Theory Political 2-Introduction 22/01/2008 12:12:00
Political Theory in ACTIONnot interpret but CHANGE Malcolm X edition with forward by daughter Erich Fromm, preface and pages 1-131, 153-169, 199-201 (new edition) older copy has all the right pages and larger font Schools of thought: realists (Freud), idealists (Marx), reformists (Arendt) Misogyny: the hatred of women; Politics and Misogyny (Bob Herbert) Nobody addresses misogyny today in politics Marx: Blame the System Because the system is patriarchal, it needs to be replaced by a new system each according to his abilities, each according to their Freud: needs. Each needs to fulfill their capacity Those with a high EQ (and IQ) need to rule The system which allows violence must be overturned Follow the moneyeconomics determinism, it is at the base off all other decisions, so blame the economic system Retaliatory violence from the oppressed is understandable and legitimate, so must forcibly overthrow the violent ruling class Marx early on challenged the patriarchy and advocated womens rights Blame the Self It is not possible to change the system; Marxs thoughts are just a fairy tale; Thought Nazism a representation of the human nature of aggression; homo homini lupus: man is a wolf to man Passions rule, not reason; aggression rules Liberation from fear or anxiety found in psychoanalysis; dont fight but flea to analysis, Follow the Lust
Education doesn't prepare students for the sexual aggression they will encounter Reformists: Blame the particular situation; Milgram or Arendt It will get better, history will get better With a correct behavioral modification we can lessen the violence, the misogyny, Follow the Context Economic or psychological determinism is not accurate Milgram: Obedience to Authority (book and film), how could they willingly inflict pain on others? Are they twisted brutal sadistic monsters? Arendts banality of evil is what made them shock subject Ordinary people following the will of their culture can become the agents of a destructive process; culture is to blame P. 71: Arendt on Eichmanns trial except for an extraordinary diligence in looking out for his own advancement he had no motives. It was mere thoughtlessness that drove him It is not beyond us to be thoughtful, it is not beyond us to create a world with less violence There are saner cultures
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Malcolm X!
Blame the economic system 22/01/2008 12:12:00
No one emphasized economics before Marx Violence determined by cash nexus Life: (1818-1883) Exiled for revolutionary beliefs to London, in extreme poverty Lost 3 of his children, all under age of 5, due to poverty Wrote in the British museum (at least it was warm there) Buried in the new highgate cemetery; go before 4:30 On tombstone: Philosophers have hitherto only interpreted the world: out purpose is to change it. o The world is unfair, unjust and we must fix it o Equality + freedom, share the wealth! Engles eulogy on p. 199 (258) Just as Darwin discovered the law of organic nature, so Marx discovered the law of human history that man must eat, drink, have shelter and clothing before the rest this is the foundation of the state Now the economic means of production explain the idea, where before it was vice versa Preface: (5) Marxs philosophy represents a protest against the dehumanization of man and the development of Western Industrialization his philosophy is one for the liberation of man, of humanity Revolution involves a transformation of the economy A journey theorist o Religion: orthodox jewish family father sent him to be a lawyer, but decided to study philosophy at the University of Berlin, became a devout atheist religion is nothing but the opium of the people o Marriage: married a gentile and eloped, she had extreme faith in him, o Work: revolted against anything that would make him any money, and he spend his time writing, often alone Work is primary to our thinking, our consciousness Think not in terms of the job or a career, but of a CALLING he responded against all odds to that calling Introduction: From talks about Marxs aim it was that of the spiritual emancipation of man enabling him to find a unity and harmony with his fellow man aim is to restore him to his capacity to relate fully to man
Marxs
Humanist, spiritual liberation / emancipation is his primary concern Connectedness that we feel within is prevented by the capitalistic adolescence of mankind This introduction by Fromm is the best introduction to Marxs humanism, meaning the emancipation of each individual Marxs theory is inclusive: Alienation by an economic barrier separates us we need each other, we need not to be separated. vision is one that focuses on human needs, or constant fixed drives Subsistence Sex Work he alone emphasizes this among all political theorists,
fulfillment in our work Other needs are acquired o Exaggerated egoistic needs, which leads to disparity of wealth Solution: tripartite self in communist society, species-based society Security based on equality Love based on mutual respect Creative, satisfying, socially productive work Diagnosis: protest against inequality Society is inflicted with numerous desires and wants Marx is part of the Hebraic tradition that insists there is something rotten in the world Essence vs. Existence: What we are vs. what we could be Humanity is the essence, it is the soul of itself, it is the best of each of us, it is the best we can be
NEEDS: Social need similar to Platos finger that all feel Fixed and Constant vs. Relative drives/appetites: Relative: (p 11) certain economic institutions produce as a chief incentive, the desire for money just as much economically conditioned as the opposite conditions of money o They are only desires One of the great differences between Marx and his peers is that he doesnt consider capitalism to be a human drive differentiated between fixed drives which exist under all circumstances and relative drives like maximum economic gain We must first deal with human nature in general, and then with human nature modified in each historical epoch. The essence of man is in contrast to his various forms of his historical existence; the differentiation between human nature in general and human nature as modified with each historical period. 23-4 Two types of human drives and appetites: the constant or fixed ones, which are integral parts of human nature verses the relative appetites, which owe their origin to social structures. Example of the need for money created by the capitalistic society inhuman, depraved, unnatural, and imaginary appetites o We become addicted through property o The desire to possess dehumanizes us because there are so many of us who cannot possess, there are walls between those who possess and those who do not 26-7 (3) Love: For Marx, man is characterized by the principle of movement understood as a drive, a creative vitality concept of productivity understood in application to the phenomenon of love Let us assume man to be man (our essence to be known) and his relation to the world to be a (fully social and) human one, then love can only be exchanged for love, trust for trust Rare for a political scientist to be talking about trust, or even love o This antisocial attitude breeds continual distrust We need to move out of this addictive state, and move into a way of consciousness and being that breeds trust
