Philosophy final
Sovereign
Strictly defined, a sovereign is the voice of the law and the absolute authority within a given state. In Rousseau's time, the sovereign was usually an absolute monarch. In The Social Contract, however, this word is given a new meaning. In a healthy republic, Rousseau defines the sovereign as all the citizens acting collectively. Together, they voice the general will and the laws of the state. The sovereign cannot be represented, divided, or broken up in any way: only all the people speaking collectively can be sovereign.
What question was continually asked in the self-purification process?
"Are you able to accept blows without retaliating?" "Are you able to endure the ordeal of jail?"
What is a just law?
A man-made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God, consistent with "divine law" (this is antigone's argument) -people have opportunity to get a say in their making
Social Contract
A voluntary agreement among individuals to secure their rights and welfare by creating a government and abiding by its rules. -social contract will assure the equal sharing of power, all decisions are made on an equal basis.
1. To what extent, according to Coates, is the American economy built upon a tradition of slavery?
According to Coates, white men stole the bodies of black men over the course of history and the American economy would not have been as good without slavery. Coates states, "At the onset of the Civil War, our stolen bodies were worth four billion dollars, more than all of American industry, all of American railroads, workshops, and factories combined, and the prime product rendered by our stolen bodies-cotton-was America's primary export" (Coates 101). America made a lot of money from exporting cotton and the reason they were able to do this was from slavery, because the slaves traditionally would be the ones to pick this cotton. The American economy owes their wealth to slavery and if they did not steal the bodies of black men the state of the economy would have been completely different.
Inhibited intentionality
Although women may know that they can do a thing, they cannot will their body to do so. women do not confidently approach their possibilities with an "i can" attitude; we withhold our body capacity because we believe that we cannot do things; we begin with "I can" but are merely saying that everyone else can do it except for oneself, so end with "I cannot"; we limit our intentions and our goals because we thing we cannot do things; this is a direct effect of ambiguous transcendence because since we do not have a clear knowledge of what our abilities to transcend are, we tend to narrow our scope and simply think that we cannot do things
"Well, the black man has functioned in the white man's world as a fixed star, as an immovable pillar; and as he moves out of his place, heaven and earth are shaken to their foundations." (9) What does Baldwin mean by these lines?
Baldwin means that the relationship and division between whites and blacks have remained for years now and that relationship is fixed. This relationship and the way that whites view blacks has not changed for a very long time. Fixing this relationship and perception will disturb everything in society. If a Black man stands up to the way he is being treated in society it will shake up everything. Black men should have spoke out about the way they were being treated, because it is not morally right, and change needed to happen.
What is the question of Coates life???
How should one live within a black body in a country lost in a dream ???!
What can Marx, Young, King, Baldwin, and Coates tell us about our own chains?
I think that Marx, Young, King, Baldwin, and Coates can tell us that our own chains will always be their if we remain ignorant and do not question ourselves. We have chains for the things we remain ignorant about because we do not know the real truth. Our chains are the things that we do not know that we do not know, and we are scared to admit we don't know them. I think that the power structures that all of these philosophers are talking about only existed because people just saw them as the way of the world and did not question them. The power structures will always be there without people questioning them and thus practicing philosophy. This can explain how our own personal chains will also always be there if we do not question that we may not know things and may need to question what we think we know. Some examples of our own chains could be insecurities, pride, or ego. Until we can say "I don't know" and admit that to ourselves, we will always remain chained by ignorance and not get true education for ourselves.
In light of our study of various forms of inequality and the power structures that perpetuate them, what do you think the prisoners' chains might represent?
I think the prisoners' chains might represent the radical ignorance that exists from the way things have been for the prisoner's whole lives. The prisoners see life in the cave as the way things are and so they do not know that they do not know that there is more to life than the cave. The prisoners have been in the cave since childhood and this is their reality. The power structure in the cave are the prisoners and the puppet masters who walk around holding the puppets. The puppet masters have the power over the prisoners, because they are the ones who help create the false reality that they live in. The chains will remain on the prisoners until they can admit that the life that they live in is not true reality.
