SUFFERING

1. SUFFERING A presentation of several different philosophical approaches to the problem of pain and suffering. Philosophies to be discussed: Eudaemonism, Epicureanism, Stoicism, Reactionary Philosophies to German Idealism, Utilitarianism, Analytic, British Empiricism,

2. Eudaemonism • Not a whole philosophical system, only an ethical system • Eudaemonistic: Directed toward happiness; Spiritual directedness toward the good -Eu means good, Daemon means prophetic spirit • One cannot do evil for evil’s sake, act for a supposed good • Plato is first to posit a eudaemonistic ethical system -Knowledge is a virtue that always prevails over pleasure and everything else for the good -Decisions should be made with good/evil in mind because pleasure/pain is bodily ~Decisions based on pleasure arise from ignorance

3. Eudaemonism • Aristotle expands upon eudaemonistic ethics -Final cause of every action is aimed at some good -Happiness is final end of man -Happiness is desired in itself and never for the sake of something else -Happiness: an activity of the soul in accordance with perfect/complete virtue in a whole life complemented by external goods -By including external goods in definition, Aristotle allows pain to be the destroyer of happiness -Virtue for Aristotle is either Moral (the perfection of our appetites, including the will) or Intellectual (perfection of the mind and how we think)

4. Stoicism • Zeno is founder of the Stoics • For Stoics, virtue is freedom from both pain and pleasure -Thus able to retain happiness and virtue even during pain • Stoicism preaches a resignation (apathea) to fate -Fate: the rational principle within all things that determines what is going to happen

5. Epicureans • Epicureus is the founder • Final cause of man is the seeking of pleasure -Peace of soul/mind: absence of pain through a lifetime • Two types of pleasure -Kinetic: actions taken to remove pain ~Natural and Necessary, Natural and Unnecessary, Unnatural and Unnecessary -Static: pleasure in and of itself (the greater of the two) • Highest pleasure is health of the body and peace of soul • Pain is allowable if it will lead to greater pleasure later -Thus prudence is the greatest of man’s virtues

6. British Empiricism • Influences -Nominalism of William of Ockham -Empirical method of Francis Bacon -Hobbesian epistemology and language • Three main philosophers: Locke, Berkeley, Hume • Concern ourselves with David Hume -Lived 1711 – 1776 -Considered culmination of British Empiricism -Ethics is one of empirical skepticism

7. British Empiricism • Empirical skepticism: the discounting of a thing if there is no empirical knowledge -Thus all causality and logical knowledge is denied • Ethics based on pleasure/pain and feeling -Question: how to go from “man is…” to “man ought…” -Answer: individual experience and passions ~The moral quality of all actions is based in emotions from prior experiences • Primary motion is sympathy -Definition: the feeling within us that we must do something for a fellow human -Customs and laws result from sympathy, not universal

8. Reactions to German Idealism • Feuerbach, Schopenhauer, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche • Philosophies were reactions to Hegelian Idealism • We will focus on Arthur Schopenhauer -Lived 1788 – 1860 -Fascinated with the Idealism of Plato -Studied under Fichte -Opponent to Hegel

9. Reactions to German Idealism • Schopenhauer provides the basis for Nietzsche’s philosophy • Ultimate goal of man is to escape from individual existence and limitations on universal will -Through the exercise of the will, we create reality • Assertion of the will over all things -Thus suicide is okay because it shows a stronger will than individual existence • Pain/pleasure are inconsequential unless they affect the will -Will should never be limited -Should not act for pain/pleasure but for assertion of the will

10. Utilitarianism • Three main figures: Bentham, James Mill, and James Stuart Mill • Bentham is considered the father of Utilitarianism -Lived 1748 – 1832 -Pleasure/pain are the only principles by which we should analyze our actions • Hedonistic Calculus -Bentham’s system to determine how one should act -Calculation of how to bring the greatest amount of pleasure with the least amount of pain -No qualitative difference between pleasure/pain -Reduce everything to quantity and mathematics

11. Utilitarianism • The main factors in Bentham’s hedonistic calculus -Intensity: How intense is the pleasure -Duration: How long does the pleasure last -Certainty: Probability pleasure will occur -Propinquity: How far in the future is the pleasure -Fecundity: Probablity this pleasure will lead to other pleasures -Purity: How unmixed with pain is the pleasure -Extent: How many persons are affected by the pleasure • Bentham’s equation: - {N [P(c) (I ´ D)]  +  Nf  [P(c)f  (If´ Df)]}

12. Utilitarianism • John Stuart Mill formerly defines philosophy of Utilitarianism -Utility is the basis of morals • Pleasure for Mill, unlike Bentham, is not all equal -Pleasure/pain has different amounts, not universal -Thus rejects Bentham’s hedonistic calculus • Happiness is the highest good -Man naturally acts for happiness and is attracted to it • Must look at what will bring the greatest pleasure, least pain within society • Criterion of harm: a person is at liberty to pursue whichever of his desires causes no harm to his fellow human beings

13. Analytic Philosophy • Reaction against British and American Idealism • Main philosophers: Bertrand Russell, G. E. Moore, and Ludwig Wittgenstein • Russell considered father of analytic philosophy -Rejects unity of reality ~Everything is separate, no universality of things • Wittgenstein is figurehead -Writes Tractus Logico-Philosophicus • Focus on the Principia Ethica of G. E. Moore (1873 – 1958)

14. Analytic Philosophy • Principia Ethica -Ethics of analytic philosophy • Naturalistic fallacy: attempt to define the good that cannot be -Impossible because trying to apply rationality to the will, passions, and emotions -Thus nothing can be said to be good • One can act out of pleasure/pain because there is no good -Everything needs to be treated individually