27 continued: If you love without evoking love in return, if you are not able by the manifestation of yourself as a loving person to be a beloved person, then your love is impotent and a misfortune. o We must be socialized into this attitude o We want now & forever is an ability to know what our love is 51-2 The kind of society that Marx wants is one that determines the needs of man, between the true needs of man and the artificially produced needs of man Mans true needs are those whose fulfillment is necessary for his essence. Fundamental distinction between existence and essence 52 False needs are felt as true as his real needs in society The task of the analyst of society is to awaken man so that he can become aware of his false needs and the reality of his true needs. This is possible only when production serves man and capital ceases to create and exploit his false needs. o If our present economic, social, and international arrangements are based on organized lovelessness, then Marxs socialism is a direct protest against this lovelessness. The unalienated man (goal of socialism) is one who does not dominate nature, but one who becomes one with it. o Need for love is important Freud thinks love is lust 55 Marxs concept of socialism Alienation of human self-abolition o Self alienation is when we continually alienate the existence of the self 56 For Marx, socialism meant the social order which permits the return of man to himself, to his essence antagonism between subject and object o Dichotomy between self and existence
Marxs theory of work in history 12:12:00
Natural self/society instinctive need Alienated self/society work becomes alienated Species self/society unalienated labor
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Marvin the dentist: He did not believe in Novocain, he believed in humor American dream, he ends up in New Jersey We become, at some point in our lifes story, unrecognizable to ourselves; this is Marxs idea of the utter tragedy In capitalism we have reached this point in history in which we are so alienated from ourselves We must objectify our essence (pp 25) Objectify is not a good word o Objectification means that you are the subject and the rest of the world is the object; Each of us may objectify our essence, our species being, or we objectify ourselves From each according to his abilities to each according to his need Hilell: If I am not for myself, then who will be for me Marxs concept of the self cannot be understood without the concept of work Why had no other political theorists used work? 45: Labor is the self-expression of man. In this process of genuine activity, man develops himself. It is not only a means to an end, it is an end in itself, the meaningful expression of human energy. It is the perversion of labor by capitalism, that has been distorted in this age. Labor which could be an enjoyment has become a meaningless labor and transformed man into a crippled monstrosity. Marxs concept of labor is a concept of its individuality. o We should have a diversification of labor in order to connect with others Marx believes that specialization of labor (like Plato) makes us detached from others Central theme: transformation from alienated labor to productive free labor
37 Marx on alienation: For Marx, the history of mankind is the increasing development of man, and his increasing alienation. Alienation means for Marx that man does not act as the active agent in his world, but that the world remain alien to him. Alienation is essentially experiencing the world and oneself passively, as the subject separated from the object (pp 25) The essence of idolatry is not that man worships many gods, but that man worships many things. 39: For Marx the concept of alienation is based in the difference between existence and essence he is not what he ought to be. [The process of alienation is expressed in the division of laborthe product of labor is labor that has been turned into an object, this product is the objectification of labor. Labor is alienated because it ceases to be part of the workers nature] 40: In an unalienated work man not only realizes himself as an individual, but as a species-being the development of man leads to an unfolding of his whole humanity he sees his own reflection in a world he has constructed. 41: Marxs aim is not limited to the emancipation of the working class alone, but the emancipation of human beings 43: Alienation in the process of work is inseparably connected with alienation from oneself, ones fellow man, and from nature. A direct consequence of the alienation of man from the product of his labor, from his life activity and from his species life, is that man is alienated from other men. When man confronts himself he also confronts other men Alienation leads to the perversion of all values. 45: The man who has thus become subject to his alienated needs is a mentally and physically dehumanized being The less you are, the less you express your life, the more you have, the greater is your alienated life Man is so consumed by commodities that he becomes one
82/98: What constitutes the alienation of labor? First, (in a capitalistic economy,) that his work is external to the worker, that it is not part of his nature; and that, consequentially, he does not fulfill himself in his work, but denies himself physically exhausted and mentally debased. The worker only feels at home in his leisure, and at his work he feels homeless. It is forced labor, only a means for satisfying other needs. External labor is a labor of self-sacrifice, of mortification.
Marxs diagnosis & remedy for self & system 22/01/2008 12:12:00
Capitalism is the peak of alienation Since the industrial revolution, specialization has taken the extreme Violence is a symptom of massive disconnect When we try to follow Foresters always connect motto, Marx would always blame it on the system Jenny Marx, wife of Carl Marx, wrote such alienation must be seen in a human sense as when the system thwarts the individual self-realization and estranges one from another. Diagnosis: when objectification occurs in a society then we objectify our existence, money corrupts our quest for existence, Objectification is simply the projection of you onto the external world: I should be able to project myself onto you then I should be able to see myself It is just in his work upon the objective world (environment) that man really proves himself as a species-being. This production is his active species life. By means of it nature appears of his work and reality. The object of labor is therefore the objectification of species-life. He no longer reproduces himself merely intellectually, but actively, he sees his own reflection in a world which he himself has constructed. [P. 84 (102) Last paragraph, packet 18-19 and 25] Objectification must occur in all societies, but it will occur in either good or bad forms: You objectify your alienated self in the capitalistic society, You objectify your species self then it is a socialist society Species-life: the real objectivity as a species being Alienated labor is kind of labor you might choose for wrong reasons Alienates & takes away your species life (objective of species being) It disallows you from projecting your species being onto the world o It plunges you into a boring labor, so you cannot be proud of your work; Unhappy In a species society, you will be proud of your imaginative work The connect instead of the disconnect, all part of one another
85 (103) Thus alienated labor turns the species life of man, and also nature as his mental species-property, into an alien being and into a means for his individual existence. It alienates from man his own body A direct consequence of the alienation of man from his product of his labor is that man is alienated from other men and his species-life, meaning that each man is alienated from others and that each man is alienated from human life.