Discontinuous unity
Instead of experiencing their bodies as a unified entity, women will only engage a part of it in certain activities. Ex. failing to involve more than the arm when throwing a ball. the motion in which woman only use part of their bodies is discontinuous; the part of the body that is transcending is disunified with the part that is imminent; feminine motion severs the relationship between aim and enactment, we tend to treat ourselves as a collection of isolated parts and not as a unified whole
What didn't Coates like about school?
It disciplined black children rather than inspire them to grow.
Which laws does Martin Luther King Jr. advocate obeying and which laws does he advocate disobeying?
Obey the just laws.Disobey the unjust laws.
What is King's criticism of the 'white moderate'?
The King's criticism of the 'white moderate' is that they are more devoted to order than to justice. They also prefer negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is what is the presence of justice. The 'white moderate' does not agree with the method of direct action and he says that these people set a "timetable" for black men's freedom. These white moderates always tell the black leaders to "wait for a more convenient season" when they are expressing their problems and concerns about how they are treated, which the King is also very critical about. He is disgusted by this type of behavior of the white moderates.
What is civil disobedience?
The active refusal to obey certain laws, demands and commands of a government, or of an occupying power, without resorting to physical violence.
Common good (Rousseau)
The common good is what is in the best interests of society as a whole. This is what the social contract is meant to achieve, and it is what the general will aims at.
General will
The will of the sovereign that aims at the common good. Each individual has his own particular will that expresses what is best for him. The general will expresses what is best for the state as a whole.
What rules must be observed in granting someone the right of first occupancy of land and to what is every individual's right to property subservient?
There are three rules that must be observed in granting someone the right of first occupancy of land. "In general, the following rules are necessary in order to authorize the right of the first occupant on any land" (Rousseau 168). These rules are that the land cannot belong to anyone else already, you cannot take more land than is necessary, and you must work on the land and cultivate it. Every individual's right to property is subservient to the sovereign and the general will.
How does this model solve the problem Rousseau is trying to solve? "Each of us places his person and all his power in common under the supreme direction of the general will; and as one, we receive each member as an individual part of the whole."
This model solves the problem of the old kind of government in which the monarchy was failing. This model fixes the freedom for citizens that was missing in the old European monarchy. It gives citizens the chance to participate in the government.
Young wrote?
Throwing Like a girl
white people need opposition to blackness in order to...
have their roles of white identity
what does baldwin encourage his son to not accept
the current system of white supremacy
how is one alienated from the process of production
the work does not make him happy, he is working merely in order to survive and becomes a slave to his object; this work is not intrinsic, everything exists outside of him; the work is not voluntary it is forced -"...that in his work, therefore, he does not affirm himself but denies himself, does not feel content but unhappy, does not develop freely his physical and mental energy but mortifies his body and ruins his mind. The worker therefore only feels himself outside his work, and in his work feels outside himself"
power structures
these power structures are viewed as "the way things are" or "the way of the world", only able to do that without questioning and accepting it as unchangeable. the only thing these power structures need to survive is no one questioning them. -only way they will change is of we question them.
how is one alienated form the product of labor
they do not own any of what they make; more of the product you produce, the less of yourself you become; you help create a part of the world, but you do not possess it, so therefore you are becoming more and more alienated from the world -The worker becomes all the poorer the more wealth he produces, the more his production increases in power and size. The worker becomes an even cheaper commodity the more commodities he creates"
what do people sell from themselves
they sell their creative capacties
Species Being (Marx)
things that make us distinct as human beings, what makes us human and gives us our identity
who is baldwin's audience
to his nephew
to whom does the product of one's labor belong
to the property owners, never belongs to the laborer himself
what do the power structures we have learned about depend upon
two, unequal groups who are opposed to each other
King argues the segregation laws are?
