Wisdom And Responsibility (Paperback)

WISDOM AND RESPONSIBILITY CONTENTS PREFACE Vii GENERAL OUTLINE 1 INSTINCT AND INTELLECT 8 EVALUATING 20 VALUES 28 THE FINAL ENDS 48 UNDERSTANDING AND EVALUATING 71 QUESTIONS AND QUESTIONINGS 96 LEARNING liy MAN AND HIS FELLOW MEN 149 CONCLUSION iGo INDEX 163 GENERAL OUTLINE THE purpose of arguments is to convince. But even sound arguments fail if the reader is either not able to follow because he does not understand, or not willing to follow be cause he is afraid of the implications which may be involved. Hence it is helpful if he knows early enough what the con clusions of the argument are. It is one thesis of this book that an argument cannot really be understood unless it is seen in its context and in its intent. It will be an application of this thesis if the book starts with a general outline which tries to indicate the scope of the inquiry and even some of its results. In a philosophical inquiry the conclusions are often easier to understand than the argument. Sometimes the results are as simple as to say that there is an external world in existence, or that every effect has its cause. In such cases the argument has more weight than the thesis, because the point is not that the thesis is valid but that it can be doubted and argued. The reader of a philosophical book may sometimes feel inclined to say I believe all the propositions. Why all the arguments about what seems to be self-evident anyway This man is in a position as unfortunate as that other reader who does not understand the propositions. It is even harder to help him. For he lacks the radical doubt from which all philosophical thought springs. In philosophy the argument is as important as the conclusion and may even havevalue if the conclusion is wrong. It is as essential to raise and discuss questions as to answer them. Other sciences are kept going by the results they achieve but philosophy is kept going by discussions. This has been a disappointment to many. While every forward step in science seems to be based on a thorough integration of all former findings this is not necessarily the case in philosophy. There are many avenues to philosophy, and walking on them seems to be what matters, even if you do not get anywhere. Arguments are such walks, and you do not deserve the rest which is given by the final proposition unless you first have had your exercise. Hence, if in this outline some results are given away early, no more is revealed than in a prologue of 2 WISDOM AND RESPONSIBILITY a Greek tragedy. Sign posts do not render the walk superfluous they only make it easier and more pleasant. Human consciousness is filled with convergent or divergent mental activities which may be called its contents. If we isolate a single one of these contents we find it tinged with an appeal or flavor which is its subjective value. When, by way of con templation, the content is converted into an object, this appeal is deducted from it and understood in terms of categories which are called objective values. For example, my fountain pen incorporates a subjective value when I handle it as a use ful tool. When I contemplate it as an object, I deduct from it the category of usefulness and discover the pen as a thing of a certain shape and color and weight. If, however, the usefulness of this thing becomes an isolated object of my meditation I conceive it as an objective value. Money is a valuable thing. The subjectivevalue of money is constituted by its desirability varying from individual to individual. Its shape, color, weight constitute it as an object, and its purchasing power constitutes its objective value. How are subjective and objective values related to each other This question was a point of issue in the dispute be tween Plato and the Sophists and it has not ceased to be a crucial question. As a rule, we are aware of subjective values before we are conscious of their objective counterparts...