Based on part 1 of David Banach's "The Ethics of Absolute Freedom" Individuality and Freedom, Individuality is a truly depressing state. In fact, he defines it as a trap. It seems that we are stuck inside ourselves without a clue about what anybody else is thinking or feeling. I think we all know people who we think are clueless to a certain extent in some situations. Are former president for example had some famous clueless moments, for example when he arrived in Brazil and said, "Oh, you have black people too." I think we are not quite as alone as Mr.Banach seems to think. The reason that Barack Obama became President was because there was a majority shared feeling that many of the poliicies of the previous administration were terrible, torture being one example and the justification for the Iraq war (all those weapons of mass destruction......not) being another. My point is that I may not be able to know excactly what another person is feeling or thinking all the time, but I am pretty darn sure that I know what some people are thinking about a particular subject because I can feel a shared connection and it's a feeling I trust.
Actually, as human beings, we are not alone. We are part of humanity. There are always other people who have certain points of view and opinions we share. Mr.Banach's idea that we are trapped " in a dark room with no windows " because we can't share feelings and experiences with others is not the kind of individuality I can recognize. The whole idea of friendship is based on having shared feelings. It's true that we can't know everything another person is thinking. That would really be painful and no fun at all. We are not mind readers and we don't want to have our minds read. That would really be a loss of personal freedom.
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Devin, it took me a while but i finally found you on blogspot!
ReplyDeleteAnyways, this was a well thought out post and you suggest original thought I have not yet come up with myself. I'm glad I am able to learn something new.
I liked how you used Barack Obama's presidency as an example of how people share common views and opinions which is proof that we can relate to other human beings, unlike Banach's theory.
I agree that Banach's idea's seem quite depressing and somewhat of a predicament that we have no way of ever completely understand each other the way we may desire to at times.
But you stood your ground and i thing the last sentence of your first paragraph sums up the theme of this blog perfectly.
I was intrigued about you point of us all being apart of humanity. How we all are a part of a bigger and we only really have each other so how can we not form relationships that last? And who would want a relationship with a person identical to themselves?
You did such a great job developing idea's on the aspect of isolated individuals, and I can't wait to hear what more you have to say :)