unjust and says if you follow these laws you will be preforming or committing an injustice, if that is the case the only thing to do is engage in civil disobedience (protest the law) segregation laws are unjust bc does not assume human sameness
what does baldwin not want his nephew to pay attention to
what white people say about him and what they tell him that he should be
black man as an immovable pillar and as a fixed star overall meaning
white people need black people to behave according to how they tell them to because their identity and society that have constructed depend on it, if they don't, their world would turn upside down and they would lose their sense of identity
Baldwin says some people know that their ______ is flase
white supremacy (they are afraid to question themselves) -baldwin wants people to see the falseness of their superiority
power structure and groups of king, baldwin, and coates
white supremacy; white vs. black
symbolism of the black man as a fixed star
without a fixed star, people wouldn't know where to go, without the enslavement of black peoples, whites wouldn't know what to do
characteristics that distinguish woman from men
women do not make full use of their body's potential, women are not open with their bodies and tend to keep everything close to themselves (take short strides, sit with legs close together, hold things close to your chest), there are not differences in muscular strength also, but we think we are not capable in completing an arduous task so therefore we don't focus our energy right; we do not trust our bodies and tend to approach activities with timidity; we underestimate ourselves
power of worker and owner (Marx)
worker treated as less powerful than the owner -operates like there is a natural difference between owner and worker
how is one alienated from others
you can't relate to others because you do not find meaning from your work; can't relate on the topic of the means of labor; everyone is your competition in this system, you have to work for yourself and only yourself
what happens if you pay attention to what the white people say about you
you destroy yourself and live a miserable life because you truly believe that you don't matter and are inferior
Civil society (Rousseau)
Civil society is the opposite of the state of nature: it is what we enter into when we agree to live in a community. With civil society comes civil freedom and the social contract. By agreeing to live together and look out for one another, we learn to be rational and moral, and to temper our brute instincts.
What is the dream?
Coates says that the dream is a bubble in which white Americans are oblivious to what's going on around them and they look to the American dream
What is Erwin Strauss' theory for why boys and girls throw differently, and what does Young think is wrong with this theory?
Erwin Strauss believes that boys and girls throw differently, because they are made different and there is a difference in their biological makeup. "...the manifestation of a biological, not an acquired, difference" (Young 138). Strauss concludes that a girl that throws does not make any use of lateral space. She does not use any force, speed, or accurate aim to throw. "The girl of five does not makes any use of lateral space" (Young 137). However, the boy takes a stance that allows him to throw with full strength and power. "The ball leaves the hand with considerable acceleration; it moves toward its goal in a long flat curve" (Young 137). This description concludes that the boy can throw better than the girl because of biology. Strauss states "Girls throw in a way different from boys because girls are feminine" (Young 138). Young thinks that Strauss' theory fails to describe the meaning, and implications of the difference between masculine and feminine body comportment and movement. Young also thinks his theory is wrong, because he fails to explain the basis of physical attributes about the difference of the sexes in throwing. -YOUNG THINKS IT IS WRONG BC HE THINKS BOYS AND GIRLS THROW DIFFERENTLY BC GIRLS ARE TAUGHT TO THINK THEIR BODIES ARE NOT CAPABLE AND BOYS ARE TAUGHT TO THINK THEY ARE POWERFUL, HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH BIOLOGY
Marx wrote
Estranged Labour
What do we learn from these thinkers about the nature of human ignorance and how we might overcome it? And what does this tell us about philosophy?
From these thinkers we learn that human ignorance exists because people are afraid to question themselves and question authority. Sometimes it is more comfterable for humans to stay ignorant then to admit that they do not know something. When people do not know that they do not know something it can be hard to admit that they are ignorant. Staying ignorant is more comfterable than admitting that you do not know something. We can overcome our ignorance by understanding that it is okay to not know things and that by admitting that we do not know we will gain true education for ourselves. The feeling of gaining true knowledge once we admit to our ignorance is worth it, because we are no longer living a false reality. This tells us how important the practice of philosophy is to use in our daily lives. We should be able to question ourselves always in order to overcome any radical ignorance we may have. The practice of philosophy helps the world become a better place and helps people gain true knowledge and break out of their chains.
What evidence does King give for the oppression of black people in American society, and what does this tell his readers about the 'lived experience' of black Americans?
He explains how he has seen vicious mobs lynch moms and dads, and how these mobs will drown people of color on a whim. He explains how he has seen the police hurt, injury, and kill people of color that he knew. He has had to explain to his six- year old daughter why she isn't allowed to go to the amusement park that she had seen advertised on T.V. which broke his heart to do. He has had to read the signs every day of his life that say "white" and "colored". He tells his readers that the 'lived experience of black Americans means forever feeling like you are a nobody and never knowing what to expect next. You live in fear and you do not feel accepted in your own society because of all of the injustices that are on you. It is a painful and terrifying way to live and you have inner fears and outer resentments from living this way.