All forms of alienation follow from this one alienation of labor; if we can get one thing work right, then all else will follow People are necessarily engaged in work, and we endeavor to turn that activity into something worthy; o It is work that offers the real challenge Marvin: God doesn't recognize him because of money; it was a kind of work that alienates us an estranges us o Frenzy speedy life is the kind of thing that alienates us in a capitalistic society; we dont have a commonality of needs, a common set of interests If we do away with specialization of labor, we pay a price: the
doctor might not be as skilled as needed Worst form of alienation: Alienated from our spiritual essence, our humanity Marvin realizes he has lost his essence; we want to be recognizable to our god, when that judgment day comes we don't want to think, like Thoreau have I lived my whole life without knowing what my life is? o When we objectify our essence, we will be able to look to our god and say yes, this is my arte, this is me at my best We discover that humanity is an abstraction, that we are all united by it although we cannot point to it; o Answer: point out the ways in which we are alienated 106 (131) Private Property: Just as private property is only the sensuous expression that man is at the same time an objective fact for himself and becomes an alien and non-human object for himself; (private property turns us from a human being to a non human being) the positive supersession of private property i.e. the sensuous appropriation of objective man and of human creations is what we strive for (check) We are either appropriating private property or ourselves All is human relations to the world (learning thinking touching loving) all become renewed, we look for the first time on reality and know that we havent seen it, we havent known it o For the first time we understand what it means to love an enemy; the glimpse of humanity achieved by MLK and Gandhi
We want to create a world that will enable us to love, but society wont let us it will kill us; 107 (132) like Thoreau: Private property has made us so stupid that an object is only ours when we have it. The sense of having replaces all else The suppression of private property is therefore the complete emancipation of all human qualities and senses because they have become human, from the subjective as well as the objective point of view The eye becomes a human eye when its object has become a human, social object. Need and enjoyment have lost their egoistic character, and nature has lost its mere utility by the fact that its utilization has become human utilization. We want to make this life useful for ourselves, distinction between human and animal eye; human will utilize the eye to perceive its environment, it sees something the animal cannot, and that is humanity, it experiences something the animal cannot love o Without vision, the people perish; The human eye perceives differently from the human ear, the object becomes a social object, (137) (check) o Social means a quality of mind, a heightened consciousness, our capacity as human beings to connect with others 108 (133) It is only when objective reality becomes for man in society the human reality that all objects become for him, the objectification of himself. The objects confirm and realize his individuality. Objectification is the centerpiece of himself 108/133 Music: Let us consider the subjective aspect, (he loved Beethoven) the most beautiful music has no meaning for the nonmusical ear The senses of social man are as different from the nonsocial man. Just as we know there is a musical ear and a non-musical ear, so we should know that there is a social ear and a non-social one. [Only when we have this degree of cultivation that we will have a connected society. It is also in the spiritual senses desire loving etc, are connected through humanized nature.]
The needy man, burdened with cares, has no appreciation of the most beautiful spectacle, thus, the objectification of the human essence both theoretically and practically is necessary in order to humanize mans senses and also to create the human senses corresponding to the wealth of human and natural being. 109 The fully constituted society produces man with all his senses
Freuds theory of the Tripartite Self 12:12:00
22/01/2008
New version of the tripartite self: id, ego, super-ego [Personality theory] Differences between Marx and Freud: Two Jewish theorists born in Germanic cultures Both renounce Judaism and all religions, they become atheists Both are intent on becoming lawyers because of their fathers interests, and both become what they think of as scientists Both suffered greatly: Freud had cancer of the mouth, he had to flee Vienna and end up, like Marx, in London They are both convinced of their knowledge truth possessed Both determinists: explain history in terms of a single factor o Marx economy; Freud sex Both have a tripartite theory, and a diagnosis and prescription Diagnosis: based on his individual sessions Remedy: psychoanalysis (he is its founder!) It is a living way of coping with culture and life, Marx not practiced It will lead to some kind of relief up to a point Differences: Tension between realism and idealism Critic of Marx and sets up a theory of realism o He has the advantage to attack Marx by name Marx: this ideal standard must involve a classless society o Freud: this idea is a fairy-tale, it is just an illusion a dangerous illusion (proven by history)
Look to not what should be, but look to what is actually happening o Realism summed up in a single word: Auschwitz Illusion ruled the ghetto ~ Elie Weisel Freud himself was fooled, he didn't really believe that Hitler would come to Austria; and then he was greeted by Austrians hailing him as liberators; Tripartite Theory: Id: unconscious (Eros & Thanatos) Its power is overwhelming because we are not conscious of it o We may begin to tap on it through dream work Extraordinarily original turns it into a science o With time, science will vindicate Freud; This part of the personality has a lot of power because it is unconscious and nothing really may reach it o Moral vision of a self in conflict Spoiled brat of a personality not amenable / accessible to the common realm, it is not concerned with the rules of logic *The lust of aggression is so powerful that it is not content to direct itself only on a particular person, rather it turns the aggression on oneself.* Eros: erotic and lustful desire to dominate another individual Thanatos: that aggression is so consuming that one lusts to dominate the self; death wish Marx can speak as an idealist in sweeping abstract terms, and Freud finds that there is no system and that it is compromised of individuals who want to kill themselves Anecdote: on the subway, saw a girl that I was sure I knew from class, and smiled at her I really grinned, and then she fled! Ego: reason Plato we will be able to create a society of connectedness, because reason can rule o There is no chance for individuals to be transformed into a loving caring society because there is a desire to dominate
