The Human Predicament FInal

“not guilty by reason of mental defect" (three categories/criteria)

1. I.Q. < 70

2. Incapable of understanding right from wrong

3. Capable of understanding law, but incapable of conforming

4. Irresistible impulse (temporary insanity)

To what extent are we capable of meaningful change?

1. Reliable information does not change us

2. There is no such thing as a geographical cure

3. People being very straightforward with us also does not work

Be familiar with the definitions of "religion" provided by Randolph Lumpp and William James.

1. "Intensive and comprehensive belief." (Lumpp)

   1. You can't be casually religious; it impacts all areas of your life

2. "Religion is an attempt to live in harmony with an unseen order of things." - William James

   1. God’s Existence > Ultimate Judgement

   2. Free Will > Responsibility

   3. An Afterlife > Ultimate Reward/Punishment

   4. Therefore, Moral Obligations> Why be morally good?

dualism and monism (As they apply to religion and the statement, “I am not religious but I am spiritual.

1. Monism: reality is only physical

2. Dualism: 2 categories of life 

   1. Physical (5 senses)

   2. Non-Physical (6th sense)

3. Spiritual people don’t necessarily believe in a higher power, but they believe that humans are more than just flesh

homo religioisis (Mircea Eliade)

1. We are innately religious; by nature, we are curious about the supernatural

Be familiar with the disagreement on beauty being in the object being observed versus beauty being in the experience of the observer.

1. Moore: Beauty is in the object observed

2. Hume: Objects are not beautiful unless we declare them to be beautiful

criteria for a "classic" - tests of temporality, universality, and authority

1. Temporality: pass the test of time

2. Universality: international appeal

3. Authority: expert opinion

How Pleasure Works, Paul Bloom, and "psychological set"

What you expect to experience contributes to what you experience/value in certain objects

What did Augusten Burroughs write about “never giving up on a dream?”

1. He wrote that some dreams are meant to be given up on

   1. If a dream is unachievable and others continuously encourage you to pursue it, then it can be deemed cruel

"King Gimp" (Dan Keplinger) and His Dream

1. Made art with headband (example of perseverance + not giving up on dreams)

What does it mean for human beings to be referred to as a homo sapiens?

1. Sapien refers to self-awareness + fact we can think

2. Ability to be rational + exercise wisdom (learn, create, experience shame, self-awareness)

justice: distributive, compensatory, and retributive

1. Distributive: fair share of benefit and burden

   1. RE: “a fair share of taxes”

   2. The lunch bill: equal does not equal equatable 

      1. If someone orders two glasses of wine, should they be required to pay more on a lunch bill?

   3. Benefit: Primogeniture and Marx, Rand, and Carnegie 

      1. Recall: Aristotle’s “Principle of the Golden Mean”

2. Compensatory: fair remuneration of services or damages

   1. ensatory Justice

   2. The U.S. President ($450,000); NFL ($750,000); NBA ($1,100,000)

   3. A Civil Action, Jonathan Harr

   4. Roy Brown, Ronald Cotton, and Anthony Broadwater 

   5. Taylor Swift (2023: $1.8 Billion) and Travis Kelsey (2023: $14.7 Million)

3. Retributive: fair punishment for wrongdoing

   1. Ralph Riggs, It Happened in a Little Valley

   2. Capital Punishment

      1. Ted Bundy and Richard Kuklinksi 

      2. 8th Amendment 

      3. Chemical Castration: “Anti-Libidinal Treatment”

   3. Ali Al Kawahir: Medical Paralysis

How does equal differ from equitable?

Equal means that everyone gets the exact same treatment, whereas equitable means everyone gets treatment appropriate to their level of needs that provides everyone the same opportunity

Collectively, what are prudence, temperance, fortitude, and justice?

1. The 4 cardinal virtues

   1. Makes you a good person

What did Sigmund Freud mean by referring to a joke as a controlled parapraxis?

1. We make jokes about things we don't want to talk about, but we have this need to talk about them, so we make jokes about them

2. Controlled parapraxis (parapraxis = freudian slip)

What is the place of "death" in the human predicament?

