|
|
 Dewey set out to show the harm which traditional philosophical dualisms were doing to our culture, and he thought that to do this job he needed a metaphysics--a description of the generic traits of existences that would solve (or dissolve) the traditonal problems of philosophy, as well as open up new avenues for cultural development. I think he was successful in this latter, larger, aim; he is one of the few philosophers of our century whose imagination was expansive enough to envisage a culture shaped along lines different from those we have developed in the West during the last three hundred years. (Rorty, Richard "Dewey's Metaphysics, Consequences of Pragmatism: Essays 1972-1980. Minneapolis: University of Minneapolis Press, 1982, P. 85)
In response to the skeptics, Plato argues that the tyrant is not therefore truly happy, and that this can be seen in his behavior. Ruled by lower passions, tyrants are known to displace Reason with Emotion, such as the fear of being assassinated, the inability to trust others; or, he will displace Reason with Appetite, such as the unsatiable greed for riches or power. In the end, such a person will be pulled apart by his lower passions, and cannot possibly find happiness with a disordered soul. Plato brings up the ancient figure of the tragic hero in order to illustrate this. Moreover, Plato argues, the suffering saint is happy amid his suffering because he is ruled by reason, and his soul is ordered. Happiness thus springs from inward qualities in the soul, according to Plato, and is not contingent upon external circumstances. When the lower passions are ordered by Reason, there is "psychic harmony," a quality of soul that is not vulnerable to a fatal blow from an external source. A person can therefore suffer externally, and remain happy because there is harmony internally, in his soul.
|
| |
Favorites
Del.icio.us
Digg
Furl
Magnolia
StumbleUpon
Google
Yahoo
Technorati
BlinkList