When the id is attacked by the ego it is like a giant being attacked by an ant, the cognitive powers are far less powerful than libidinal Reality principle: strives always to reason with the other parts of the personality; It is weak because it if facing 3 superior masters: id, super-ego, and the external world Super-ego: conscience (conscious & super ideal/perfectionism) If it unites with the ego, it can sometimes conquer the id o It is not a happy thing because our conscience makes sad creatures of us all; o People of conscience stood up in the name of the super ego and were the first ones to go to the concentration camps: Jehovas witness stood firm on conscience Ego-ideal: parents initially instill this ideal onto the children, sets up misery and pain because it sets up impossible expectations o Religion is one of these impossible expectations o When the super-ego takes on this kind of force, then it creates exam frenzy and all the rest Freud, the self-professed pessimist, said these expectations are disappointments waiting to happen o We need to make the super ego in tune with reality sublimation and displacement If you follow expectations then work will be displacement o It wont be a calling but a career o It will perhaps also be sublimation because society applauds it But we don't want to work, we are lazy and want to indulge the id Within ourselves we are desperately unhappy The superego is a conscious, a super ideal, it tells us that you don't want to work This is where he nails Marx: we don't enjoy work o Work will rarely follow the pleasure principle o All work is nothing but aggression and the desire to dominate
Work:
Freuds Realism and Pessimism 22/01/2008 12:12:00
p. 20: Introduction,
Id made up of eros (dominate another) and thanatos (death wish) Superego: conscious (21), and super ideal which is perfectionism [He has missed these two parts] o Catastrophe when Hitler entered Austria, and she fled to London P. 4: editors introduction, demands of instinct and the Marx says Marvin is a victim of the system o Idealism of Marx, you can change the system Freud says Marvin is a victim of himself instinct and a desire for sexual dominance is what drives him o Pessimism of Freud, can perhaps change a few individuals thorough intense therapy, but no massive changes possible Cabaret captures the feel of the time: harsh hideous reality, but illusory WW1 Cold War Iraq Pakistan P. 10 People commonly use false standards of measure and they underestimate what is the true value in life. One of my friends was sorry that I had not properly appreciated the true source of religious temperament a peculiar feeling, a sensation of eternity something limitless as if it were oceanic. One may call himself religious on the grounds of this oceanic feeling alone, without accepting any other religion. 12: Oceanic feeling is an indissoluble bond of being one with the world as a whole. o One who sees himself as all being and all being as himself o One feels a warmth and a sense of eternity Lets examine those with this oceanic feeling: 12: What is justified in trying to find a psychoanalytic reason 13: The adults ego cannot have been the same from infancy he must gradually learn to distinguish the world as a result of promptings 15: First step of the introduction of the reality principle, which is to dominate all future development, the ego detaches itself from the external world, initially having thought that the whole world was the self Infantile narcissism: illusion that you are one with the world; illusion of infinite protection (by the father)
o Ages 2-6 learns that the world isnt for infant solace o 17-20: psychoanalysis is like archaeology of the mind 20: The derivation of religious needs from the infants helplessness and the longing for the father is sustained by fear of the superior power of fate. The strongest need of childhood is the need for a fathers protection. Thus the part played by the oceanic feeling is ousted from the foreground. The origin of religious attitude can be traced back to infantile helplessness. The oneness with the universe is another way of disclaiming the danger which the ego recognizes as a threat from the external world. o Religion is a search for maximum security o Big daddy in the sky.
It is painful to think that humans wont be freed from religious thinking Substitutions which diminish the agony 25: What is happiness? Aims at an absence of pain, and for a strong feeling of pleasure. We know happiness only in contrast o Cannot know happiness without knowing unhappiness 3 reasons why unhappiness is more common than happiness (26): o 1) Physical dissolution of our bodies as we age o 2) The external world is always threatening o 3) Own relations to other men The suffering from this last source is worse than the other two, we inflict this pain on one another Attitude towards the third source of unhappiness isnt treated with enough reverence (37) o Just as we know we will die, we know we will hurt another, especially those that we love the most Coping mechanism: isolation, intoxication, suppression Cannot really help us deal with the pain, it is just managing Isolation (37): First coping mechanism o The readiest safeguard is keeping away from other people. o Try to separate ourselves through an exit, but cannot enjoy the wonders of life
Intoxication: o 28: this drowner of cares is dangerous; if you drown yourself in alcohol you can become impaired. Intoxication is an ineffective coping mechanism because it is injurious Displacement/Sublimation: o Release energy elsewhere, that includes sublimation o Displacement becomes when sublimation society approves it o 29: Shifting instincts in such a way that one can heighten the yield of pleasure from work artist creating scientist solving a problem o Work does not convulse our physical being There is no way that work can fulfill our desire to cause pain o Footnote on p 30: Professional activity is a path to happiness if it is freely chosen, the great majority only works under the stress of necessity.
