3/16/11 class synopsis paper

During class on wensday, we talked about Kant and good will. Kant said to have good will you need to have pure will. Free from outside forces. We brought up Heteronomy vs. Autonomy. Heteronomy is like other law or means to a particular end, an action caused by outside forces. Autonomy is self law, a free agent. The law comes from within me. I give myself the law. We said that good will is the autonomist will. An example of Kant's belief of good will was if you give money to a poor person because of wanting praise for your good deed, it's not virtuous. It has to be good in itself and not for it's consequences. We also brought up categorical imperative vs. Hypothetical imperative. Hypothetical is if you want something, you need to do a certain thing to achieve it. If you get thirsty then you go get a drink. It's a means to a particular end. Categorical is a must. It's an end in itself. It's categorically imperative that you don't kill because you wouldn't think it's ok for everyone else to kill. We talked about The Republic II and how Glaucon radically distrusts everyone. Glaucon tells a story of a man who finds a ring that makes him invisible and even though he's a just man, he will do all of the unjust things he wants because he won't get in trouble. Glaucon believes that the state of nature is that everyones free and that without laws other people will suffer from other people's freedom. If there were no laws, people woudn't be afraid of getting punished for injustice. Glaucon says that the city is built on the idea of radical distrust of radical freedom. The laws are made so people won't have radical freedom. The social contract is radical distrust of freedom. Glaucon said that the unjust person is happier than the just person. We then talked about how Socrates disagrees with Glaucon and believes in radical trust. We aren't complete. We are limited and not free. We become free with others. Trust that others complete you. We talked about how Socrates thought up the ideal city that symbolized the human soul. You made it very clear that the republic II was all about the question of is the just person happier than the unjust person? You brought up an example of marriage contract. Is marriage to complete freedom or limit freedom of spouse? That then brought up the question do laws come about to limit freedom?