What brought Martin Luther King Jr.'s daughter to tears?
She could not go to the amusement park because it was for whites only.
What is an unjust law?
a code that is out of harmony with the moral law -not all people have the opportunity to make the law, inflicts law on a minority
the categories constructed within these power structures are...
false
Civil Liberty (Rousseau)
fundamental individual right protected by law and expressed as immunity from unwarranted governmental interference, the freedom to think and act without government interference or fear of unfair legal treatment -the freedom to own things
patriarchy (young)
idealized model of masculinity over femininity
What are the two types of laws?
just/unjust
Martin Luther King wrote?
letter from Birmingham jail
Baldwin wrote?
letter to my nephew (My Dungeon Shook)
does this type of work make the worker happy
not at all, he is making a sacrifice doing the work, does it because he has to, NO; they do not feel challenged and are stripped of their creative identities, they only perform work as a mean to survive
what does young say the feminine existence is
our societal and cultural situations throughout history that have defined us
marx's 2 categories
owner and worker
what, in femininity, makes the equal sharing of power and the social contract impossible
patriarchy
power structure and groups of young
patriarchy; men vs. women
3 aspects of the alienation of labor
people, process, yourself and others
what does young mean by feminine existence
she says it is a set of societal structures and conditions which limit the state of being a woman; it therefore is not biological and some women can transcend this situation
what are young's goals for this article
she wants to explain as to why we move the way we do due to our cultural and societal expectations; she is concerned with the movement of the body as a whole in completing a certain task or goal
Rousseau wrote what?
social contract
Rousseau's argument for social contract
social contract made on equal sharing of power-> this will make the greatest number of people happy -social contract means equal sharing of power and political communities need an equal sharing of power.
what is young's argument in the difference between boys and girls and how they throw
-how girls are taught to think-> girls are trained to see their bodies as fragile and gentle -little boys are trained to see their bodies as powerful and strong and experimental and capable. -women are trained to act as if they're not capable even though they know as humans they are
What are the four basic steps to a direct action non-violent campaign? (king)
1. collection of facts 2. negotiation 3. self-purification 4. direct action
Identify a passage in which Baldwin defines what he means by acceptance and integration
Baldwin states "The really terrible thing, old buddy, is that you must accept them. And I mean that very seriously. You must accept them and accept them with love. For these innocent people have no other hope. They are, in effect, still trapped in a history which they do not understand; and until they understand it, they cannot be released from it" (Baldwin 8). In this passage Baldwin is saying that James and that black men and women in general must accept white people, even though they are the ones who do wrong to their people. He is saying that the white people only do this because they are uneducated and influenced by society and history. He is saying to love them and accept them, because they need to be the bigger people and understand they only act the way that they do because they were born into thinking that way. They are not trying to be evil humans on purpose. He wants James to see that love is stronger than hate and hating them is not going to change the dynamic between them.
Why does Coates say parents use violence as discipline?
Because either they can do it or the police can & they feared loosing them to the streets.
Why can't Coates believe in the dream?
Because it is a harsh reality ultimately reminding him that the dream is false
What evidence did Martin Luther King Jr. give to show that they did collect facts?
Birmingham is probably the most thoroughly segregated city in the United States.Its ugly record of brutality is widely known.Negroes have experienced grossly unjust treatment in the courts.There have been more unsolved bombings of Negro homes and churches in Birmingham than in any other city in the nation.
Summarize Rousseau's argument for why nature IS NOT a legitimate source of authority.
Rousseau claims that men are by no means equal by nature. Rosseau claims that no legitimate authority is found in nature. He believes that the authority a father has over a child is the only natural form of authority found in the world. "...the only natural one, is that of the family. Even so, children remain bound to their father only as long as they need him to take care of them" (Rousseau 157). Rousseau also thinks that this authority a father has over a child only exists for the sake of the child.