Freuds perspective on love
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Hitler is the perfect proof of Freuds point of view An attack on the idea of love Sublimation: no more than a coping mechanism Work is a form of displacement of energy, it is unsatisfying o For a few, work can be satisfying (like an artist creating) o Even with that satisfaction, it wont fulfill all our desires o It is just a coping mechanism Critique of civilization as a collective superego o Micro = individual self; Macro = group of individuals Work: (p 29-30 including footnotes):
Freud dismisses the idea of art as an effective coping mechanism (31) because it is temporary, mild narcosis Religion is no more than a coping mechanism: Delusional remolding of reality (32) Religions technique is depressing the value of life (id), in a delusional manner, as an intimidation of intelligence, by fixing the people in cyclical infantilism, (36) It is an unconditional submission (bottom of 36); o Have to abandon all critical thinking; no rational empirical evidence; living in a fairy tale God doesn't save those who believe, [religious wars] Love (32, 55-6, 64-5): Sublimation of Love, it is also a coping mechanism Never are we so happy as when we have lost the love object for love.
o We are helpless when we fall in love, and helpless when love is denied us Sexual love provided him a prototype of all happiness, so he searched for others. He made himself a dependent lover to his love object. (56) o The Libidinal self is at the center, sex o We pretend that lust is the byproduct of love but in reality love is the byproduct of lust. (Psychology Today article) People make themselves independent from their objects of desire by transferring their love from the objects to love itself, and dont partake in genital love. St. Francis exploits love for a moment of happiness Not all men are worthy of love. (56-7) o First there is genital love: sex (aggressive, dominating) Problems: 1) Lose your sexual partner o Coping: turn sex into love; a typically religious impulse Problem: 1) demeans love to love everything Not all people are equally worthy of love Civilization becomes a giant superego by setting forth giant moral commands such as Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. o Conflict between id and superego: Not love thy neighbors spouse (65) o Why should we love thy neighbor as thyself? My love is something valuable to me, it imposes duties on me it is an injustice to my loved ones if I put a stranger on par with them. (66) Reject them with the id, but the superego wont let us Religious justification of an absurd doctrine o Not only is this stranger unworthy of my love, but he shows not the slightest sign of love for me. There is a second commandment, Love thine enemies (67) It is utterly absurd We believe it because it makes no sense o Superego specializes in setting up impossible expectations o Desire is to use another to fulfill sexual desires. Homo homini lupus. (69)
[My only problem with this statement is it does a tremendous disservice to wolves.] Theory of human nature (68-9) is the foundation of the rest A primary mutual hostility Nothing else runs so strongly than the nature of man (70-2) The time comes that each of us has to give up his illusions, and that so much pain has been added to his life through mans ill will. (70) Attack on communism: (70-2) Freud as a young idealist considered Marx and was impressed The communists believe that they have found a path to happiness, that private property has corrupted mans nature and it should be abolished. I have no concern with the typical communist economic system, but I am able to recognize that the psychological premises are an untenable illusion. (71) o They have no substance Aggressiveness was not created by property, it reigns almost without limit, already in the nursery. Aggression forms the basis of every form of affection or love among people. o Be cruel, and from cruel comes reality If we do away with personal rights over material wealth, there still remains a period of sexual relationships o He argues for a communal relationship between sexes If we do away with personal rights in favor of material wealth then it will result in fierce struggle and hostility o In the end if you destroy the family, there will be the id the indestructible feature of human nature o We will still have human nature regardless of what we abolish All the massacres of the Jews in the middle ages did not make the world safe enough for their Christian fellows (72) o Idea that in exterminating some, in sopping up the aggression, we will be happy
Goldings Lord of the Flies
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We can apply to art the great theories like Marxism and Freudianism Main theme: The main theme is to trace the defects of society back to the defects of human nature. (204) The Lord of the Flies is the name of the devil, devoted to destruction, hysteria, and panic, but he is not present in any mythical sense. He is the driving force that Freudians call the id. (205) The emergence of this concealed basic wildness Piggy represents the ego and Jack in whom the spark of wildness burns closer to the surface, and Ralph who is the leader of anarchy. (206) Simon confronts the head and fights against the end of innocence, about which Ralph weeps at the end of the book. (207) Simons encounter with the pig head, the devil, the beast is within: He encounters the Lord of the Flies symbol, in a hallucinogenic state (133-4) Im part of you, Im close, close, close Im the reason why things are what they are My poor misguided son, you see you are not wanted; we are going to have fun on this island, or else we shall do you. He said he could not have written this without the Holocaust, which led him to believe that human nature is inherently evil The beast is internal (close, close, close) Boys rescued by a military person, represents the world at war We blame the self and not the system with such a ferocity that it will do in the truth o Killing the messenger; pointing to the way that aggression extinguishes the truth; the self is targeting truth o It sees love and compassion that it wants to exterminate Ego: not just weak, but contemptible Piggy In contrast to Ralph, he is impotent he is very fat First literary example of fat discrimination; fat vs. fair Ego represented as fat, meaning impotent, meaning incapable of affecting his environment Ralph is the superego Step 1:
