[13:29] herman Bergson: yes Ord...it is there...in us...

[13:29] 0rd: but i think it cant come from the body only

[13:29] 0rd: because the body wants to survive at all costs

[13:30] 0rd: and the feeling sometimes go against even our survival

[13:30] 0rd: like a mother sacrificing fror their kids for example

[13:30] herman Bergson: Why cant it come from the body only, Ord...there is where the brainis

[13:31] 0rd: but the brain still wants to survive, to make the body survive

[13:31] 0rd: it would be a super complex tool to achieve a best way to survive

[13:31] herman Bergson: ˜I dont get what you are meaning Ord

[13:32] bergfrau Apfelbaum: yor cats know how to behave towards those weaker than themselves, Max :-) very charming

[13:32] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): well id say the brain fights against itself more or less, shortsighted pleasure vs more longsighted things like health ect

[13:32] 0rd: i am just thinking that that morality feeling we all get, cant come from the body, because the body only wants to survive, even the brain is also the body

[13:33] 0rd: but even long term bejiita, the brain could make a super moraly wrong plan to contrl the world to be able to better survive

[13:33] herman Bergson: what else is there than the body, Ord?

[13:33] bergfrau Apfelbaum: that's what our conscience tells us!

[13:33] 0rd: i dont know, it just feels there is something else because of that moral feeling we feel

[13:34] 0rd: it seems logical

[13:34] herman Bergson: yes Bergie

[13:34] 0rd: that there is something else

[13:34] 0rd: because of that freeling

[13:34] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): we are only our bodies but inputs from the outside to our senses, because of our drives

[13:34] 0rd: but them that morality feeling is just an illusion?

[13:34] 0rd: then

[13:35] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): like how my tastebuds are now bombarding me with the wonderful taste of chocolate even i know it is tons of both fat and sugar in it = not healthy

[13:35] herman Bergson: Philosphically an argumet that refers only to.....it feels that....is categorized as  irrational

[13:35] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): but i use to say - moderation

[13:35] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): then u are ok

[13:35] 0rd: but i am thinking with what you said, about we "knowing" that something is bad or good

[13:35] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): unless u eat cyanide, drink benzene or some other right down toxic stuff

[13:36] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): alcohol

[13:36] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): is a good example

[13:36] herman Bergson: yes Ord...we KNOW what is good or bad.....we really KNOW

[13:36] herman Bergson: Murder

[13:36] herman Bergson: theft

[13:36] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): toxic but CAN give pleasure

[13:36] herman Bergson: `rape

[13:36] herman Bergson: and so on

[13:37] 0rd: why is it wrong? what is the objective logically reason for anything at all to be bad or good?

[13:37] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): bad - hurting others, the envoronment or yourself

[13:37] herman Bergson: return to utiliarism, Orb..... pain and pleasure

[13:38] herman Bergson: Why is it wrong or rape a woman.....is that really a question?

[13:38] 0rd: but why causing pain to others is wrong, speaking instrictly in "objective no feeling logical terms" ?

[13:38] 0rd: i am saying there is this strong feeling that it is wrong, it feels wrong

[13:38] 0rd: but from where that comes from

[13:38] 0rd: that is my question

[13:39] 0rd: because purely logically ojbective, only think we are atoms in the empty, why something is bad or good?

[13:39] Max Chatnoir: I think it comes from a lot of discussion from parents, etc, about what you should and shouldn't do.

[13:39] herman Bergson: Well...to get back to Kant....Would you love to suffer pain caused by onther, which goes unpunished?

[13:39] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): instinct + we are leaned from our parents what is good and bad

[13:40] 0rd: but then it goes too "if you had complete power to do anything you wanted without consequences, qould you do it yet?"

[13:40] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): + when u make someone happy vs make someone sad or even worse

[13:40] 0rd: i mean, we are "good" just because of fear of consequences?

[13:40] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): u know that

[13:40] 0rd: is that really being good?

[13:40] Max Chatnoir: absolute power corrupts absolutely.  :-)

[13:40] 0rd: but then there is no real good?

[13:40] 0rd: it is only social convention?

[13:40] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): like our emotional response to happiness = laughter and wanting more vs getting hurt - crying and trying to flee from your actions or whatever it is

[13:41] herman Bergson: In a way Ord...it is our rationality that controls our behavior

[13:41] 0rd: does doing good feels good? tat is my point. For me, it does

[13:41] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): you can be real good for the love of other people

[13:41] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): yes for me too

[13:41] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): aaa

[13:41] Max Chatnoir: Maybe for the cats.  :-)

[13:41] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): beiing good is anexpression of love

[13:41] 0rd: and i think that that feeling does come from the body, it comes from something beyond

[13:41] 0rd: does not come from the body*

[13:42] 0rd: i think love is something that is beyond all the is material and logical

[13:42] 0rd: love does not make sense if we are only separated particles

[13:42] herman Bergson: Well. I am willing to learn whatesle you have than your body, Ord

[13:43] 0rd: i dont know what it is, we can call it anything. I am just seaying that this feeling gives us evidence that we may  be something else than just the body

[13:43] herman Bergson: Hold on....