Summarize Rousseau's argument for why might or force IS NOT a legitimate source of authority.
Rousseau claims that no man has the right to use force as a source of authority. "Since no man has a natural authority over his fellowman, and since force does not give rise to any right, agreements alone therefore remain as the basis of all legitimate authority among men" (Rousseau 159). Rousseau believes that no one man is granted natural authority over other men. If you force someone to follow you then they are not freely choosing to follow you. Therefore, using force is not a legitimate source of authority. "...that one is obliged to obey only legitimate powers" (Rousseau 159). Individuals should not follow those who are using force to try to get authority for themselves, because these people are not legitimate powers.
"To the preceding could be added the acquisition in the civil state of moral liberty, which alone makes man truly master of himself. For to be driven by appetite alone is slavery, and obedience to the law one has prescribed for oneself is liberty." a. What does Rousseau mean by 'moral liberty'?
Rousseau explains moral liberty as a good freedom, in which people's actions show what their own will is. "For to be driven by appetite alone is slavery, and obedience to the law one has prescribed for oneself is liberty" (Rousseau 167). Moral liberty gives people control of themselves and their actions which is a very positive thing.
"Each of us places his person and all his power in common under the supreme direction of the general will; and as one, we receive each member as an individual part of the whole." a. What does Rousseau mean by the general will?
Rousseau means what is for the common good of all of the citizens when he says general will. He is explaining that each individual has their own sense of what is good for them. However, the general will represents a common good of the state and everyone in it as a whole.
a. Why does Rousseau say that being driven by appetite alone is like being enslaved?
Rousseau says being driven by appetite alone is like being enslaved, because he is explaining how one needs the general will too along will individual will. One will still not have true freedom without acknowledging the common good for all of the citizens.
What are the four steps in a non-violent campaign? Describe how each of these was conducted in the demonstration which resulted in King being jailed in Birmingham.
The four steps in a non-violent campaign are collection of the facts to determine whether injustices are alive, negotiation, self-purification, and direct action. These things started to be conducted when they first looked at the injustices being done. Martin Luther King Jr. realized that Birmingham was clearly the most segregated city in the United States. There was police brutality everyone, unequal treatment of people of color, and bombings on black people's homes and churches. These facts made it clear that injustices were alive. Black leaders then tried to negotiate with the city fathers. However, the political leaders would not engage in any sort of negotiation. Then they finally were promised by the merchants that racial signs would be removed from the stores. However, they broke their promise and kept the signs up. Then, the black leaders went through self-purification in which they started having workshops on nonviolence. During Eater time they decided to enact a direct-action plan, but this got postponed because of the March election. This leads to the King being jailed for parading without a permit.
What is a civil liberty?
The nature and limits of the power which can be exercised by society over the individual Civil liberty is limited by the general will, which is the common good of all of the citizens. Civil liberty has to do with the individual rights of citizens.
With this model, who is the ruler or the sovereign? "Each of us places his person and all his power in common under the supreme direction of the general will; and as one, we receive each member as an individual part of the whole."
The ruler or the sovereign is all of the citizens working together. There is no one person controlling everyone else. With this model there would be a new kind of state with a new kind of rule that gives the citizens a say in making choices.
What problem is the social contract designed to solve?
The social contract is designed to solve the problem of the failings of the government during the time of the European monarchy. The social contract explained how to form a new government that would protect the people's rights and bring the people together. "Find a form of association that defends and protects with all common forces the person and goods of each associate, and, by means of which, each one, while uniting with all, nevertheless obeys only himself and remains as free as before" (Rousseau 164). The social contract would give the people the freedom needed to make their own decisions and it would make them involved in the law making.
Will of All
The sum total of each individual's particular will. In a healthy state, the will of all is the same thing as the general will, since each citizen wills the common good. However, in a state where people value their personal interests over the interests of the state, the will of all may differ significantly from the general will.
What does Coates mean by the Dream, and what is wrong with it?