Jack = id, in a state of hesitation, he is being checked by the id and the superego, checked by the fact that the id is still some qualm or conflict internalized o The first stage in the descent, the pause concept, Jack as the id, his hesitation and revulsion at killing There came a pause only long enough for the boys to understand what the downward sweep would mean. The pig escaped and then they all laughed ashamedly Piggy said you should stick a pig... well why didnt you? Because they could not confront the enormity of spilling blood. Next time there would be no mercy. Only Freud could explain the Holocaust or school shootings o Crushing power of the superego over the id
Step 2: (p. 69) Here Jack Kills, the superego is losing its control over the whole group; the fire goes out and so the end of civilization The contest here is between the id and the superego The twins stood with the pig between them he noticed blood on his hands and he grimaced distastefully (superego telling him that blood represents the breach of civilization). You let the fire go out I cut the pigs throat, he said, and twitched. There was lots of blood, and then they laughed and there was shuddering. Step 3: (113-4) Superego joining in at hunting, and enjoying; playing at killing The superego playing too as the id; He felt that hunting was good after all, the superego collapses As the superego loses its force, it gains enjoyment from the id o Symbiotic relationship between the superego and the id He takes pride in the bloody arm Kill him, kill him the chant rose ritually. Ralph too was trying to get in, the desire to squeeze, to hurt was overmastering (114) Life is ruled over by the pleasure principle, with the id being the force behind it, o Jacks ultimate call to the boys is lets have fun, not Ralph
o Ralph at this points responds to the pleasure principle Step 4: (145-eloquent) Kill the sow without hesitation, and unbridled sexual aggression o Sex and violence fused in this step, the ids instinct is clearly triumphant The hunters followed, wed to her in lust, excited by the drop of blood. Here struck down by the heat, the sow fell Then Jack found the throat and the shot blood spilled out into his hands The boys stood back, then Jack rubbed the stuff over his cheeks, Robert stabilized the thing with a phrase that was received uproariously, Right up her ass. In Coral Island, the heroes are Jack, Ralph, and Peter, who also kill a pig who almost gives itself up to them o Dispense of pirates, and convert cannibals to Christianity o Very different history Valentine was at height of imperialism, Golding was at its end The sow collapsed under them, heavy o There is no suggestion of this pre-Freud; were disconnected with nature because humanity has been dehumanized o Bloodlust is the key for understanding WW1 and 2 This is a realist, pessimistic novel; explains the nature of humans
Step 5: The killing of truth itself, the killing of Simon o Mixture of eros and thanatos The throb and stamp of a single organism here comes Simon trying to tell the truth. o Shifting back between illusion and reality They killed one of their own, the bearer of truth, the truth of realism. From these boys comes the self-destructive thanatos, that will destroy our species. (180-1) They didn't know perhaps that it was Simon (Ralph and Piggy) Now there can be no possible confusion, it was premeditated murder with Piggy, and so the ego is done in for all
Step 6:
Piggy lifted the magic white of the shell Which is better to be a pack of Indians, or to be sensible, like Ralph? A great clamor rose among the savages. Which is better, to have rules and agree, or to hunt and kill? Rocks and stones thrown past him. o The conch represents reason, law, and civilization The conch exploded into a thousand pieces, Piggy had no time to even grunt as the rock hit him his arms and legs twitched like a pig. The sea breathed and suddenly Piggys body was gone. Jack ran forward, saying, Im chief! o There are no more qualms, the tribe advances Step 7: flight and terror of the superego, the id is victorious If only one had time to think, but there was no time. (195) There was no Piggy to talk sense, no assembly, no dignity of the conch. (196) o The superego cannot think sensibly, because no Piggy Savages: Mixture of the superego and the id, the crown, the anchor, and the submachine gun o It certainly was not like the coral island. Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of mans hard, and the fall through the air of the true, wise friend, Piggy. Humanity doesn't represent the species being, that's an illusion, the truth is Piggys death, and the rescue by the warrior
Gilligans critique of Freud & Kohlberg 12:12:00
22/01/2008
Gilligan is an indeterminist a mark of situationalism, about choices Like Malcolm, she is a journey theorist, but unlike Malcolm, she writes in her own voice 2: The different voice I describe is characterized not by gender, but by theme Its primarily through womens voices that I trace its development. The contrast between men and womens voices are used to show a contrast in modes of thought, rather then to represent a difference in sex. Gilligan has been wrongly accused of being an essentialist (meaning a person who has determined how another will think) Not a deterministic theory based on sex or gender Freud concluded that women has different ethically normalcy then men Go to Freud to see what he has to say about women: C & D 59: Women come into opposition to civilization instinctual sublimation o Women forced into the background by the claims of civilization and she develops hostility towards it. C&D 71: Aggressiveness was not created by property already shows itself in the nursery, it is the basis of every relation with the single exception of the mothers relation to the male child. o A mother is only brought unlimited satisfaction by her relation to her son, this is the most perfect, free from aggression, relationship. In the fear of castration, boys form a supreme superego, as a result of not having this fear, girls dont develop a superego o Oedipidal complex: wants to kill his father and have his mother, but recognizes that father will defeat and castrate him a deterministic analysis Because of a lack of a strong superego, females are predisposed to hysteria (given to neurosis); woman is much more easily led to narcissism, vanity, and extreme jealousy o A woman wants to be conquered, but pretends to rebel o Perfect storm for an argument for superiority of men over women evidence, even science
Biology is destiny women are born destined to play a retarded role in civilization, cannot develop the strong superego needed to meet the demands of civilization,
Gilligan refutes Misogyny More on Freud (45-6): Freud rejects this oceanic feeling since he cannot find it in himself.