1. What are the five “afterlife possibilities?”

   1. Annihilation- reduced to nonexistence

   2. Agnosticism- without knowledge

   3. Place of judgement- heaven or hell

   4. Universalism- heaven that everyone gets into

   5. Transmigration of the soul- reincarnation

   6. No afterlife because there is no death; death is an illusion

2. Thanatology

   1. The study of death, dying, + bereavement

3. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross (On Death and Dying)

   1. Denial

   2. Anger

   3. Bargaining 

   4. Depression

   5. Acceptance 

4. Erich Lindemann: The Four Tasks of Mourning

   1. Accept the reality of the loss 

   2. Experience the pain of the loss 

   3. Adjust to a new life 

   4. Reinvest in the new life

5. Staring at the Sun, Irvin Yalom

   1. Never stare at the sun, never stare at death, but benefit more by looking intensely at death

theodicy (theos + dikos)

1. Bertrand Russell ("Why I Am Not a Christian")

   1. Evil + suffering in world prove that god doesn't exist

2. Gottfried Liebniz ("This is the best possible world.")

   1. This is best possible world in long term plan of god's creation but because we don't know what the long term plan is we don't know why there has to be pain + suffering

3. Theos: god

4. Dikos: justice

5. If there is a god and god is benevolent then why is there pain + suffering?

How did Einstein answer the question, “Do scientists pray?”

1. teleological argument

2. Not religious, but is open to possibility of supernatural; it is orderly + predictable (regularity)

Why is it more accurate to speak of "arguments" for the existence of God rather than "proofs" for the existence of God? Also, understand each of the following:

1. Sigmund Freud (The Future of an Illusion)

   1. Belief in god = irrational + mental illness

2. “Intellectually I am an agnostic, emotionally I am an atheist.” (Bertrand Russell)

3. “I am not an atheist because of reasoning, with me it is instinct.” (Friedrich Nietzsche)

4. Mortimer Adler (How to Think About God)

   1. Belief in god is not irrational, can apply tools of logic to support this

5. You can't really tell about god's existence

What is significant about the human concern with the question of the meaning of life?

1. Carl Jung's Patients

   1. 1/3 of my patients come to see me about meaning of life (more philosophical) = generates anxiety

2. Viktor Frankl: There is no meaning to life; life has thousands of meaning.

   1. No single meaning to life/you have to find meaning

3. Part of being human is wrestling with question = no answer

Be familiar with the eight means by which we can know ourselves.

1. gnothe seauton

   1. know yourself

2. gnothe kairos

   1. know your moment

3. 8 ways we can know ourselves:

   1. Convergent data

      1. “Hell is other people” notwithstanding 

      2. Marion in Woody Allen's “Another Woman”

   2. Continuity of behavior 

      1. We are who we are most of the time 

      2. Out of character (davd desteno and pierre valdesolo)

         1. e.g. Bill Buckner 

   3. Accomplishment

      1. Col. Jack Jacobs earned the Congressional Medal of Honor for valor in Vietnam

      2. What accomplishment are you most proud of?

         1. Did it require self-discipline?

   4. Anonymity 

      1. Recall: the Mythical Ring of Gyges (Socrates and Glaucon Debate; reputation vs. integrity)

      2. The good we do, knowing we’ll not be recognized for i,t and the bad we don’t d,o even though we know we could get away with it are inform us of our own character 

   5. Significant decisions (especially those involving sacrifice)

      1. Kay redfield-jamisons unnamed pilot in her memoir, An Unquiet Mind 

      2. Sir Thomas More’s Moral Dilemma

      3. Eric Liddell’s Moral Dilemma

   6. Psychological Testing 

      1. MMPI

      2. Five-factor personality assessment (MBTI)

         1. 1998 Oliver John and Veronica Benet-Martinez 

         2. 44 items 

      3. OCEAN (openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism)

      4. MBTI

         1. Studies have shown that 50 percent of people are classified into a different type the second time they take the test, even if the test-retest period is short (e.g., five weeks)

      5. TAT

      6. Rorschach Ink Blot

         1. Nor is perception merely visual: “What might this be?” and “What do you see?” are not precisely the same question. But it was more than just personal preference or technological limitations that led Borschch to use inkblots*

         2. “A visual task that calls upon enough of our perceptual powers will reveal the mind at work.”