When Coates talks about the Dream he is saying that freedom for America was built on racial inequality. He is saying that white free Americans would not be able to be free without treating blacks with inequality. The white people benefit from having slaves, because they make money for them. This is wrong, because he is saying that the "Dream" cannot happen without racism being present, which we all know is an immoral practice. The people who believe in the American Dream must also believe that racism is fine, and they are doing nothing wrong by getting their own wealth, even when black people are suffering. The Dream represents the truth and reality of what America was at that time and shows the truth about the white people at the time. White Americans got to have the "Dream" for themselves which consisted of obtaining freedom at the expense of treating Black Americans unequally.
State of Nature
When Rousseau talks about the state of nature, he is talking about what human life would be like without the shaping influence of society. So much of what we are is what society makes us, so he suggests that before society existed, we must have been very different. In the state of nature, we are free to do whatever we want, but our desires and impulses are not tempered by reason. We have physical freedom but we lack morality and rationality.
What does King mean when he writes that an unjust law is "difference made legal" and a just law is "sameness made equal"?
When the King writes that an unjust law is "difference made legal" he means that the law is a code that a majority group inflicts on a smaller minority group to follow and that it is not binding on itself. These people do not actually want to follow the law, but they are being forced to do so by the majority group. When the King writes that a just law is "sameness made equal" he means that the law is a code that a majority group compels a minority group to follow, and that the group is willing to follow it on their own. A just law being "sameness made equal" means that the people actually think that it is a good law and they believe in it and therefore want to follow it on their own.
What do we lose when we agree to the social contract?
When we agree to the social contract, we lose natural liberty. "What man loses through the social contract is his natural liberty and an unlimited right to everything that tempts him and that he can acquire" (Rousseau 167). However, Rousseau says that when we lose natural liberty, we will gain civil liberty and the proprietary ownership of everything we possess
What question did Martin Luther King Jr.'s son ask him?
Why do white people treat colored people so mean?
Ambiguous transcendence
Women (because they are people) are transcendent and can thus act upon the world. But, they also experience imminence in that they experience their bodies as simultaneously being acted upon by the world. feminine transcendence will always be overlaid with immanence and existence remains in it, one part of us will always be rooted in immanence; our ability to transcend is unclear because we do not think we have this ability, we are often less able to realize this ability of transcendence we have
what does rousseau, marx, young, coates, baldwin all have in common
all these people are talking about the public questioning of authority -all their categories they talk about are false, creates inequality between all of these different categories, one category given more power always .
three modalities of feminine motility
ambiguous transcendence, inhibited intentionality, discontinuous unity
what is his opinion on the anger a black person may have towards the whites
anger is understandable, but you have to love the people who don't love you
Coates "The Dream"
coates treats whiteness as a Dream, what seems apparent is actually hiding something , keep people from not knowing that they don't know THE DREAM IS THE CHAIN FOR WHITES
Coates wrote?
between the world and me (letter to his son)
symbolism of the black man as an immovable pillar
black man is the foundation for a white mans world, without the pillars, a foundation would collapse
the differing values between men and women are conveyed through our..
bodies and movements
power structure and groups of marx
capitalism; owner vs. worker
Rousseau state of nature
civilization corrupts through social injustice such as the unequal distribution of property "man is born free and everywhere is in chains" -in a state of nature we are free, we do have freedom but not protection, monarchy provides some protection. so the social contract is trying to grant freedom but protect the monarchy too. social contact will secure the right kind of freedom but also have protection
what is alienated labor
derived from two classes of people Marx describes, the property owners and the property less; you have no connection to the products that you are making and you are basically a servant to these objects and to the property owners, joy is no longer derived from working, you are working to live, not living to work; you help create but do not possess, which further makes you estranged two groups: workers and owners
private ownership of means of production
division between the workers and the owners, leads to the alienation of workers, production is no longer a free activity, that worker is producing for someone because he has to, retains nothing of what he actually produces
if you are estranged from work you are...
estranged from yourself because your work is supposed to give meaning to your life
young's 2 categories
masculine and feminine -men have more power than women, power structure relates to physical movement
in the patriarchy, what is perceived as masculine has...
more power
idea of acceptance
realize that hate is part of their history and identity, must accept them even though they don't accept him!! have to accept the reality of white supremacy and find a way to love those people because they are ignorant of their history
what are the two things nature provides to us
sustenance (food, water, shelter) and materials for our work