The argument Freud builds centers on the feeling of ourselves, of our own ego Thus connection, associated by Freud with infantile narcissism, gives way to separation. Consequently, assertion linked to aggression, becomes the basis for relationships. o Freud says that only through disconnection do we find maturity She turns the moral tables on him, because we recognize the virtue of connection, which is maturity, the ability to confront the world; maturity is the ability to connect with others Attack on her previous mentor, Lawrence Kohlberg, who did empirical work Did not study women because they didn't reach a higher stage of moral development 18: women do not reach a high stage of human development result of a morality of rights 19 Kohlberg: 6 stages of psychological and moral growth o 1) obedience 2) conformity 3) sociability where women end Women have an overwhelming urge to be submissive [Human rights does not stress connection, it stresses autonomy] o 4) know your duty 5) assert your rights 6) practice justice Jake (25) Two eleven year old children, a boy and a girl, in 6th grade A man named Heintz deliberates whether or not to steal a drug he cannot afford to save his wife o Jake thinks that Heintz should steal the drug, human life is worth more than money o Amy seems evasive and unsure, he may go to jail and she may get sick, so they should just talk it out (28) She envisions the continuing need for each other o Seeing a world of relationships, she finds the puzzle in the fact that the druggist doesn't respond to the wife The different selves become clearer Jake divides to self, to rest
Amy &
o The self is most important Amy says that relationships determine how much to give others; It depends on how much you love
Gilligans ethic of care vs ethic of rights 12:12:00
22/01/2008
Continued from the last lecture: Amy it depends on the situation 32: Jake hierarchical order, gives way to Amys order, a network of connection. 38: Most striking among these differences is the imagery of violence in Jakes thinking, whereas Amys response is a network of connection and confrontation, of love and loving yourself Argues situationalism, that we are raised in a way to make us o Stress nurture over nature 43: If aggression is tied (as women perceive) to the fracture of human connection, then activities of care make the social world safe. Aggression is no longer an unruly impulse but rather a signal of a fracture of connection, the sign of a failure of relationship. Violence in mens fantasies signifies a problem in making connection. Assertion linked to aggression becomes the basis for relationships. Freud argues for disconnect, Gilligan for connect [p. 46] Do not forget to include violence, and the way in which violence is a part of this, as well as non-violence Gilligan uses individuals to personify her values, Claire represents her ideas Claire represents the ethic of care (51): She is the personification of a journey Heinz Dilemma (54): The druggist had the social responsibility to help. The husband should care for his wife not because of affection, but because she is another human being. 55: its hard for me to think of myself without thinking of others who I give to like a scientist who takes care of the world Goes through a similar growth as Malcolm X Connection: love of the community and of the world o Value of relationships, we are one voice, unity Refuting Kholberg completely (25), successful caring physician, like her mother, is an identity that resolves her crisis o Identity that is caring, but careerist, 57: Heinzs dilemma is a contrast between the wifes needs vs. the chemists greed. She perceives relationships as primary, the interdependendness of peoples lives. Seeing life as dependent on connection, as based on a theory of compassion
o Claire: You have to love someone else, because while you may not like them, you are inseperable from them that other person is part of that giant collection of people you are connected to. A stranger is still a part of that group because they are still a person! Freud mocked this: Love thy enemy? It is absurd! o Countered by Gilligan, loving another is the height of maturity o It is not a sense of infantile narcissism o [you don't have any leadership of that quality, I had martin luteher king. We knew for certain when he said we cant like
Bull OConnor, we must love him that we must love him, for it was a dream] 71: Envisions a life centered on activity and care; the ideal of care is an ideal of relationships; she would go out and buy a root beer float and sit by the bed. o G is trying to present an ethic of care in order to present the maternal spirit and the career in combination Concept of Morality: Female students don't want to hurt others, we have to live together, and emphasize with those in pain, Hope that in morality find a way of solving conflicts in a way that people will not be hurt [65] 149: Activity of thought tied to the activity of care o EQ tied to IQ, intelligent need to act towards others in a caring manner 160: in all of the womens descriptions, identity is defined in a context of a relationship and morality is arising from the experience of connection, morality stems from attachment by yourself there is little sense to do things, like the sound of one hand clapping, it is the collective that is important to me, based on certain guiding principleseverybody belongs to it. You may not like someone, but you have to love them. Its like loving ones hand, it is inseparable from you. Like Plato, sets up an immortal image that creates a super connected community
Hillel: If I am not for myself then who will be for me? If I am only for myself then what am I? Separation is supported by an ethic of rights, an ethic of responsibility gives rise to compassion and care, ethic of rights needs to be balanced with compassion and care [174/5 most important pages in the book!]: We have come to notice the silence of women Yet in the different voice of women lies the truth of an ethic of care, the tied between relationship and responsibility, and the origins of aggression in the failure of connection o and the aggression that has taken over the popular voice id In the different voice of women lies the ethic of care, in the origins of aggression is the indictment of connection While an ethic of justice proceeds from the premise of equality that everyone should be treated the samean ethic of care rests on the premise of non-violencethat no one should be hurt violence is destructive for everyone involved o 1) optimism and idealism through education we can redeem the world; elevate it in terms of IQ and EQ
Gilligan and Mill: reformers for social responsibility 22/01/2008 12:12:00