   7. Desire 

      1. “We are made in the image of what we desire” (Thomas Merton)

   8. Intrinsic Motivation

      1. Recall William James’ RE: “The Real Self”

         1. When do you feel most alive?

What does Viktor Frankl report about humor in his book, Man's Search for Meaning?

People are shocked to know there was humor in concentration camps = form of coping

In the Rhetoric, what did Aristotle say about humor that agrees with George Carlin's analysis?

The element of surprise

"teleology" and "deontology" (ethics)

1. Teleology: end justifies means

2. Deontology: have duty to obey principles

What is the conclusion of the essay, "Opsigeria: A Blessing or a Curse?"

1. It doesn't matter whether you live 70 or 490 years. the quality of life is not determined by the length; our life is determined by what you do with your life

Be familiar with Howard Gardner's "Theory of Multiple Intelligences."

1. Logical/Mathematical: The ability to construct a sequence of thought and recognize patterns

   1. “Is Hell exothermic or endothermic?

2. Verbal/Linguistic: The ability to use words skilfully and solve word problems 

   1. Shakespeare and waste baskets 

3. Bodily/Kinesthetic: The ability to move one’s body and manipulate objects skilfully 

   1. James Cagney and Luke Appling

4. Spatial: The ability to judge distance and visualize objects in motion

   1. Parallel parking and playing chess

5. Musical: The ability to compose music 

   1. Beethoven// Shakespeare

6. Intrapersonal: The ability to understand oneself 

   1. Socrates and Daniel Goleman

7. Interpersonal: The ability to accurately assess another’s thoughts and feelings and respond appropriately 

   1. Recall: This is Water, D.F. Wallace

Be familiar with Daniel Goleman's Emotional Intelligence.

1. Emotional awareness

2. Emotional management

3. Empathy

4. Self-discipline

5. Interpersonal skill

What is the difference between the universal meaning of life and the particular meaning of life?

1. Universal: there is a single, overarching purpose or meaning that applies to all human beings

2. Particular: emphasizes the subjective, individualized aspects of purpose and significance.

The Joshua Bell Experiment as an Example of “Psychological Set”

1. World class violinist who played in subway/received no attention compared to when people knew him

2. Brain distinguishes this difference/name can raise association

What point was made by the “Ten Healthy Foods” exercise?

More than reliable knowledge is required for change-knowing the ten healthy foods with awareness does not mean there will be change--needs action -change requires more than just information

What does this mean: The meaning of life is either discovered or constructed?

You can either personally have an awakening of what you are called to do, or you can create your own destiny

What does it mean to say human beings are essentialists?

Unique ability to give power + meaning to objects

What is nihilism, and what is meant by its Three Despairs (life's meaning, morality, and world improvement)?

1. Nihilism refers to the idea that life and everything within it has no meaning whatsoever 

   1. Life’s meaning: There is no meaning to life

   2. Morality: Death is absolute nothingness

   3. World improvement: If life has no inherent meaning and morality is seen as a subjective construct, the idea of making the world a better place becomes uncertain or arbitrary

What did paleontologist Stephen Gould mean when stated there is no overlapping magisteria between science and religion?

1. Conflict between science and religion is FALSE - science covers empirical realm (what the universe is made of, or fact) while religion extends over the ultimate meaning and moral value of life.

2. "Magisteria" refers to the domains of teaching authority. Gould proposed that science and religion each represent different and non-overlapping domains of human understanding and authority, and as such, they should not come into conflict.

What does Sam Harris believe about the meaning of life?

1. Explores the idea that meaning and purpose can be derived from a rational and evidence-based understanding of human well-being and morality.

2. Harris argues that a scientific understanding of the world can inform our values and ethics, and that human well-being and the reduction of suffering should be central to our moral considerations