[13:43] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): like a soul?

[13:43] herman Bergson: To say I don't know and yet utter all kinds of claims is unacceptable rationaly

[13:44] 0rd: yes, but, "soul" is just a word, sometmes it only makes it hard to understand

[13:44] 0rd: but it seems there is something, real

[13:44] herman Bergson: Then you even could claim you came from Mars

[13:44] 0rd: i dont know what it is, but all the evidence implies there is something there, real

[13:45] herman Bergson: Sorry Ord...but that is utter nonsense...

[13:45] 0rd: otherwise, what is morality but an illusion ?

[13:45] herman Bergson: That it is not an illusion I demonstrated in this lecture, Ord

[13:46] 0rd: exactly, because of that "feeling"

[13:46] 0rd: but from where this feeling comes from?

[13:46] Max Chatnoir: I think it is like whatever happens when I learn to play something on the piano.  If I practice enough, I can do it without think about it too much.

[13:46] 0rd: cant come from the body

[13:46] herman Bergson: no....because of our rationality

[13:46] 0rd: but ratioanlly is just a tool for survival also

[13:46] herman Bergson: feelings are the worst advisers in moral issues]

[13:46] 0rd: there is this feeling that i sguiding our rationally to do what is right, what feels right

[13:46] Max Chatnoir: I think our moral feelings are also habits like that.

[13:47] 0rd: but then there is no real moral?

[13:47] herman Bergson: Yes MAx, there is a culture base

[13:47] Max Chatnoir: It's real and it can act to guide our behavior.

[13:48] Max Chatnoir: It's a learned behavior.

[13:48] 0rd: but if it is just social convention, it is just a way for survival, it is not real good, it is just a way for us to survive

[13:48] 0rd: then, all morality would be just social hipocrisy

[13:48] Max Chatnoir: survival is sort of good.

[13:48] herman Bergson: Yes, but take slavery for instance and racism....a culture  base for the....however!11

[13:49] 0rd: but survival only of you, or survial of everyone?

[13:49] Max Chatnoir: If what we do increases the survival of your species, that's a good thing.

[13:49] 0rd: because it helps our own survival?

[13:49] 0rd: then all the bases of morality is just our own survival

[13:49] 0rd: that is not real moral

[13:49] 0rd: it is just a way for us to better achieve our survival then, nothing else

[13:50] 0rd: but i believe there is real moral, that this feeling is real, and that it feels good to do good

[13:50] 0rd: and that it feels bad to do bad

[13:50] Max Chatnoir: But it can be applied to other species as well.  We do consume other species, because we are on the animal side of the life forms and we can't photosynthesize.

[13:51] herman Bergson: I am sorry but waht nmeans "real moral"?

[13:51] 0rd: "real moral" means that do good feels good, and it is not just a mean to achieve an end of survival

[13:52] Max Chatnoir: But we can try to restrict our consumption to whatever is necessary.

[13:52] herman Bergson: and who decides what feels real good by what standards issued by who?

[13:52] 0rd: you dont decide, you just feel

[13:52] 0rd: it is before you think

[13:52] 0rd: it comes from reality

[13:52] 0rd: that is why it is real

[13:52] herman Bergson: creppy way of acting...

[13:53] herman Bergson: sorry...

[13:53] herman Bergson: Before you kill me it just FEELS go to do so ...so do it

[13:53] 0rd: i would not feel good doing bad, that is my pooint

[13:54] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): i guest thats how serial killers might feel

[13:54] 0rd: i think that there is something real that makes us feel right

[13:54] 0rd: that gives us the right feleing of what is right

[13:54] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): but thay have some kind of wrong in their mind

[13:54] 0rd: that feeling is not random

[13:54] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): also rapist

[13:54] herman Bergson: Yes, but where did you get that feeling from....??? from doing bad?

[13:54] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): they get pleasure in hurting and killing others

[13:55] 0rd: that feeling is not random, that feeling is actually coming from reality, and then, i think reality in itself may be go d then

[13:55] herman Bergson: There has to be more to that feeling to conclude what you do is bad?

[13:55] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): a "bug" in the code of their mind i would say byt maybee something even worse

[13:55] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): what i know is noone is born evil

[13:55] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): but we have different personalities and that might be genetical

[13:55] Max Chatnoir: People who are criminals often seem to come from dysfunctional families, so those parental injunctions that produce our sense of right and wrong haven't hit right for them.

[13:55] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): yes

[13:56] 0rd: Or Reality is Good, and morality comes from Reality, that gives us that feeling, or morality is just social hypocrisy

[13:56] herman Bergson: yes Max, unfortunately...

[13:56] 0rd: got to go friends!

[13:56] 0rd:

[13:57] Max Chatnoir: See you soon, Ord.

[13:57] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): cu ord

[13:57] herman Bergson: Well...that was it my friend...lecture 1200 and debate :-)

[13:58] herman Bergson: Thank you all so much...you are agreat class

[13:58] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): aaa yes

[13:58] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): something special for sure

[13:58] herman Bergson: Class dismissed....