An ethic of care rests on the premise of non-violence. In the representation of maturity, both the ethic of care and of right (justice) converge in the realization that violence is destructive for everyone involved. [174] Mills autobiography is an excellent example of a struggle with IQ & EQ Complete absence of his mother, My mother knew only how to live life drudging for them she did not possess love. Dedication to Harriet Taylor: She confirmed his instincts of emotions (?), without her input and knowledge of human nature, the Subjections of Women could not be written [221/121?] There is no intellectual difference between men & women [133] o Elected a member of parliament 1865, and insists on womens suffrage and so loses his seat, 50 years womens suffrage o Politics is way behind political movements The trinity: freedom, equality, power [exam] subjection of women The Family The family is a school of despotism. It should be a school of sympathy and quality, of living together in love, without power on one side and obedience on the other (168) The less fit a man is for power, the more he hugs it to himself. He takes pleasure in the agreeable sense of it. (169) It is only as an admission by men, of the corrupting influence of power, for that is the only truth. It is true to those it corrupts, it is less true to the slaves then the slave masters. Arbitrary power that men exercise in society (195) Absolute power corrupts absolutely o In exercising absolute power, they become more enslaved by it
Power: The abuse of power cannot be checked when the power remains, it is not offered to decent men, or cruel men, but to all men. All the selfish worship which exists among mankind derives its nourishment from the relation between men and women. Think of a boy who grows into manhood who thinks that by being born a male he is superior to one half of the human race. she is bound to obey what he says (197) The males suffer too, miserably and wretchedly
Mills On Liberty; enlarging freedom & diversity 22/01/2008 12:12:00
Problem: ruled by the tyranny of the majority Thoughtless conformity Society is an enemy of individuality and rights Freedom needed to develop human nature Homophobia: remedy is the enlargement of freedom and the establishment on a limit of imposing on individual liberty and choice; the sole justification for the limiting of liberty is to prevent harm Connects with the ethic of care over the harm principle Solution: enlargement of liberty (50-51) On Liberty = On Rights; trying to forge an ethic of rights, the grand leading principle to this argument, is the essential importance of human development in its richest diversity. (41) quoting another philosopher o Liberty + Diversity Tribute to Hariet Taylor: great thoughts and noble feelings buried in her grave unrivaled wisdom she had said my whole life is given to the expression of feelings. Book is about civil or social liberty, not political liberty or liberty of the will Human Nature: (87) Human nature is not a machine to be built after a model, but a tree which requires to grow and develop on all sides. Malleability of human nature, forged through a system of education o Absolutely no determinism, as in Marx, writing also in 1859 Struggle between liberty and authority (41) Logical cluster of ideas, focus on EQ, social not political liberties, Key importance of choice, sanctity of moral choice, Truth pursued, in all its diversity
o 78: truth, is a question of the reconciling of opposites, it has to be made by the rough progress of combatants fighting under hostile banners. It is a process, not an end; Must be non-violent 44: concept of the tyranny of the majority, both diagnosis & remedy In political speculation, the tyranny of the majority is now generally concluded to be one of the evils against which society should be on its guard. The tyranny of the majority is when society is the tyrant it can and does issue its own mandates, it practices a social tyranny. It leaves fewer means of escape, perpetuating into the details of life, enslaving the soul itself. o The worst form of tyranny is the kind that enslaves the soul itself 32: Coercion may be employed to make people do what they may not otherwise do, to do harm to others. o Harm = damage to our social interests, needed for long term flourishing of our society and state o I cannot complain that your homosexual conduct harms me if I only do not like it. The danger that threatens human nature is the deficiency of impulses everyone lives under the eye of a hostile and dreaded censorship they have no nature to follow o 88: proper system of education without any feelings of their own now is this state the desirable condition of human nature? 268: Made human by choice: Men are made human by their capacity for good and evil equally. Acutely aware of the many sided-ness of the truth. Not determined by unconscious self, determined by individual choice at any particular moment We can make intelligent choices 44: Protection therefore against the tyranny of the majority is not enough, there needs protection against the tendency of society to impose its ideas on all and compels all individuals to conform to their model.
There is a limit to the legitimate interference of collective opinion with individual independence. To find that limit and maintain it against encroachment is as important as protection against political tyranny. o There must be a limit to what society can do, cries Mill To find that limit is the task Asserting the right of choice, of individuality The limit comes from the examined life Remedy: (48) The object of the essay is to entitle the dealings of society with the individual the sole end for which mankind are warranted, individually or collectively, is self-protection. The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised is to prevent harm to others. His own good is not a sufficient warrant If you are going to impose restrictions on people it must be to prevent harm
56 minutes 1:00 hour! What would Mill do? Second hand smoke is harmful? Nausea caused by watching someone pick their nose is harmful? 48: asking each one of you if an individual is inflicting harm on society, should its liberty be restricted? And when is harm inflicted? o Expand social tolerance in society o Focus on the limits in a society as to whether or not you may impose on an individual to not do harm on another 50-51: Definition of Liberty, from John Stewart Mill & Hariet Taylor It is comprised of first, the inward domain of consciousness, demanding liberty of conscience, liberty of thought, liberty of feeling, absolute freedom of opinion-the liberty of expressing and publishing opinions-is absolutely inseparable from freedom. o Liberty for individuals who care about ideas Elite in psychological terms o Freedom of the press Requires liberty of tastes and of pursuits, freedom to do as we like, without impediment from our fellow creatures so long as what we do does not harm them o The harm principle is stressed, its key o Freedom of religion The liberty within the same limits of combination of individuals, freedom to unite, o Presupposing thought and concern o Freedom of assembly (& petition) The only freedom which deserves the name is that of perusing our own good in our own way so long as we do not attempt to deprive others of theirs or impede others from having it or inflict harm on others. o Presupposes thought and concern Each is the proper guardian of his own health, mankind are greater gainers by suffering each other to live, as seems good to themselves, then by compelling each to live as seems good to the rest.
22/01/2008 12:12:00
22/01/2008 12:12:00